Ferguson College alumnus protects New Mexico range in Bureau of Land Management role
Thursday, May 22, 2025
Media Contact: Gail Ellis | Editorial Communications Coordinator | 405-744-9152 | gail.ellis@okstate.edu
A range management education from Oklahoma State University set Nolan Craun on the path to a career at the Bureau of Land Management.
Seven years after earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the OSU Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Craun is a supervisory realty specialist for the bureau.
“OSU prepped me mentally and academically for everything I need to do,” Craun said. “I learned how to apply myself and carry my academics into the professional workplace.”
Craun works to responsibly conserve thousands of acres of rangeland under contract with oil companies, local and county municipalities, Native American tribes and government agencies in New Mexico. The role requires an extensive background in range management and a fair amount of people skills, which Craun has picked up throughout his career.
Eager to gain employment with a wife and young child in late 2018, Craun finished his graduate degree and accepted the role of range specialist for the Bureau of Land Management in Farmington, New Mexico. One month into his job, the federal government announced a lapse in funding for the next year and enacted a 45-day furlough for employees.
Far from his home state of Oklahoma with a wife, toddler and second baby on the way, Craun and his family were grateful for the support they received from the Farmington community.
“It was a unique experience in federal service right off the bat, but people there helped take care of us,” he said.
When the furlough ended, Craun returned to work and spent the next four years learning and absorbing everything he could about range management, gaining valuable field experience.
“As a range specialist, I had 75 grazing permittees I was assigned across 35 grazing allotments of 300,000 acres of land,” he said. “I had to learn with each person what they were trying to accomplish while still meeting the bureau’s management goals.”
Craun met with grazing permittees to help them determine stocking rates, water needs and forage amounts. He learned how to communicate with people and understand how they think and operate while relying on his OSU foundation and building confidence in his abilities.
“I realized I liked it, but I saw where there were other needs, and I had the potential to fulfill those needs,” he said.
In August 2023, Craun transitioned to his current position. Now, instead of identifying grasses, digging soil samples and measuring project plans, he supervises the personnel permitting oil and gas well pads, pipelines, large transmission lines, solar facilities and new county roads.
“Every one of these has to go in the ground somewhere, and our environmental analyses of these projects determine the impact on the land,” Craun said. “I have a different perspective than someone with paleontology expertise or a background in recreation or administration. When the land is disturbed by projects, my education allows me to understand how and if it will have a negative effect.”
The Carson National Forest, Navajo Indian Reservation, Colorado state line and Interstate 40 border the Farmington Field Office where Craun works. He balances competing land interests between those who use public land, including ranchers, energy developers, the public and Native American tribes.
Craun acknowledges the valuable mentorship he received as an OSU natural resource ecology and management student; Karen Hickman, a professor in the department and director of the environmental science program, was Craun’s undergraduate advisor. Laura Goodman, an associate professor and OSU Extension specialist in rangeland ecology, served as his advisor in graduate school.
Craun received a Wentz Research Scholarship in 2014, supporting areas of range research that piqued his interest as a student. Hickman and Goodman recognized Craun’s work ethic and motivation to launch a career.
“As an undergraduate, Nolan was one of our best examples of how impactful it can be to engage fully in student organizations and undergraduate research,” Hickman said. “His Wentz Research Project was ambitious and required extensive field sampling – he took it on without hesitation. Now, as a professional, he continues to give back by guest lecturing in our courses, translating complex policy into practical knowledge for students.”
Craun received the Ferguson College of Agriculture Senior of Distinction award in 2016, and Hickman said he represents the best of OSU as an alumnus.
“Every year in college was something different, and for what a university does, OSU does it exceptionally well,” Craun said. “I experienced the benefits of research, Extension and teaching, everything a land-grant university should offer. I wouldn’t change a single thing I did at OSU.”