The 2026 High School Youth Forum at the National Society for Range Management meeting in Monterey, California. The group toured the local Santa Lucia Preserve where the Carmel River meets the Pacific Ocean. (Photo: SDSU Extension)
Two high school students from South Dakota were selected to be delegates for the High School Youth Forum at the International Society for Range Management meeting.
Karlie Kammerer, of Piedmont, and Katelyn Gebhart, of Meadow, attended this year’s meeting in Monterey, California, on Feb. 7–11, 2026, which had a theme of “Herd ‘Round the World.”
The High School Youth Forum is designed to give students the opportunity to network with rangeland professionals from across the world while introducing them to the mission of Society for Range Management. The South Dakota section of the Society for Range Management funded the trip for Kammerer and Gebhart.
Activities include ecological tours of the local landscape and time spent enhancing leadership and communication skills. The delegates also compete in a presentation competition. High school delegates are chosen by each of the individual sections throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico. In South Dakota, delegates are chosen from student presentations given during the annual Rangeland and Soil Days event.
Kammerer won first place in the 2025 national contest for her presentation on holistic ranch management in her family operation. For winning first place, Karlie returned to the national meeting in 2026 to help with the forum and gave her presentation to the entire national society membership during general session.
“My favorite thing about the High School Youth Forum was meeting and connecting with rangeland professionals and ranchers across the nation and having the opportunity to network with other kids my age who are just as passionate about plants and soils as I am,” said Kammerer.
Gebhart was the new 2026 delegate; she won first place in the speech competition at the 2025 South Dakota Rangeland and Soil Days youth contest for her presentation on prescribed fire.
“My favorite thing about being a High School Youth Forum delegate was meeting the other delegates from around the U.S. who had a passion for range. I also really enjoyed the tour of the Santa Lucia Preserve and seeing the difference between South Dakota and there,” Gebhart said.
In her presentation, Gebhart discussed the ways her family found opportunity after the tragic effects of a prairie wildfire on their ranch. Now her family is supportive of prescribed burns and the benefits it can bring to rejuvenating the health of grassland ecosystems.
“I am really proud of how well Karlie and Katelyn represented South Dakota at the National SRM meeting. I enjoyed practicing their presentations with them and I’m excited that I could help open doors for our youth to these opportunities,” said Kaylee Wheeler, SDSU Extension Range Field Specialist.
The Society for Range Management is an international professional and scientific organization dedicated to the sustainable management and stewardship of rangelands. It brings together scientists, ranchers, land managers, students, educators and policymakers with one shared purpose: to ensure the health and productivity of rangelands worldwide.
Its annual meeting brings together symposia, talks, posters, and workshops that share practical lessons from those that steward rangeland landscapes, including insights that support biodiversity and sustainable land management.
For more information on becoming a South Dakota delegate for the High School Youth Forum, contact Kaylee Wheeler, SDSU Extension Range Field Specialist.
SDSU Extension news release
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