tion of Texas high school teachers — many from out of state — and was sur- 

 rounded by young ladies riding up to the session. I felt good when I over- 

 heard that they didn't want to miss m^; talk. Then, I learned it was because 

 there was a lot of interest in the Texas Rangers . 



These were educated people; but you can't blame them if you have looked 

 at the definitions of range in a dictionary; or have considered our national 

 efforts, imtil quite recently, to acquaint the public with the range resource. 

 Let me here commend the work of rancher, Peter Jackson in roimding up the 

 volume on Montana range resources, and for his USDA committee work in Wash- 

 ington, D.C. Meanwhile the Hollywood makers of western films continue to 

 portray the man with the plow as the hero, and the rancher as the villan — 

 while the U.S. census tallies cropland and forestland acres, but not range- 

 land acres. 



But there are signs of progress. This year the U. S. Geological Survey 

 adopted a new system of classifying land use and land cover, which for the 

 first time segregates rangeland. Also, this year for the first time I saw 

 the word rangeland in the National Geographic and Readers Digest magazines — 

 and used in the proper sense. Stockmen, who are also rangemen, like Peter 

 Jackson, are now being heard in the federal seats of power. 



Considering the wide interests of the group here, it was thought best 

 to present the nature of rangeland from three view points. They are: l) as 

 a natioral product of climate and soil, with self- renewing volunteer forage; 

 2) as a land resource convertible to cultivated cropland, either properly or 

 destructively; and 3) as natural pasture where livestock producers control 

 time and amount of grazing, either properly (when focused on potential con- 

 dition of volunteer vegetation) or destructively (when focused only on sea- 

 sonal conditions of livestock, weather, and markets). 



The qualities that provide the essential nature of rangeland are to be 

 found in its climate and soil. The major rangeland areas of the globe are 

 the areas with least precipitation. Climate is average weather. In range- 

 land climates the weather of any month or year is usually further from aver- 

 age than in timberland climates. Arid years, wet springs, and early or late 

 frosts affect ranchers but are much harder on dryland farmers. 



Droughts are normal in rangeland climates. I'm reminded that Prof. 



15 



