SPARKS, NEVADA – At the Society for Range Management’s 77th Annual Meeting in Sparks, Nevada, last week, Dr. John Walker was installed as the Society’s 2nd Vice President. He will serve a three-year term, becoming the 2026 Society for Range Management (SRM) President.
Dr. Walker has been a SRM member since 1976 and served on the Board of Directors from 2002 through 2004. During his time in SRM, he has served as Associate Editor of the Journal of Rangeland Management (1996 – 2000), chaired multiple committees, and holding leadership roles in both the Idaho and Texas Sections of SRM. Dr. Walker currently is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Range, Wildlife and Fisheries Management at the Texas A & M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in San Angelo, where he has worked since 1997. He credits his career to honing one of his pillar qualifications for SRM leadership.
“Leaders create a vision, set direction, and build a culture that supports the organization’s goals. Managers focus on how to turn ideas into reality,” he explained. “To advance the mission of SRM, its officers must be both good leaders and managers. Much of the vision of SRM comes from committees, sections, and individuals with a passion for a particular issue, and as a servant leader, I would strive to support those visions. Management of the Society’s resources is also an important function of its leadership, because it takes resources to do the good work that we do.”
Dr. Walker has over 20 years of experience in managing the research center, including the operation of several research ranches. One of his goals during his leadership term is to seek funding from nontraditional sources by marketing SRM’s impact on healthy rangelands to potential donors who are concerned about the environment. Dr. Walker intends to leverage the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists to do so – which occurs in 2026, the year of his presidency.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to advance the mission of SRM,” he said. “SRM competes with many conservation organizations for donor dollars, many of which either directly manage rangelands or focus on a single species. The health of most rangelands is determined by the pastoralists that use them and SRM’s programs educate rangeland managers, resulting in healthier rangelands. SRM needs to demonstrate to society how, through research and education, SRM has improved the health of the largest terrestrial ecosystem.”
To that end, he also intends to increase efforts to be a science-based resource for ranchers and land managers by continuing support for the “Good Grazing Makes Cent$” program and considering new outlets like a potential publication tailored to land managers.
“SRM needs to continue to seek ways to support both ranchers and agency personnel, who, through their management decisions daily, affect rangeland health,” he concluded.