Garrett Ranch Receives 2017 Wyoming Leopold Conservation Award
January 16, 2017
Cheyenne, Wyo. – The Garrett Ranch has been named the 2017 recipient of the Wyoming Leopold Conservation Award®, presented in partnership by Sand County Foundation and the Wyoming Stock Growers Association through their Environmental Stewardship Award Program.
Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the Leopold Conservation Award recognizes extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation. It inspires other landowners through these examples and provides a visible forum where farmers, ranchers and other private landowners are recognized as conservation leaders. In his influential 1949 book, A Sand County Almanac, 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.”
Owned and managed by the Garrett family, the Garrett Ranch is located south of Casper on Highway 487. The family’s dedication to outstanding, voluntary conservation sets an example for landowners across Wyoming and the United States. “It’s awesome that we were even nominated for this award,” Ethel Garret states in the January 7###sup/sup### edition of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. “It is a really prestigious award, and we’re proud to have won.”
The Garrett Ranch was established in 1937. Over the years, the Garrett family has made significant improvements to pastures with help of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The family has also made improvements to rangeland health and repaired creeks and other water ways. “The Garret Ranch exemplifies the efforts of multiple generations of a ranching family to build and expand their business through hard work and a dedication to the enhancement of their natural resources,” states Jim Magagna, Wyoming Stock Growers Association (WSGA) Executive Vice President.
The WSGA Environmental Stewardship Tour will be held in June or July and will highlight the Garrett Ranch, history of the operation and the family’s land management practices over the years. The Garretts will be presented with the $10,000 award and a crystal depicting Aldo Leopold.
The Leopold Conservation Award is sponsored by Monaghan Management, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, World Wildlife Fund and Rocky Mountain Power. For more information and application materials, visit www.leopoldconservationaward.org
ABOUT THE WYOMING STOCK GROWERS ASSOCIATION
Since 1872, the Wyoming Stock Growers Association has served the livestock business and families of Wyoming by protecting their economic, legislative, regulatory, judicial, environmental, custom and cultural interests. We promote the role of the cattle industry in resource stewardship, animal care and the production of high-quality, safe and nutritious beef. Learn more at www.wysga.org or call 307-638-3942.
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 depicting Aldo Leopold and $10,000. Sand County Foundation presents Leopold Conservation Awards in California, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming. For more information visit www.leopoldconservationaward.org
ABOUT SAND COUNTY FOUNDATION
Sand County Foundation (www.sandcountyfoundation.org) is a non-profit conservation organization dedicated to working with private landowners across North America to advance ethical and scientifically sound land management practices that benefit the environment.