Award recipient has enjoyed growth of range program

It was announced in May that Dr. Chuck Butterfield, an associate professor who serves as chairman of CSC’s Department of Applied Sciences, is this year’s recipient. Last year’s winner was Dr. Georgia Younglove, who leads CSC’s animal science programs.

Butterfield said he has enjoyed watching the program grow since he arrived in the fall of 1999. Back then, he said 23 students were enrolled in CSC’s agriculture and rangeland management program. Last semester, 98 students were studying in the program.

Butterfield said many students are choosing CSC’s rangeland management program because of its heavy emphasis on the discipline compared to other institutions and CSC’s solid reputation as a leader in the field. He said CSC’s location in “cow country” is perfect for the courses he teaches.

“We’ve kept our same focus in educating the student who comes from a ranch and wants to return to it,” he said. “But, we also have a lot of students who graduate from here and go obtain graduate degrees or become employed for government agencies such as the NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) USFS (U.S. Forest Service or BLM (Bureau of Land Management).”

Through the years, Butterfield noted that Chadron State has added courses in range ecology, range fire ecology, vegetation inventory, and worked with members of the CSC science department to create a minor in wildlife management. In addition, CSC has signed an agreement with Casper College in Wyoming that benefits students from that two-year institution’s rangeland fire management program who want to obtain a bachelor’s degree.

The growth of CSC’s program is paying dividends. This fall will mark the addition of a faculty member devoted to rangeland wildlife management. In addition, the Chadron State Foundation has begun raising funds for the construction of a Rangeland Agriculture Center and Pavilion, which will house classrooms and laboratory space for the programs in addition to an indoor arena.

Butterfield said the new facility will be a great recruiting tool. But, even without the best facilities, Chadron State has been able to attract great students who are committed to their studies, he said. CSC’s policies of open enrollment may sometimes attract students who are not serious enough about their studies, but it also affords the school an occasional diamond in the rough, he said.

“We get a few who are here to rodeo a lot, and maybe go to class on the odd occasion,” he said. “They generally don’t last too long.”

He told of one student who couldn’t get accepted to a large university because she was not proficient at taking standardized tests. She enrolled at CSC, where she became an outstanding student, and later excelled in a master’s degree program at the same university that wouldn’t admit her out of high school because of a low ACT score.

Butterfield was raised on a ranch near Worland, Wyo. He holds a bachelor’s degree in range ecology from the University of Wyoming, a master’s degree in grazing management from Texas A&M University and a doctorate in rangeland ecology from the University of Nebraska. In addition to his teaching, he has become known for research in low elevation bighorn sheep management, prescribed fire and bison management and ecology. He has been involved with a number of professional organizations and has earned awards for his service.