4-22 IAT Wally Butler

 Staying Unbiased.

Wally Butler is the recently elected president of The Society For Range Management. I have known Wally and fought alongside Wally to assure the rights of beef producers to graze on public land. I had a phone conversation with him. “You are a cowboy as is evidenced by your horse trailers in the parking lot, the hat  that  you wear. you are also the president of The Society For Range Management. We know that beef producers have their challenges with so-called environmentalists. How do you stay down the middle? That is an excellent question. It’s tough because when you are a person in the position that I am sometimes you take that hat off and look at other sides of issues. I think part of my ability to do that is the reason that I am in the position that I am in. I work with collaborators on a routine basis here in the state legislature as well as out on the range. Obviously, my heart is with the livestock industry but range management is much broader than that. It is the wildlife, the water issues, air quality… It is a very broad area because range lands provide so many amenities and benefits society in general.