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Society for Range Management records, 1894-2021

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Society for Range Management
Title
Society for Range Management records
Dates
1894-2021 (inclusive)
1940-1990 (bulk)
Quantity
87.56 cubic ft. (182 boxes) + 3.78 MB
Collection Number
02038
Summary
Collection contains Board of Directors minutes and committee reports (1948-1968, 1975-1989); Advisory Council minutes (1959-1969, 1974-1986); National Committee minutes, correspondence and reports regarding advertising, finance, student membership and scholarships, publications, publicity, legislation, programs and federal legislation (1948-1986); presidential (1947-1970) and executive secretary (1948-1953, 1958-1963, 1974-1979) correspondence regarding annual meetings and meetings with state organizations (1949-1985); annual meeting materials (1954-1968, 1970, 1975-1977, 1980-1984); and the manuscript "A History of the Society for Range Management, 1948-1985" written by Clinton H. Wasser, Elbert H. Reid and Arthur D. Smith, 1987.
Repository
American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
American Heritage Center
University of Wyoming
1000 E. University Ave.
Dept. 3924
Laramie, WY
82071
Telephone: 3077663756
ahcref@uwyo.edu
Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.

Languages
English, Spanish
Sponsor
The creation of the EAD-version of this finding aid was made possible through a grant from the National Historic Publications and Records Commission.
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Historical Note

The Society for Range Management was organized in the summer of 1947 after a 1946 meeting of interested parties, with Joseph F. Pechanec as its first president. The Society was officially formed at its first meeting on January 29-31, 1948, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Its mission was “to foster advancement in the science and art of grazing land management,” and it was established to provide an outlet and a venue for the dissemination and promotion of the principles of range management. By 2002, the Society had accumulated approximately four thousand members in forty-eight countries. To read an in-depth history of the Society, refer to the booklet, A History of the Society for Range Management, 1948-1985, contained in Series IV, Publications, of this collection.

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Content Description

The Society for Range Management records primarily consist of documentation of the institutional operations of the Society. The material is largely administrative in nature and offers the researcher a fairly complete picture of how the Society has been run from its inception in 1947 until 1990. After 1990, the documentation is less complete. All aspects of the Society’s functions are covered, from its internal bookkeeping to its connection to federal legislative bodies through its Washington, DC, liaison office. The records offer a unique perspective on how a membership organization can influence what happens in college classrooms, on public land and private ranches and farms, as well as on the floors of Congress. The Society sought to gather into its membership not only legislators and university professors, but students, ranchers, and public land technicians and managers as well. As a result, there is a wide variety of material on how the Society attempted to attract these various constituencies. Range management as a science blends the principles of ecology with those of economics toward the goal of maximizing the productive capacity of the land, and these themes are treated repeatedly in the many reports and Society publications contained within the records. The Society for Range Management is an organization fiercely committed to the preservation of its own heritage, and its records reflect that. The records offer a remarkably complete picture of a membership body concerned with conservation that has coped with governmental, academic, and cultural changes over a span of more than fifty years.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Copyright Information

The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

Restrictions on Use

Statement on Potentially Harmful Language and Images Found in Collections

The American Heritage Center aspires to approach all areas of our work in ways that are respectful to those who create, use, and are represented in our collections. For a variety of reasons, however, users may encounter offensive or harmful language or images in some of our finding aids, catalogs, and collection materials.

Note that the AHC does not censor or alter contents of the collections as they provide context and evidence of a time, people, place, or event. Therefore, we encourage users to bring questions and concerns about descriptions in our finding aids to our attention via email or anonymous web-form. For more information, read our full statement.

Preferred Citation

Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Society for Range Management records, 1894-2000, Collection Number 02038, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Administrative Information

Related Materials

For additional information, see:

Range management collection, Division of Special Collections and Archives, Merrill Library, Utah State University Robert S. Campbell papers, Illinois State Historical Library, Springfield IL

Acquisition Information

The Society for Range Management records were donated to the American Heritage Center by various members of the Society from 1950-2021 and the University of Wyoming, Emmett Chisum Special Collections in 2017.

Processing Note

The collection was processed by Shannon Bowen in January 2003. Where discernible, original order was maintained. The material without any apparent original order was arranged to facilitate researcher use. Preservation photocopies were made to replace deteriorated papers.

The collection was updated by Jamie Greene in February 2017, October 2017, December 2017, and October 2022.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Container List

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Subject Terms

  • Range management.
  • Range policy.
  • Rangelands--Multiple use.

Processed by Shannon Bowen
2006

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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