White River Cemetery

Fred Renner (bw photo) was photographed in the White River Cemetery in Tulare County on October 29, 1932.  Rancher, John Guthrie (color) was photographed in approximately the same position as Renner in 2011. Note that little has changed. Same fence and same oak trees in the background.

Renner noted that the vegetation inside the cemetery was mainly annuals but he reported finding 8 native perennial grasses. He also reported only annual plants outside the cemetery.  In 2011 Mel George and Neil McDougald found only 2 native perennial grasses in the cemetery.  In October 1932 the cemetery had not burned for 40 years and it had been fenced for 25 years.  

Fred Renner was employed by the US Forest Service after his graduation from the University of Washington. Later, he became Chief of the Range Conservation Division of the Soil Conservation Service.   Mr. Renner was the second President of the Society for Range Management and its first life member. Mr. Renner, who knew artist Charles M. Russell, provided Russell's Trail Boss drawing for the 1950 annual meeting, which soon thereafter became the Society's official logo. In 1972 the Renner family established the Frederic G. Renner Award as the most prestigious award bestowed by the Society.