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Montana State University
Read about the Range Extension Program in MT.
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Rangeland Jokes
- A cowboy asked me if I could help him round up 18 cows. I said, 'Yes, of course. - That's 20 cows.'
- To be or not to be a horse rider, that is Equestrian.
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Aftermath of the Hale Fire
By Livia Olsen
Kansas State University
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2018 was a year of disasters for Rangelands Partnership libraries. In Alaska, they had an earthquake and at Kansas State University we had a fire. The May 2018 fire in K-State Libraries main library (Hale Library) caused extensive smoke and water damage and all library faculty, staff, and collections had to be relocated to more than a dozen off-site offices and warehouses. Until Wednesday, August 28, 2019 no spaces in Hale Library were open. On that day, part of the first floor reopened. The first floor contains study space, reservable collaboration rooms, seminar rooms and will eventually be home to a café, an innovation lab, and a classroom.
The remainder of Hale Library will open in stages during 2020 and 2021 with the library collection returning once reconstruction is complete. In the meantime, libraries faculty and staff continue to work in temporary offices across campus. The collection is being cleaned of soot and the number of volumes returning to Hale Library will be significantly less with space previous used for books being allocated to additional study space. The most heavily damaged section of the building is the historic section. It will reopen last and will retain its historic ambiance while the rest of the library spaces will be modernized. If you would like to learn more, K-State Libraries has blogged the restoration process with numerous pictures and explanation of this disaster at http://blogs.k-state.edu/hale/
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International Year of Rangelands & Pastoralists Initiative Update
By Barb Hutchinson
University of Arizona
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This has been a busy year in the continuing effort to gain approval for an International Year of Rangelands & Pastoralists (IYRP) following the Mongolian Government’s first request for a designation at an open session of the October 2018 Committee on Agriculture (COAG) meeting in Rome. At that time, it was learned that a formal proposal should be submitted for consideration at the next COAG meeting in 2020, and that it should demonstrate support of governments and organizations from around the world. To begin to build this momentum many people all over the globe have given numerous hours to organizing information outreach activities. To this end, the year began with a successful IYRP “Ministerial Breakfast” awareness raising event held at the UN Environment Assembly biennial meeting (UNEA-4).
Since then the excellent Mongolian leadership, with assistance from the IYRP Support Group, submitted an initial letter of request to the Director General (DG) of FAO in July. The response from the DG outlined next steps: (1) approval of a formal proposal for an IYRP by COAG 2020 following a side event at the meeting, (2) proposal then submitted to the next FAO Conference (July 2021) for endorsement and, thereafter, to the FAO DG who then (3) submits the request to the UN Secretary General for deliberation at the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). With final approval from ECOSOC, the designated UN agency (FAO likely in this case) would be mandated to facilitate implementation along with supporting governments and stakeholders. If these hurdles are successfully overcome, then an IYRP would likely be designated for 2027!
To fulfill the first requirement, the full proposal along with more than 20 support letters (including ones from SRM and the Rangelands Partnership) was submitted to the Chair of COAG by Dr. Batmunkh Damdindorj, Director-General of Livestock Development Policy at the Mongolian Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry, and Chair of the Task Force on developing a proposal for an IYRP. This ensures that the request for an IYRP will be included on the agenda for COAG 2020. Now, all efforts are focused on expanding support for the Mongolian proposal and increasing awareness of the importance of rangelands and pastoralist systems to the world.
Numerous presentations and side events are currently being planned for upcoming conferences and meetings. This includes a poster and “Open” discussion session at the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock (GASL) conference (Sept. 2019), a side event at United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (COP 14) (Sept. 2019); and the Joint International Grassland and International Rangeland Congress (October 2020). If you plan to attend any of these events, please contact Barbara Hutchinson (barbarah@cals.arizona.edu) or Jim O’Rourke (jorourke@csc.edu) for more information. See also: IYRP Initiative website.
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Wide-Ranging Rangeland Resources
Compiled by the University of Arizona Team
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Audio Story: The Deadly Winters That Have Transformed Life For Herders In Mongolia. One interesting quote: “The primary role of institutions is to restrict people’s actions. You can’t do whatever you want. You have to obey traffic laws. The same issue applies to rangeland management.” Tungalag Ulambayar, a dzud researcher and Mongolia country director for the Zoological Society of London.
Tip for communicating science to people who are not scientists. 1) know your audience 2) Don’t use jargon 3) get to the point 4) use analogies and metaphors 5) Communicate 3 points. Be memorable, meaningful, and miniature (3M’s).
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International Report | August 2019
By Barb Hutchinson
University of Arizona
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Third Call for Panels, Papers and Posters Joint XXIV International Grassland Congress and XI International Rangeland Congress, October 25-30, 2020; Nairobi, Kenya. Deadline for Panels: Oct. 1, 2019. Deadline for Posters and Papers: Nov. 15, 2019.
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Australian Rangelands Conference “Resilient future rangelands: integrating environment and livelihoods”, September 2-5, 2019; Canberra, Australia.
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (COP 14) “Restore Land to Sustain Life, September 9-13, 2019; New Delhi, India.
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Perspectives on Pastoralism Film Festival, September 17, 2019 and Conference “Filling Gaps and Removing Traps for Sustainable Resources Management”, September 18-20, 2019; Kassel, Germany.
Climate Action Summit “A Race We Can Win”, September 21-23, 2019. New York, NY.
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X International Congress on Silvopastoral Systems “Sustainable Production”, September 24-26, 2019; Asuncion, Paraguay.
Asia Land Forum , September 30-October 3, 2019; Rajasthan, India.
Committee on World Food Security “Making a Difference in Food Security and Nutrition”, October 14-18, 2019, Rome, Italy.
FAO-CIHEAM Network Joint Meeting for Research and Development on Sheep and Goats; and Mediterranean Pasture & Forage Resources, October 15-22, 2019; Meknes, Morocco.
Conference on Land Policy in Africa “Winning the fight against Corruption in the Land Sector: Sustainable Pathway for Africa’s Transformation”, November 25-29, 2019; Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
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E-agriculture in Action: Big Data for Agriculture – From FAO and the International Telecommunication Union, this publication highlights the ecosystem needed to support data driven agriculture with the help of case studies from leading organizations.
FAO, IFAD,WFP and partners recently launched the flagship publication, The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, presenting the latest estimates for food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition at global and regional levels.
Developing sustainable value chains for small-scale livestock producers. Edited by G. Leroy & M. Fernando. FAO Animal Production and Health Guidelines No. 21. Rome.
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Land Portal Foundation's 2018 Annual Report.
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