Photo: Cheatgrass. © 2020 Delena Norris-Tull
Sharon Johnson, Wyoming, 2014 interview
[Video interview conducted by Becky McMillen, transcribed by Dr. Delena Norris-Tull. Reviewed & Approved by Sharon, March 18, 2020.]
[Sharon Johnson served as a volunteer for the Wyoming Weed and Pest Council for over 30 years.]
"I’ve lived in Laramie, Wyoming all my life. I became associated with the Wyoming Weed and Pest Council through working with Dr. Harold Alley at the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture, in Plant Sciences. I’ve been working with the Council for 30+ years. I’ve never worked with any of the Weed and Pest District offices.
I’ve worked with Harold Alley and George Hittle. I’ve never missed a Council conference meeting. I help with the first day of registration. I like the Council. They have been an awesome group of people to get to know."
[Becky asked: What changes have you seen in the Council conference over the years?]
"It’s become a younger group, with a lot more tech savvy backgrounds. But they still are grounded to agricultural issues, and how that plays out in terms of weed and pest control, not just from the spraying aspect, but also from an ecological standpoint.
What’s been different the last couple of years is to have participation from the offices of the various locations where the conference is held. Usually I just go and take care of the whole registration thing. But the past few years, the local office has their staff there to help out also. And I see more walk-ins from local people who want to see what the conference is all about. It’s amazing how many local people will come for a day, and then stay longer, because they find so much information from all the people that we have here to give presentations. Those people may be 'tree huggers,' but they see that there’s more to this than just going out and spraying. People are more into figuring out that, 'Oh, you’re doing more than just spraying weeds.'
There’s more biocontrol now, which I think is awesome. The younger people attending are focused on, 'How do we help the agriculture of Wyoming?'
When I started working for Harold Alley, his staff was his staff only. Unlike other departments at the University, his staff was not pooled with other departments. He was one of the founders of the Wyoming Weed and Pest program. He helped get legislation into place. He thought it was really important.
He could be challenging to work for. He wanted to know that you could stand up for what you believe in, right, wrong, or indifferent. One time, he got mad at me and yelled at me because he couldn’t find something he thought I’d put away. I stood up for myself. The secretarial staff thought he’d fire me. The next day he walked in and said, 'Good morning, Sunshine. How are you?' No one ever messed with me after that. He found out what I was made of, and we worked great together.
One time when my dad broke his ribs, and I had to take time off to go help him with the ranch, I told Harold first, even before I told the department chair. He said, 'You take all the time you need.' I enjoyed working for him probably more than anyone else I ever worked with."
[Becky asked: Who are some of the other important people you have worked with?]
"George Hittle was pretty dynamic. Neil Humburg worked with Harold, also Al Gale. Mike McNamee worked in Agricultural Engineering at the University of Wyoming. His brothers Stan and Tom both worked as County Supervisors. Mike did a lot of summer work with Harold and his crew. Jim Fornstrom, in Agricultural Engineering, also worked with Harold. That was the engineering side of all of the harvesting. The McNamee brothers always brought their instruments to the conferences. Jim Bideler also played instruments at the conferences. They’d all sit and play. It was a lot of fun.
I never knew Alvah Elledge but he was very good about using the Weed and Pest laws to get landowners into compliance. He was pretty tough.
Everett Johnson was a rancher around Laramie. He was on the Albany County Weed and Pest Board for a number of years. He started the Everett Johnson Award, for the Weed and Pest Supervisors, for outstanding work during the year. He felt they should be recognized. It was pretty special. The Guy Haggard award recognizes people who give a little extra in support of weed and pest control. I was privileged to be the second recipient. The Archie Lauer award is awesome. Archie was very quiet but very passionate.
Roy Reichenbach is another quiet person that did so much behind the scenes. You hardly ever knew he was there, yet everything he did was very important. He started with Converse County, I believe. And then he was at the State Office for a period of time. He was quiet but very progressive. He helped start a number of programs, not just for spraying but also biotech.
Steve Miller took Harold Alley‘s place at the University. I worked with him for a while. Tom Whitson was a graduate student when I first worked with Harold Alley. Tom stayed on after he got his degree, helping with projects. Mark Ferrell came on board when I was working with Harold. They’ve all gone on off to do other things, but they all were the background of the weed and pest control program, and the plant science curricula.
Collaboration between the University of Wyoming and the State and County programs has always been amazing. Everyone’s putting these lovely projects together. It’s amazing how supportive everybody is. There are more women now in this area, and that’s been awesome. And there isn’t this male domination, at least I haven’t seen it, about, 'Oh, we can’t have women in this.' Yes, in the past, it was a man’s world, even in the degree programs, because weed science was out working in the field. But it has grown so much. These women that have come in have been awesome, and they work well with their male counterparts. There’s a lot of great County Supervisors now that are women. Adrianne Peterson was the first one. She retired last year, and I miss her. She was very strong and could do the work, and everybody respected her.
Bob Parsons from Park County just retired. Lars Baker has retired. Larry Justesen from Carbon County has retired. I met him at his first conference. He had moved from Idaho. George Hittle was great about having you travel with them, so George wouldn’t have to drive. We were on a trip one time in Carbon County and picked up Larry Justesen. They had never met. Then Larry and I got to trade-off driving.
Probably the biggest program I can remember was when they started the leafy spurge program. And that was my first field trip, to the leafy spurge symposium up at Crook County in Sundance. That was interesting to me, because suddenly I was out in the middle of it. And I realized just how important this could be, how important it was to work with all the agencies, not just one agency, to get to a point where things, like leafy spurge, were not devastating the countryside. Because, in the beginning, nothing would attack it, you have to do something about it. It was so interesting to have all sorts of people, including the biocontrol people, there to see this.
The problem-solving process has been interesting, figuring out how many entities to bring together to deal with an issue. When I finally got out in the field, at my first symposium, that’s when I understood what it takes to put together a program like this, and to gain this kind of collective resolve to an issue. It’s quite phenomenal, when you get out in the field, and you realize how many people have to be brought together. If you have private land, you have to get the landowners’ willingness to cooperate. You have to have the County, at various levels, not just from the Weed and Pest Office. You have to have a lot of other entities involved, in order to make this all come to completion.
Ron Vore was a graduate student at the time I started working with Harold. His family had a ranch out of Sundance. For a while, Ron was on the Wyoming Board of Agriculture. He got his PhD, and then went back to ranching. He was also somebody that was a little more broad thinking, more than just focused on getting a degree. His idea was that management is broader than just spraying weeds. Robert Jenn is 70, I think, and still going strong as Supervisor in Sheridan County. I can remember when he was an Assistant Supervisor.
Gale Lamb has been with Sweetwater County for a long time. Lars Baker is awesome; he has so much knowledge. He’s developed so many super programs, like biocontrol. Earl Lucas was with Fremont County, I think."
[Becky asked: How has your association with the weed and pest programs changed you?]
"Being more aware of how to put together everything, to make it work. You’ve got to be broader than just one thought process. You’ve got to look at every aspect of something. You can’t be narrow-minded about the issue.
It’s been a great group of people to work with."
Links to the Wyoming County interviews:
Sharon Johnson, Wyoming, 2014 interview
[Video interview conducted by Becky McMillen, transcribed by Dr. Delena Norris-Tull. Reviewed & Approved by Sharon, March 18, 2020.]
[Sharon Johnson served as a volunteer for the Wyoming Weed and Pest Council for over 30 years.]
"I’ve lived in Laramie, Wyoming all my life. I became associated with the Wyoming Weed and Pest Council through working with Dr. Harold Alley at the University of Wyoming College of Agriculture, in Plant Sciences. I’ve been working with the Council for 30+ years. I’ve never worked with any of the Weed and Pest District offices.
I’ve worked with Harold Alley and George Hittle. I’ve never missed a Council conference meeting. I help with the first day of registration. I like the Council. They have been an awesome group of people to get to know."
[Becky asked: What changes have you seen in the Council conference over the years?]
"It’s become a younger group, with a lot more tech savvy backgrounds. But they still are grounded to agricultural issues, and how that plays out in terms of weed and pest control, not just from the spraying aspect, but also from an ecological standpoint.
What’s been different the last couple of years is to have participation from the offices of the various locations where the conference is held. Usually I just go and take care of the whole registration thing. But the past few years, the local office has their staff there to help out also. And I see more walk-ins from local people who want to see what the conference is all about. It’s amazing how many local people will come for a day, and then stay longer, because they find so much information from all the people that we have here to give presentations. Those people may be 'tree huggers,' but they see that there’s more to this than just going out and spraying. People are more into figuring out that, 'Oh, you’re doing more than just spraying weeds.'
There’s more biocontrol now, which I think is awesome. The younger people attending are focused on, 'How do we help the agriculture of Wyoming?'
When I started working for Harold Alley, his staff was his staff only. Unlike other departments at the University, his staff was not pooled with other departments. He was one of the founders of the Wyoming Weed and Pest program. He helped get legislation into place. He thought it was really important.
He could be challenging to work for. He wanted to know that you could stand up for what you believe in, right, wrong, or indifferent. One time, he got mad at me and yelled at me because he couldn’t find something he thought I’d put away. I stood up for myself. The secretarial staff thought he’d fire me. The next day he walked in and said, 'Good morning, Sunshine. How are you?' No one ever messed with me after that. He found out what I was made of, and we worked great together.
One time when my dad broke his ribs, and I had to take time off to go help him with the ranch, I told Harold first, even before I told the department chair. He said, 'You take all the time you need.' I enjoyed working for him probably more than anyone else I ever worked with."
[Becky asked: Who are some of the other important people you have worked with?]
"George Hittle was pretty dynamic. Neil Humburg worked with Harold, also Al Gale. Mike McNamee worked in Agricultural Engineering at the University of Wyoming. His brothers Stan and Tom both worked as County Supervisors. Mike did a lot of summer work with Harold and his crew. Jim Fornstrom, in Agricultural Engineering, also worked with Harold. That was the engineering side of all of the harvesting. The McNamee brothers always brought their instruments to the conferences. Jim Bideler also played instruments at the conferences. They’d all sit and play. It was a lot of fun.
I never knew Alvah Elledge but he was very good about using the Weed and Pest laws to get landowners into compliance. He was pretty tough.
Everett Johnson was a rancher around Laramie. He was on the Albany County Weed and Pest Board for a number of years. He started the Everett Johnson Award, for the Weed and Pest Supervisors, for outstanding work during the year. He felt they should be recognized. It was pretty special. The Guy Haggard award recognizes people who give a little extra in support of weed and pest control. I was privileged to be the second recipient. The Archie Lauer award is awesome. Archie was very quiet but very passionate.
Roy Reichenbach is another quiet person that did so much behind the scenes. You hardly ever knew he was there, yet everything he did was very important. He started with Converse County, I believe. And then he was at the State Office for a period of time. He was quiet but very progressive. He helped start a number of programs, not just for spraying but also biotech.
Steve Miller took Harold Alley‘s place at the University. I worked with him for a while. Tom Whitson was a graduate student when I first worked with Harold Alley. Tom stayed on after he got his degree, helping with projects. Mark Ferrell came on board when I was working with Harold. They’ve all gone on off to do other things, but they all were the background of the weed and pest control program, and the plant science curricula.
Collaboration between the University of Wyoming and the State and County programs has always been amazing. Everyone’s putting these lovely projects together. It’s amazing how supportive everybody is. There are more women now in this area, and that’s been awesome. And there isn’t this male domination, at least I haven’t seen it, about, 'Oh, we can’t have women in this.' Yes, in the past, it was a man’s world, even in the degree programs, because weed science was out working in the field. But it has grown so much. These women that have come in have been awesome, and they work well with their male counterparts. There’s a lot of great County Supervisors now that are women. Adrianne Peterson was the first one. She retired last year, and I miss her. She was very strong and could do the work, and everybody respected her.
Bob Parsons from Park County just retired. Lars Baker has retired. Larry Justesen from Carbon County has retired. I met him at his first conference. He had moved from Idaho. George Hittle was great about having you travel with them, so George wouldn’t have to drive. We were on a trip one time in Carbon County and picked up Larry Justesen. They had never met. Then Larry and I got to trade-off driving.
Probably the biggest program I can remember was when they started the leafy spurge program. And that was my first field trip, to the leafy spurge symposium up at Crook County in Sundance. That was interesting to me, because suddenly I was out in the middle of it. And I realized just how important this could be, how important it was to work with all the agencies, not just one agency, to get to a point where things, like leafy spurge, were not devastating the countryside. Because, in the beginning, nothing would attack it, you have to do something about it. It was so interesting to have all sorts of people, including the biocontrol people, there to see this.
The problem-solving process has been interesting, figuring out how many entities to bring together to deal with an issue. When I finally got out in the field, at my first symposium, that’s when I understood what it takes to put together a program like this, and to gain this kind of collective resolve to an issue. It’s quite phenomenal, when you get out in the field, and you realize how many people have to be brought together. If you have private land, you have to get the landowners’ willingness to cooperate. You have to have the County, at various levels, not just from the Weed and Pest Office. You have to have a lot of other entities involved, in order to make this all come to completion.
Ron Vore was a graduate student at the time I started working with Harold. His family had a ranch out of Sundance. For a while, Ron was on the Wyoming Board of Agriculture. He got his PhD, and then went back to ranching. He was also somebody that was a little more broad thinking, more than just focused on getting a degree. His idea was that management is broader than just spraying weeds. Robert Jenn is 70, I think, and still going strong as Supervisor in Sheridan County. I can remember when he was an Assistant Supervisor.
Gale Lamb has been with Sweetwater County for a long time. Lars Baker is awesome; he has so much knowledge. He’s developed so many super programs, like biocontrol. Earl Lucas was with Fremont County, I think."
[Becky asked: How has your association with the weed and pest programs changed you?]
"Being more aware of how to put together everything, to make it work. You’ve got to be broader than just one thought process. You’ve got to look at every aspect of something. You can’t be narrow-minded about the issue.
It’s been a great group of people to work with."
Links to the Wyoming County interviews: