WDC023: Rangeland Education Across Institutional Borders
Statement of Issues and Justification
Rangelands are incredibly dynamic and intriguing places to work. The profession of rangeland management attracts people who want to work in the grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, and deserts we know as rangeland. In a rapidly changing time of demands for rangeland resources and ecosystem services the workforce to manage these lands is shrinking and aging. Data from the Office of Personnel Management reveal that 50 to 75% of the range management professionals currently classified as Conservation Scientists will likely retire in the next decade. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there were 18,300 Conservation Scientists in the workforce in 2008 with a projected increase to 20,500 in 2018 (BLS 2009). Data from the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics indicate that between 1997 and 2007 about 1,300 students graduated with a B.S. degree in rangeland management (NCES 2007). This average of 130 students per year falls far short of meeting the future yearly demand of nearly 450 new rangeland management specialists for Federal agencies. This number is conservative as it does not include state agencies or private sector employers.Who will fill their shoes? Universities are facing tremendous budget reductions and the capacity to offer excellent undergraduate rangeland education is declining at many institutions. Rangeland science is unique in the broader scope of the ecological sciences, focusing not only on rangeland ecology but also on integrating ecological knowledge into land management decisions. Traditional uses of rangelands such as livestock grazing and mineral extraction continue while the demands for recreation opportunities and green energy development (geothermal, wind, solar, biomass) are escalating. As educators of rangeland professionals we face the challenge of providing a rangeland science and management curriculum that provides the knowledge and management tools necessary to meet the new demands, new trends, and new tasks required to manage rangelands. Rangeland scientists at multiple universities are concerned that program reductions and a greater emphasis on research rather than teaching have reduced the number of teaching faculty in many university rangeland programs thus inhibiting their ability to deliver future range science graduates with an education that provides them the academic, social, and technological skills required to meet todays challenges out on the range. Our overall project goal is to revitalize and coordinate rangeland curricula across universities in the western United States and increase the number of students, both degree and non-degree seeking, ultimately increasing the number of well-trained professionals who will manage the rangelands of the world. We propose to do this by coordinating curricula and courses, along with a platform of delivery approaches to attract students with a variety of backgrounds and experiences to gain the knowledge and skills to manage rangelands for positive economic, environmental and social outcomes.
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