Society for Range Management

John L. McLain, CRMC/CPESC

SRM President, 2000

John L. McLain was installed as the Society for Range Management (SRM) President at Boise, Idaho, in February 2000 during the SRM Annual Meeting. After serving on the SRM Board of Directors from 1993-1995 and again as second Vice President in 1998, John served as president through 2000 and at the SRM Annual Meeting held in Kona, Hawaii, in February 2001. The meeting was hosted by the California Section of SRM and coordinated by the team of Bill Frost, Mike Conner, and Ken Fulgum. This well-attended and tremendously successful meeting was the first time that SRM had left the mainland for their annual meeting.

Major initiatives throughout the year included an emphasis to educate Congress on the benefits of well-managed rangelands, the SRM and its role, and major Congressional needs regarding rangelands. In addition, the SRM Vice Presidents, Jim O’Roarke and Rod Heitschmidt, were actively enlisted to play key roles in shared SRM leadership. As such, both accompanied John to Washington, D.C. to meet with key agency and NGO leaders and Legislative representation in order to accomplish smooth transition and name recognition during their terms.

John had the distinct privilege of addressing the first National Grazing Lands Conference held in Las Vegas during the year and presiding over the SRM summer meeting held in Red Deer, Alberta Canada, where the Canadian members treated us royally. Strengthening our bond with Canada was a goal for this presidency, and the Canadians were delighted to host the summer meeting while also playing key SRM committee roles.