The Rimrock Report
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA,
SCHOOL OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND THE ENVIRONMENT
July 2012
Volume 5, Issue 3
Range Camp
Summer camp means different things to
different people. For Baby Boomers and
younger, many of us have probably spent
some time at one or more of: Church Camp,
Scout Camp, Sports Camp, YMCA Camp,
Cheerleader Camp, FFA Camp, and (thanks
to pop culture) the infamous Band Camp.
Yes, summer camp has been the subject of
books, songs, movies and stand-up comedy
routines. For those of you in the military,
summer camp may not evoke memories of
lazy days on the lake paddling circles in a
canoe, putting a green snake in somebody’s
sleeping bag, or roasting hotdogs on the
Photo courtesy of NRCWAY
campfire. Ranch kids may equate summer
camp with branding, scattering bulls, or “trailing ‘em to the mountain”. Whatever your
summer camp experience may be, whether it was all fun and games or hard work,
organized group activity or family tradition… I’ll bet you learned something there that
you will always remember. Even if you live in the country, there is something about
getting away from home, out of the routine and off the couch that tends to focus and
sharpen our minds just a bit. The same way that food tastes better cooked outside on a
fire and songs played on an old guitar sitting on a tailgate sound better; lessons learned
at camp seem to resonate and stick with us a little longer. So, it is not surprising that
most educational organizations use camp as a way to cram a lot of knowledge into a
short period of time. Summer camp may be one of the oldest and most utilized
educational tools in history. And besides that, camp is usually just plain old fun.
As mentioned above, parents and students these days have a huge variety of camps to
pick from. These can be anything from free week-long day camps to expensive
extended stays at sports training or resort facilities. As parents, Lana and I sent (or went
with…) our boys to some of the examples listed; i.e. church, boy scout, football,
wrestling, leadership… and thought that as learning opportunities and experiences go,
they were well worth the money. We even went to “Range Camp”. Range Camp you
Inside this issue:
Range Camp
2-3
Plant of the “week”
4-5
AZSRM Summer Meeting 6
Plant I.D. Test
7
The View From the Rim
8
Just Me Talking
8
“…there is
something
about getting
away from
home … that
tends to focus
and sharpen
our minds just
a bit.”
The Rimrock Report
Range Camp….continued
say? I didn’t even know they had those. Yep
they do. In fact most of the western states, in
conjunction with the Society for Range
Management, hold a range or natural resources
oriented camp for youth. They go by various
names. Most of us in the range profession just
call it “Range Camp”. When I worked at Texas
A&M, the Texas Youth Range Workshop in
Junction was one of the highlights of the year
for me. I always enjoyed getting out of the lab
for a few days, out in the Hill Country with
friends and co-workers and getting to work
with and teach some of the best kids you would
ever want to be around. The same thing is true John Kava, Vanessa Prileson, and Jeff Schalau teaching plant ID and
collection skills to NRCWAY students at Mingus Springs.
here. The Natural Resource Conservation
Workshop for Arizona Youth or NRCWAY, is
one of the first things I put on my calendar each year. This year it was June 25 to 29 and was again held on
Mingus Mountain. Personally for me, NRCWAY is a couple days of being on the mountain with great kids
and great counselors at a great facility. Professionally, it is an opportunity to teach various aspects of
rangeland science and management in a very hands-on way to students and counselors alike. “Experiential
learning” we call it now. These students are from a variety of backgrounds; boys and girls from middle
school to high school age, ranch kids, city kids, outgoing, shy, but all interested in learning more about the
land, plants, and animals that are found out across the state of Arizona. They are great students, ask a lot of
good questions, push me to think on my feet, and maybe see things a little different sometimes. Sometimes I
learn as much as they do.
Even though my sons are past the age of “Summer Camp” and the camps in their future will be run by their
Uncle Sam; I still think these opportunities for young people to get out and see where their food and water
comes from, and to learn what people who manage agriculture and natural resources do for living, are
valuable. I look forward to being able to support these activities in the future. If you have the time and ability,
we would love to have you help with this effort too. You may not think you have what it takes to be a
counselor, session leader, or “cat herder” at the camp itself, but maybe you or your group could sponsor a
student to attend NRCWAY or otherwise help defray the cost. If you are interested, let me know
(dougt@cals.arizona.edu), I will be glad to help you find a way to contribute. By the way, did I mention we
have a great facility for NRCWAY up on Mingus Mountain? Well, we do. NRCWAY has been held at the
Mingus Springs camp for the past several years and this property was just recently obtained by the
Arizona 4-H program. Now known as the Harold and Mitzie James 4-H Camp & Outdoor Learning Center at
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Volume 5, Issue 3
Range Camp….continued
Mingus Springs, it is the newest
addition to the stable of University of
Arizona educational facilities. Hats
off to previous owner Henry Dahlberg
and all the work he put in to making
Mingus Springs the outdoor
educational hotspot it is. Dating back
to its early establishment as a mining
camp in 1899, this property had a
couple different owners before
becoming a summer camp in 1950.
The Arizona 4-H Program states that
the vision of the camp is to “create a
high quality, residential, outdoor
experiential learning program for
youth and adults to discover, learn
and grow.” Sounds good to me. In
fact I may be a little biased, but it
sounds like Range Camp.
NRCWAY students collecting plant material to see which team
could select the most nutritious grazing animal “diet”.
Kim McReynolds, Willie Sommers, and John Kava observe students using
portable near infrared spectroscopy to determine grazing animal diet quality.
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The Rimrock Report
Plant of the “week” by Guest Writer Jeff Schalau
Yellow Starthistle: a Serious Local Issue
Yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) is a noxious weed that can be found in areas on the southern end of
Camp Verde. Recently, the Camp Verde Town Council has recognized the seriousness of the problem and is
mounting an effort to educate citizens about this weed and work with other local entities to manage the
existing population and reduce its spread.
Yellow starthistle is native to the Mediterranean region of Europe. It is thought that it arrived in North
America in alfalfa seeds shipped to California during the mid-1800's. Today it can be found in 23 of the
contiguous 48 states. It now covers over 14 million acres in
California and is increasing rapidly in Idaho, Oregon, and
Washington. In the west, yellow starthistle poses the most
serious threat to semiarid rangelands but also can infest
orchards, roadsides, ditch banks, and open space. Aside from
being invasive, yellow starthistle is poisonous to horses and
causes “chewing disease”: a fatal neurological disorder.
Yellow starthistle is a cool season annual with bright yellow
flowers. The flowers occur singly on the ends of short branches
and are armed with stout, straw-colored spines 1 to 1 ½ inches
long (see photos below). In the spring, the plant consists of a
rosette that lies close to the ground. In early summer, the stems
Yellow Starthistle Flower
elongate to produce a plant that ranges from 4 inches to 5 feet
tall. Later in the growing season, flowers fade to a dull straw
color. It produces abundant seed. Some of the seeds are plumed and disperse quickly. The plumeless seeds
persist in the dead flowers until the plant is disturbed.
Seeds are spread to new areas by wind, in the fur and feathers of animals and birds, by animals and birds
eating seeds and passing them through their gut, and by human activity. Seeds are often transported to
uninfested areas by livestock, vehicles, tractors, heavy equipment, shoes, in loads of hay, by flowing water,
and other means. Approximately 95% of the seeds are viable and 10% of the seed can remain dormant for up
to 10 years.
Management of yellow starthistle requires an integrated weed management approach that detects and contains
existing populations while reducing plant density and hence the numbers of seeds lying dormant in the soil.
An integrated approach should utilize several strategies: prevention, mechanical control, herbicides, grazing,
and biological control using introduced insects. Revegetation with desirable plants, usually cool season
grasses, competes with yellow starthistle for growing space.
Prevention strategies include cleaning of equipment and vehicles after use in infested areas and monitoring.
Mechanical control strategies include hand pulling and tillage before flowering. Herbicides are an important
management tool and new formulations are very effective on yellow starthistle. Grazing strategies utilize
cattle, goats, or sheep to remove starthistle before it flowers and give desirable plants a competitive
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Volume 5, Issue 3
advantage. Grazing should be carefully timed to remove plants as they bolt out of the rosette stage and prior
to the spiny flower stage.
Biological control is one of the most important practices in an effective noxious weed management program.
There are several insects that have been imported from yellow starthistle’s native range. To date, three
weevils and three flies have been approved for use on yellow starthistle by the USDA APHIS. These insects
attack the flowers and reduce number of viable seeds. Biological control will never provide 100% control, but
can have a great impact when combined with one or more of the strategies outlined above.
This plant has been enough of a problem in the Verde Valley that The Town of Camp Verde, University of
Arizona Cooperative Extension, Verde Natural Resource Conservation District (NRCD), Verde River
Greenway, and USDA Forest Service recently held a workshop in May to fight the spread of yellow
starthistle.
Yellow Starthistle stem
Yellow Starthistle - entire plant
Jeff Schalau is the Agent, Agriculture and Natural Resources for the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai
County. Most of this article appeared in his weekly “Backyard Gardener” on March 21, 2012.
Page 5
The Rimrock Report
Arizona Section
Society for Range Management
2012 Summer Meeting
Wed. August 8 to Fri. August 10
Young, Arizona
In Pleasant Valley
Theme: Rangelands Under the Rim…...Merging Science with Management
Registration Information
are
Available on the Rangelands website at:
http://rangelands.org
Click on “SRM Sections” under Quick Links
Pleasant Valley lodging
Camping for the 2012 AZ Section SRM summer meeting will be on the District Ranger station in Young.
The camping area is about 1.5 miles from the community center where we will begin our daily activities. For
those desiring to rent a room or share a rental house, there are a limited number available. Rates are low, but
reservations should be made well in advance as Pleasant Valley has a good number of visitors in the summer
months. There are many motel rooms available in Payson which is about one hour and 15 minutes driving
time from Young. Listed below are accommodations in Pleasant Valley.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Dead Broke Inn
928 462-4022 www.deadbrokecorral.com
Pleasant Valley Inn (motel and cabins) 928 462-3593 www.yelp.yahoo.com
Valley View cabins
928 462-3422
Peaceful Retreat
928 462-3143
Heritage Hideaway
580 623-8078
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Volume 5, Issue 3
Test and renew your Plant ID skills at the 2012 Arizona
Section Summer Meeting!!!
Presented by the Young Professionals Committee
Who:
Where:
Everybody
SRM Summer Meeting
When:
Why:
August 8-10
For Fun and bragging’ rights!!!
First Prize: Plant ID Buckle
Second Prize: Illuminated Hand Lens
A table with 10 -12 important rangeland plants will be on display at the campsite for you
to identify at your leisure.
Page 7
The view from the Rim
Here are a few recent entries from the SRM Outreach Blogs that talk about Range Camps around the west:
http://srmoutreach.blogspot.com/2011/08/nebraska-youth-range-camp-2011.html#links
http://srmoutreach.blogspot.com/2011/07/texas-section-youth-range-workshop-2011.html
http://srmoutreach.blogspot.com/2011/07/high-desert-youth-range-camp-celebrates.html#links
http://srmoutreach.blogspot.com/2011/03/range-camp-rocks.html#links
Phone: 928-554-8991
Fax: 928-554-8996
Cell: 928-821-3222
E-mail: dougt@cals.arizona.edu
Web: http://cals.arizona.edu/aes/vbarv/
Note: Please email me if you would like to be added to the
“mailing” list for this newsletter.
The University of Arizona
School of Natural Resources and the Environment
V Bar V Ranch
2830 N. Commonwealth Drive Suite 103
Camp Verde, AZ 86322
Just me talking...
Click here for “Just me talking” and remember,
winter will be here before you know it…
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