THE ROLE OF THE SOCIETY FOR RANGE MANAGEMENT 

 By B. J. Ragsdale 



It's a real pleasure for this "southlander" to get to the "far north" 

 country, as we look at it from South Texas, to participate in a program 

 such as this and certainly a privilege to represent the Society for Range 

 Management and to share some of my views regarding the society. To review 

 for some of you as members of the Society, some of the things we are doing 

 and to express to those of you who aren't members some of our goals and 

 philosophies. To some of you it may be a review, to others I hope to bring 

 the philosophy of the Society for Range Management. 



The Society for Range Management is an International Professional Soc- 

 iety composed of some 5»000 members, representing approximately thrity-foiir 

 countries throughout the world. Within this group, we have a wide diversity 

 of interest and from the standpoint of membership, we have a diversity of 

 opinions toward some of the factors affecting rangeland. The major goals 

 of the Society would be to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas toward 

 the philosophies affecting the use and management of this vast resoxirce that 

 Dr. Dyksterhuis has just covered. Membership is open to anyone interested 

 in rangeland as those of you as members well know. We are relatively new as 

 we were founded in 1948 and incorporated under the Laws of Wyoming. We are 

 a non-profit organization coming under 501-0 3 of the Internal Revenue Code 

 within this coixntry. Originally we were founded as the American Society 

 for Range Management and in 1971 changed the name to the Society for Range 

 Management to bring in the International aspect, which I think is one of oiir 

 goals and some of our activities we will reflect in a moment. Our members, 

 that I mentioned, have as a common interest, the study, management, and ra- 

 tional use of rangeland and the related Ecosystem within this vast area. 



Our objectives number about five. Let me review these with you then 

 get into some of our programs as we attempt to carry out these objectives 

 for the membership. 



1 . To develop an understanding of Range Ecocystems and the principles 

 applicable to the management of the range reso\arces within these 

 Ecosystems. 



2. To assist those working with range resources to keep abreast of new 



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