Graduating Senior First in State at Range Management Competition

Just looking at the scientific names of the plants — Panicum virgatum, Larrea tridentata — would have most people scratching their heads in bewilderment. But Utah State University senior Jamin Johanson, allowed one minute to view dried samples of these and a slew of others, correctly identified the range plants and quickly supplied their scientific names, family, genus, species, life history and origin.

Johanson scored first in the state in the annual plant competition of the Society for Range Management Utah section meeting held Nov. 6-7 in Provo, Utah.

 

“The judges had about 200 plant samples to choose from,” says Johanson, who graduates from USU’s College of Natural Resources this December with a bachelor’s degree in rangeland resources. “In one case, we were allowed to view only the seeds of a particular plant; in another, we saw only the branch without its leaves.”

 

In team competition, Johanson and fellow USU Range Club members Lowell Gardner, Tren Hagman and Garth Nelson took second place in plant identification.

 

“We missed first place by only one percentage point, so I like to think of it as a virtual tie,” says faculty mentor Leila Schultz, who coached the team with Wildland Resources professor Fee Busby.

 

Also at the gathering, College of Natural Resources student Janessa Chew received a SRM academic scholarship and Tom Monaco, research ecologist with the USDA-ARS Forage and Range Research Laboratory on the USU campus, was elected Utah Section president.

 

Following graduation, Johanson will continue his studies in rangeland resources as a master’s student with Wildland Resources faculty advisor Chris Call. The two are investigating vegetation changes at Utah’s Camp Williams, a National Guard training site about 26 miles south of Salt Lake City.

 

“The site is used for specialized winter, mountain, desert and amphibious combat training,” Johanson says. “So the land is subjected to heavy artillery fire, track vehicles and lots of foot traffic. Our goal is to provide them with land management options to deal with these disturbances.”

 

He and Call will develop a series of state and transition models that will help Camp Williams officials plan land usage schedules that prevent soil and ground cover loss and allow for recovery following disturbances.

 

Johanson, immediate past president of the USU Range Club, says his participation in club activities has been a highlight of his undergraduate career. The Morgan, Utah, native and aspiring ranch manager organized many of the details of the group’s participation in the 2008 national SRM meeting in Louisville, Ky., where the Aggies placed first in the society’s nationwide Rangeland Cup competition for the second consecutive year.

 

“It was exciting for us and a great opportunity to network with professionals,” Johanson says. “Participating in the club has been a great experience.”

 

 

Contact: Jamin Johanson, jamin.j@aggiemail.usu.edu
Contact: Leila Schultz (435) 797-0485, l.schultz@usu.edu
Writer: Mary-Ann Muffoletto (435) 797-3517, maryann.muffoletto@usu.edu