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Leopold Conservation Award in Wyoming presented to Pape Ranches

June 6, 2008

Sand County Foundation and the Wyoming Stock Growers Association presented the Leopold Conservation Award to Pape Ranches of Daniel, Wyo. as part of the 2008 Wyoming Environmental Stewardship Awards program.

“The Papes’ commitment to agriculture, conservation, education, and the community is truly remarkable,” said Dr. Brent Haglund, Sand County Foundation President. “We are proud to present them with the Leopold Conservation Award. Their accomplishments, and those of the other nominees, demonstrate that agricultural operations can be green without going into the red.”

Pape Ranches, which is operated by Norman and Barbara Pape, their sons, Fred and David, and their families, utilizes many conservation practices to keep the operation economically and environmentally sustainable. They place high emphasis on grazing management and manipulate sagebrush on their land to increase forage production for cattle and wildlife. . The family also uses fencing to maintain naturally occurring windbreaks and to allow for the passage of wildlife, participating in a program with the Wyoming Game & Fish Department and Wyoming Department of Transportation to install wildlife friendly fencing along Highway 191.

The Papes are actively involved as leaders in their community. Norman has been a member of the Green River Valley Cattlemen’s Association for over 30 years. The family supports 4-H, and Norman and Barbara have opened their home to schoolchildren to educate them about the importance of wildlife and natural resources.

Given in honor of famed conservationist Aldo Leopold, the Leopold Conservation Award recognizes extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation. In his influential book, A Sand County Almanac (1949), Aldo Leopold called for an ethical relationship between people and the land they own and manage, which he called “an evolutionary possibility and an ecological necessity.” 

The Leopold Conservation Award is presented annually in Wyoming by Sand County Foundation and the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. This year’s presentation will occur in June at the Wyoming Stock Growers Association Convention and Trade Show in Casper. The award is part of Wyoming Stockgrowers Association’s Environmental Stewardship Awards Program and the winners advance, representing Wyoming, to the regional competition.

For more information, visit www.leopoldconservationaward.org, e-mail Kosha Olsen at kosha@wysga.org or call 307-638-3942.
ABOUT SAND COUNTY FOUNDATION
Sand County Foundation (www.sandscounty.net) is a private, non-profit conservation group dedicated to working with private landowners to improve habitat on their land. Sand County’s mission is to advance the use of ethical and scientifically sound land management practices and partnerships for the benefit of people and their rural landscapes. Sand County Foundation works with private landowners because the majority of the nation’s fish, wildlife, and natural resources are found on private lands. The organization backs local champions, invests in civil society and places incentives before regulation to create solutions that ensure and grow. The organization encourages the exercise of private responsibility in the pursuit of improved land health as an essential alternative to many of the commonly used strategies in modern conservation.

ABOUT THE LEOPOLD CONSERVATION AWARD
The Leopold Conservation Award is a competitive award that recognizes landowner achievement in voluntary conservation. The award consists of a crystal depiction of Aldo Leopold seated on a horse and a check for $10,000. In 2006, Sand County Foundation will present Leopold Conservation Awards in Wisconsin, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Texas, and California. We anticipate offering awards in four additional states in 2007.

The awards are presented to accomplish three objectives: First, they recognize extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation on the land of exemplary private landowners. Second, they inspire countless other landowners in their own communities through these examples. Finally, they provide a visible forum where leaders from the agriculture community are recognized as conservation leaders to groups outside of agriculture.

ABOUT THE WYOMING STOCK GROWERS ASSOCIATION
The Wyoming Stock Growers Association was organized on April 4, 1872 to advance and protect the interest of the state livestock producers. It was the second state cattlemen’s organization created in the United States, and was the first association formed in the Wyoming territory.

Wyoming Stock Growers Association’s mission is to serve that industry by protecting its economic, legislative, regulatory, judicial, environmental, customs and cultural interests. It is the only organization in the state focused entirely on serving the needs of the cattle industry, which is the largest segment of Wyoming’s agricultural production. The association lobbies and tracks issues at both the state and national levels; working closely with the state and federal agencies that write regulations affecting the industry.

 

Sand County Foundation, in partnership with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Dane County Land and Water Resources Department, hosted a gathering Monday, July 12 in recognition of new efforts in Dane County to improve water quality.  Here is the story.