We hope you enjoy these profile videos of recent Leopold Conservation Award recipients. Older videos may be viewed on the Sand County Foundation YouTube channel.
Cousins Karl and Raymond Heaton are fourth generation ranchers responsible for the management of over 140,000 private and federal acres at Heaton Ranch, located in Alton. The ranch consists of approximately 1,250 head of cattle. The Heatons believe that natural resources conservation is critical to the success of their ranching business. They utilize conservation practices to improve grassland, water quality, and wildlife habitat at the ranch. Water quality and delivery improvements include the development or restoration of over 50 stock...
read moreJim and Valerie Hebbe, along with their daughter, Ashley, operate a cash grain farm in Green Lake County. In his nearly 30 years of experience in melding conservation and agriculture, Jim is the essence of adaptive management. Jim began farming in 1983 by renting some land from his father. He planted field corn, using conventional tillage, resulting in poor yields. Following a couple of attempts, Jim realized that he needed a system that conserved soil moisture and improved organic matter. This led him to no-till farming in 1986, when he...
read moreIn this video, which is courtesy of the South Dakota Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Kopriva family describes some of their many conservation efforts, including rotational grazing and no-till farming. Jim and Karen Kopriva’s ranch, which they operate with their son, Lee and daughter, Angela, is located near Raymond and consists of approximately 2,000 acres. Initially, the Koprivas were grain farmers but economics and a fondness for cattle prompted the family to transition their cropland to grassland and hayland over the...
read moreThe Buell family is part of the fabric of the Nebraska Sandhills. For nearly 130 years, they have ranched in the region, while caring for the land, water, and wildlife that each Buell generation passed on to the next. The Buell family’s legacy in the Sandhills began when Benjamin Franklin Buell fell in love with the area while on his way from Michigan to Washington State. Needless to say, he never made it to Washington. Benjamin settled in the Sandhills in 1882 and began a ranch tradition that included the preservation and enhancement of...
read moreThe Sommers family has been ranching cattle in Sublette County, Wyoming since 1907 when Albert “Prof” Sommers and his brother, Pearl, established the ranch. Today, third generation ranchers Albert and his sister, Jonita, manage the operation. Sommers Ranch consists of 1,000 acres of rangeland, 200 acres of irrigated pasture, 30 acres of wetland, and 827 acres of hayland. Albert and Jonita’s concern about a continuation of their family’s conservation legacy led them to enroll their land into a perpetual conservation easement, including...
read moreRussell and Tricia Davis’ Wineinger-Davis Ranch, located in Lincoln and Crowley Counties, was established in 1938 as a 400-acre livestock operation. It currently consists of over 12,000 acres. Ranch operations include beef production, birding, eco-tourism, agri-tourism, and hunting. The Davis family successfully integrates the needs of a successful and productive beef operation with the habitat needs of a suite of shortgrass prairie wildlife species. In 2004, Russell and Tricia placed perpetual conservation easements on the ranch...
read moreThe George Mitchell family’s Cook’s Branch Conservancy, which consists of 5,650 acres in southeastern Texas, has been managed for nearly 50 years under a family tradition of conservation and sustainability. In the spirit of Aldo Leopold, the Mitchell family’s hard work and dedication to conservation restored their land back to health and sustainability. This goal led to the Mitchell family’s decision to discontinue commercial agricultural operations at Cook’s Branch Conservancy in 2000 to minimize typical human impacts on...
read moreJim Koepke and his son, John, discuss how important conservation and the utilization of a land ethic are to their farming operation. Soil and water management are at the forefront of their efforts. This video was produced by UW-Extension. Share/Bookmark
read moreIn this video, courtesy of the Utah Natural Resources Conservation Service, Steve Osguthorpe discusses how his family has diversified their operation through the years to keep the land in production in the face of encroaching development in Park City, Utah. Share/Bookmark
read moreIn this video, which is courtesy of the South Dakota Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Todd Mortenson describes some of his family’s many conservation efforts. Share/Bookmark
read more
