Maintaining and improving ecosystem health in the pursuit of efficient production of products such as livestock, water, wildlife, and recreation now provide the context within which range research and education is based. Many of these graduates have become influential leaders in the profession. Fourteen graduates have served as presidents of the International Society for Range Management. Many others have served in a variety of rangeland management leadership roles in government or private industry. As a result, the Department has an impressive legacy of producing leaders that guide the natural resource management of the nation.
Undergraduates can specialize in ranch management or natural resource ecology and management.
The types and content of courses have evolved over the past 50 years to reflect the broadened ecological emphasis of the range management profession. Since range management requires a multidisciplinary understanding, students must also select courses from other disciplines such as animal science, agronomy, economics, forestry, wildlife, botany, and social science. Likewise, students from other disciplines often select courses the Department offers to strengthen their knowledge of natural resource ecology and management. The current enrollment in the Department is 133 undergraduate and 62 graduate students. About 40 percent of the students are women, a welcome addition to the days prior to 1968 when enrollment in the University was essentially limited to men.