are creating interest among people other than operators and the agricultiiral- 

 ists. Recreationists, environmentalists and wildlife people, and I might say 

 preservationists each have a legitimate concern and the question is how much 

 say should each have in making the decisions. Effective rangeland as a water- 

 shed is getting increased attention and must be considered by you as managers. 

 You can probably think of many others. 



I was asked to talk about education and research relative to the range 

 resource. As I see it, education should be aimed to a large extent, if not 

 primarily, at developing an appreciation and understanding of the range. 

 There are too many people, and some even in Montana, that feel that our range 

 isn't good for anything else, so we might as well let the cows, the deer, and 

 the antelope eat it. We must try to develop among people, not only those 

 directly involved and those who are peripherally involved, an appreciation 

 of rangeland as an extremely important resource. A resource that reacts to 

 management and has a tremendous influence on the welfare of this state and 

 nation. We can go to the classroom and teach facts, theories and relation- 

 ships, but it is difficult to teach people how to integrate all these factors 

 that together determine a successful management plan. As I indicated before, 

 many of our forefathers developed an art of range management that is difficult 

 if not impossible to put into a text book. You and I can name people who 

 have developed this art to a fine point and we wish there were some way to 

 record this ability to evaluate a range and know what to do with it. Un- 

 doubtedly many of you have learned from your fathers and grandfathers and will 

 be passing it on to those who follow you. 



Over the last few years, it seems that more and more people are becoming 

 concerned with our rangeland. Perhaps our experience at Montana State re- 

 flects this. Last fall, for example, we had one hundred seventy students in a 

 beginning range course. This is a big increase from what it was a few years 

 ago when we were beginning to wonder if students were interested in the futiire 

 of this resource. We wondered if we could continue to justify a curriculum 

 in range management. We now have fifty six lindergraduate majors and twelve 

 graduate students, a very respectable number of very capable yoiing people. 

 It is also interesting to note that there are more men and women entering the 

 field from urban areas and we ask "Why?". I think it is a good sign. It in- 

 dicates that more people than we normally think are interested in the range 



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