Lee Note 105 Marshall Haferkamp September 17, 2001

I have certainly enjoyed reading the bios and memories written by the Robert E. Lee ‘60 graduates. It is indeed uplifting to read about the exciting careers and families of others. Kay asked me to write a bit about what I have been doing since ‘60. I attended Lee Jr. College for 1 year and then moved to Fort Collins, CO to attend Colorado State University. While at CSU, I met and married Gwen Beggs in 1962, and we had a daughter, Frances Jalene in 1964.

I majored in several areas of natural resource management and finally settled on range management. I found college courses challenging, particularly chemistry and zoology, and stumbled a few times during my early years. That probably comes as no surprise, since I did not take college prep classes at Robert E. Lee.

I should mention here that Mr. Woods (home room and civics) had a great influence on my attending CSU. He knew that I was interested in wildlife and resource management and suggested I should look into their programs. During my BS program I earned money by fighting forest fires and working with graduate students and professors on research projects. By 1964, I knew I wanted to become a researcher, so I had to work pretty hard to overcome my chemistry problems and compete for an assistantship for graduate school.

I completed my BS in December 1966 and was fortunate to begin working on my masters program in range management during summer 1966. My Masters degree was financed by working for the Forest Service during the summer and teaching laboratories for range plant identification and managing the range plant herbarium during the school year.

I spent summers on an experimental forest near Woodland Park, CO. My thesis project was a study of big bluegrass, a native grass that is used in range restoration or seeding projects, but is often pulled from the ground by grazing animals. We investigated how fertilizer affected stem and root development and ultimately affected plant pull up.

We lived in Brookings, SD from September 1968 to September 1970. While there I worked as a technician for a range ecologist. I was home during the winters, but our major research areas were in western South Dakota, so I traveled a lot during spring, summer, and autumn. We enjoyed our stay in South Dakota, even though the area received 100 inches of snow the winter of 1968.

We lived in Tucson, AZ from 1970-1975 when I worked on my Ph.D. in range management. My thesis project dealt with physiological changes that occurred in seeds during wetting and drying cycles that mimic seed bed environments during spring. We were trying to determine when was the best time to plant seed of Lehmann lovegrass in the arid environment of southern Arizona. At the time the grass was used to reduce erosion on deteriorated rangeland.

We lived in College Station, TX from 1975-1981. I worked in the Range Science department at Texas A&M and taught classes in range plants and range improvement practices. My research dealt with evaluating plant materials and techniques for seeding deteriorated rangelands. I saw a lot of south Texas, since I did not have any research sites closer than 200 miles from campus for the first five years.

We lived in Burns, OR from 1981-1988. I initially worked for Oregon Agric. Exp. Station (1981-1984) and then worked for USDA Agricultural Research Service (1984-present). I continued research in the area of plant materials and range seeding techniques. Some of my initial research was on ash covered rangelands after the Mt. St. Helen’s eruption. When I joined ARS in 1984, I became research leader for the unit and got into administration. After 4 years as research leader, I again decided research was my true calling and made a lateral transfer to Miles City, MT.

I have been in Miles City since 1988, and Gwen moved in January 1989. I will advise you winter time is not the best for a move across the northern tier of states. I work on a large (55,000 acres) experiment station called Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory (web site www.larrl.ars.usda.gov). The Fort was built after the massacre of Little Big Horn, and the town and area have a rather colorful history. My research at Fort Keogh has emphasized studies on annual brome grasses that have invaded the native range, plant materials, and more recently carbon sequestration and the impact of rangelands on global warming.

We have enjoyed all of the places where we have lived and worked. We unfortunately lost Jalene to non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 1978 during our time in College Station. Gwen goes to Texas each spring to visit relatives and attend the Saddle & Sirloin banquet at Texas A&M where she presents two memorial scholarships in Jalene’s honor. Jalene was too young to attend Texas A&M, but she was an Aggie at heart and attended many functions. For the most part Gwen and I have been healthy and manage to stay very active.

We have raised sheep off and on since 1968 and angora goats since 1983. We currently live on a small irrigated acreage and lease some additional irrigated pastures. We currently have about 75 sheep and goats and several dogs (Welsh corgi, border collie, and Great Pyrenees). Gwen stays busy with the animals, traveling, and serving as an angora goat judge at various fairs. She sheared sheep professionally while in Oregon, but works mainly with her own animals in Montana.

We both enjoy traveling, photography, bird watching, and fishing. My work has allowed some national and international (Mexico, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Portugal) travel, and Gwen has traveled to sheep meetings around the US and Australia and the British Isles. She is an accomplished photographer and spinner. I like to fish, but spend a lot of my spare time riding my bicycle.

I rode a lot as a young child in Baytown and some as a student in Arizona (17 mile round trip to school). I began riding again during summer 2000, to aid in reducing my blood glucose levels, and I am happy to report it has worked wonderfully. I ride between 15 and 25 miles 4 to 5 days a week (weather allowing) and every once in a while I'll ride further. I rode on one 60 mile ride in July 2001 south of Livingston, MT and hope to complete a 100 mile ride in 2002. It is nice living in a somewhat remote area with little traffic. They let us ride on the interstate, which I prefer to side roads.

We are members of the Methodist church and sponsor a pot luck dinner at Thanksgiving each year for those who do not have family or travel plans. Travel plans are sometimes canceled that time of the year in Montana due to weather.

My father died during the time we were in Oregon, and my mother lives in a nursing home in Rowlett, TX. My sister, Janelle, and family live in Rockwall and the surrounding area. She works for a doctor in Dallas.

I have made it to two reunions, the 20^th and 40^th and thoroughly enjoyed them both. Hopefully, I do not wait another 20 years to attend. I want to express my sincere appreciation to Kay and all who work with her on the home page. They have done a wonderful job, and it is great to be able to share with our class mates after all these years.

Sincerely,

Marshall Haferkamp