Thank you for this opportunity to take you on an interpretive tour of the my recently completed painting for the promotion of the joint meeting of the WSSA/SRM Denver 2010, Working Landscapes, Providing for the Future.

Your eye enters the picture, following the movement of the cattle; the sagebrush foreground depicts rangelands, both herding and the fence are representative of the many range management tools.

On the right, mule deer a keynote big game species, and a sage grouse, a candidate species for endangered species listing, represent wildlife. The upper right edge, four ecosystems associated with ascending altitude (canyon land, oak brush, quaking aspen and alpine spruce) are illustrated.

Coming towards the center right, behind the ranch notice the checkerboard effect. Pivot irrigation and other uses of the landscape, both past and present, show the impact of agricultural use and how these functions influence the visual appearance of a landscape. From the snow peaked mountain, the multiple roles of water are represented by a reservoir for municipalities, a riparian corridor and flood irrigation. The portion of mountains and city on the right represent Denver. The area between the city and the people shows alfalfa farming, pasture and native hay operations.
 

In the upper center, the group of people represents the beneficiaries of healthy working landscapes that provide open space, esthetic values, wildlife habitat, recreational areas and the multiple benefits of sustainable agriculture.

 The left half of the painting focuses on tilled crops, urbanization and weeds.

One the left side of the highway, leaving the city, a large sprayer represents control of weeds in crops. The area between the orchard and the city is empty symbolizing land that is gone from the working landscape. This land, scheduled for urban development, also threatens the long-term viability of the neighboring orchard.

 
Following the highway back into the picture, you see new sources of energy from wind farms standing compatibly with orchards, fields of corn and wheat, reminding us that the people working these landscapes truly are providing for the world.

Invasive weeds and their control on disturbed land and wild lands represent the interface between SRM and WSSA. The center portion is dedicated to this subject. Shown here is biological control of thistle by grazing goats, and control of highly dispersed infestations in inaccessible areas common to wild lands using a sprayer and packhorse. The pernicious presence and impending spread of yellow toadflax threatens native communities potentially resulting in bare ground and erosion. In contrast, the Native Thurber Fescue grasses depict Healthy Rangelands.