Dear friends,

Aldo Leopold, whose writings inspired Sand County Foundation's work, wrote that the landscape of any farm is the owner's portrait of himself. Our Leopold Conservation Awards honor landowners who work ceaselessly to paint beautiful landscapes across the nation.

Many of these award-winning families have been living on, working at, and protecting these attractive landscapes for generations. These landowners not only provide food and fiber to our nation, they also deliver, at no, cost, an array of environmental benefits that go largely unnoticed by the public: clean water, open space, wildlife habitat, and recreation to name but a few. This is often done in the face of adversity, such as escalating property valuations, potential condemnation, episodic drought, wildfire, and invasive species.

This Year in Review (pdf) features the six winning families whom we had the pleasure of meeting throughout 2009. These, as well as the finalists in each state, are all extremely strong, charismatic, humble, and dedicated families who have made, sometimes difficult, decisions to manage their operations so they are both economically and environmentally successful, and we respect them tremendously for that. They are all not only outstanding stewards of the land but also outstanding people.

 

May the families and stories included in this Year in Review inspire you as much as they have inspired us!

 

Brent M. Haglund, Ph.D.

President, Sand County Foundation