Sanders Retires from an Influential Career of Leadership and Service to Idaho Rangelands

Dr. Kenneth Sanders retired from a 33-year career as Rangeland Extension Specialist for the University of Idaho on July 1st. Over these years, Dr. Sanders has helped thousands of land owners and managers to solve problems, seize opportunities, and monitor management activities on their lands. Dr. Sanders has also tirelessly served the Society for Range Management (SRM) and other rangeland organizations such as the Idaho Rangeland Committee and the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission.

Dr. Sanders served Idaho on dozens of coordinating committees, task forces, planning teams, and steering committees. These include serving as Executive Secretary of the Idaho Rangeland Committee, member of the Challis Experimental Stewardship Program, the BLM Minimum Monitoring Standards Committee, Section 8 Conflict Resolution Process task group, and Idaho Training Cadre for Riparian Proper Functioning Condition. In his role as Rangeland Extension Specialist, Ken organized and conducted dozens of symposia, short courses, and workshops on rangeland topics. These included organizing nine offerings of the Pacific Northwest Range Short Course. A recent accomplishment was Ken Sanders leadership of the Idaho Stubble Height Review Team and publication of the Stubble Height Study Report offering guidance to land management agencies for the use of stubble height in making management decisions. In all, Ken Sanders has coordinated and participated in more than a thousand meetings and workshops to advance the management of Idaho rangelands.

The Society for Range Management also benefited from Dr. Sanders’ guidance, leadership, and service through his work on many state and national committees. Ken was Idaho SRM Newsletter editor for more than a decade (1976-1988), Idaho Section President (1982), chaired the Advertising and Trade Show committee for the Annual Meeting held in Boise in 2000, and served as Historian of the Idaho Section. Dr. Sanders contributed significantly at the national level of SRM as a member of the Board of Directors (1987-89), Editorial Board of Rangelands (1981-1983), Member and Chair of the SRM Publications Committee (1991-1993), and Member of the Nominations Committee (2000-2002).

Dr. Sanders’ contributions to our understanding of rangelands span the breadth of topics that challenge land owners and managers. Of particular note are Dr. Sanders’ work on the ecology and control of broom snakeweed, grazing management of crested wheatgrass, and the ecology of salt desert shrubland communities. Much of this research was centered at the Lee A. Sharp Experimental Area (near Malta, Idaho) carrying on a long tradition of applied research initiated by Dr. Lee Sharp a rangeland professor with the University of Idaho from 1949-1989. Recent accomplishments include supervising the internet publication of “50 Years of Change in a Shadscale Stand in Idaho” – a photo journal that charts the changes that have occurred in a shadscale stand in southern Idaho between 1951 and 2002.

The College of Natural Resources and the Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management recognize and celebrate Dr. Sanders’ influential contributions to Idaho rangelands. We wish him well in his retirement and hope we will continue to see him at rangeland gatherings in Idaho.