Kansas Section
Society for Range Management
Kansas Section Report and Happenings
The Kansas Section of the SRM conducts and supports activities each year that reach out to both youth and adults regarding rangeland management. In 2019 the Kansas Section supported the Kansas Envirothon. The Kansas Envirothon is an outdoor, environmental high school competition where students learn and are tested on a variety of topics. In 2019 the topics included aquatics/ecology, forestry, soils/land use, and wildlife. Teams also give an oral presentation and were tested on this year’s current issue, agroecology.
The main youth activity the Kansas Section supports each year is the Kansas Range Youth Camp. This year the camp will be held June 18-21 at Camp Mennoscah in Kingman County. Most of these high school students are sponsored by their local conservation district, but the camp is conducted primarily by members of the Kansas Section. Students are exposed to a number of topics including rangelands of Kansas, plant physiology, plant identification, soils, ecological sites, monitoring techniques, prescribed burning and smoke management, wildlife management, invasive plant control, stocking rates and forage balance, grazing distribution, and grazing systems. A ranch tour is held and students work in teams to develop a management plan. These plans are presented orally and the students take a written and plant identification test. Careers in range management are shared with the students.
Kansas Section members are also involved as instructors each year at two adult range management schools organized by the Kansas Grazing Lands Coalition. This year the camps will be held August 6-8 at Ringneck Ranch near Tipton, KS, and The Tallgrass School will be August 20-22 at Camp Wood, near Elmdale, KS. Although topics are similar from year to year, the theme changes. In 2019 presenters will emphasize managing outside of normal. An invited speaker and a rancher panel will discuss the theme. Other topics covered will include plant physiology, soil health, plant identification, measuring and monitoring, stocking rates, adaptive management, and prescribed burn associations.
This year the Kansas Section plans to co-sponsor a tour/workshop on a Flint Hills ranch where the manager is trying some new ideas. He uses an integrated approach using grazing management, brush and weed control, and prescribed burning. Other organizations involved include the Great Plains Fire Science Exchange, Tallgrass Legacy Alliance, Kansas Grazing Lands Coalition, and K-State Research and Extension.
Walt Fick
KS Section Newsletter Editor
KS Section Newsletter Editor
Justin Roemer
Chair/President
Chair/President: Justin RoemerChair/President: Kansas SectionChair/President
Upcoming Events
Texas Section Annual Meeting
Join us in October! See our website for registration and meeting details - www.texassrm.org/annual-meeting -
Planning for our Annual Meeting is well underway, and 2026 is a phenomenal year for TSSRM. In addition to celebrating the rangelands we cherish in Texas, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has recognized 2026 as the “International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists”, and we feel there is no time like the present to use our platform to make an impact on the future of native rangelands.
Big changes are coming to Texas. Looking around, no one can deny that the rangelands that sustain our ranching industry will continue to face changes in the future. This year’s annual meeting will cover a variety of topics, from modern technology in rangeland management and ranching, to time-proven techniques of land management and conservation that have sustained the land we love for generations. It will also include a ranch tour, student competitions and presentations on the latest scientific research in the industry, and panel discussion made up of local ranchers.
October 20 - 22, 2026 • Abilene Convention Center
October 20 - 22, 2026Idaho SRM Summer Tour
Meet us at the Rinker Rock Creek Ranch to discuss the Dance Between Rangeland Resilience and Drought!
Day 1 afternoon: drought management strategies, impacts to soils, mitigation and resilience through restoring streams and plant communities on working lands
Evening: dinner, social, campout, and breakfast at Hayspur Fish Hatchery (43.33995833, -114.147925)
Day 2 morning: managing livestock grazing to support pollinator habitat, and other considerations to improve pollinator conditions on working landscapes.
Cost is FREE, but please RSVP so we have a headcount for vehicles and meals: idaho_srm@outlook.com
June 29 - 30, 2026 • Rinker Rock Creek Ranch (43.3904722, -114.391833)
June 29 - 30, 2026South Dakota Virtual Fencing and Land Management Workshop
Virtual Fencing and land management workshop. Investigating applications of VF for increasing land management on extensive rangeland systems.
June 23 - 24, 2026 • Central States Fairgrounds, Rapid City SD
June 23 - 24, 2026