Boggy Slough Conservation Area of Lufkin, Texas The 416-mile Neches River is often called the last wild river in East Texas. The river’s slow-moving water and its pine and bottomland hardwood forests have been part of eastern Texas’s history and culture, since Native Americans and European settlers depended on them for food and shelter. The Neches River’s corridor remains one of the state’s least discovered natural resources, but the Temple family has stewarded parts of this special area for over a century. T.L.L. Temple, founder of the Southern Pine Lumber Company, bought a portion of what became known as Boggy Slough in 1902. Its 13,500 acres of timberland and 5,500 acres of wetland forests along 18 miles of river frontage were some of the first land he acquired outside of northeast Texas and Arkansas. In the 1940s, the Temples began to shift the management of Boggy Slough toward wildlife and forest management research and demonstration. The land became a corporate asset of three Temple-owned businesses in the 1960s. By the 1980s, Boggy Slough had been divided into northern and southern management areas, each with its own hunting leases to control deer populations, as it remains today. In 2012, ownership of Boggy Slough was transferred to International Paper through a corporate sale. Recognizing the land’s significance, the T.L.L. Temple Foundation, led by Board Chairman Arthur (Buddy) Temple, III, acquired the property in 2013. In 2015, an agreement was negotiated with The Conservation Fund to place a conservation easement over the property ensuring it will be protected and managed sustainably as a working forest in perpetuity. The easement was transferred to the Texas Land Conservancy in 2019. Through the decades the Boggy Slough Conservation Area has become known for its ecological research, stewardship of natural resources, and outreach to promote conservation. Its landscape provides a unique mix of wet bottomland hardwood ecosystems, wet and dry transitional forests, and upland pine forests on the western edge of the Southeastern U.S. pine region. Because quail, eastern wild turkey, and many plants need more sunlight than a closed canopy of pine provides, a focus at Boggy Slough has been providing open-canopy habitat within a working forest. Healthy forestland provides key habitat for white-tailed deer, migratory birds, songbirds, fish, and native plants. Boggy Slough hosts seven clusters of the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker, and a rare native wildflower, Texas prairie dawn. Its swamps and oxbows are also home to the Neches River Rose-mallow, an endangered plant that can grow up to 8 feet tall and produces hundreds of flowers that provide nectar for bees and other pollinating species. The rich history and biodiversity of the Boggy Slough Conservation Area is underscored with the presence of two Texas State Champion Trees (the largest documented of their species): Longleaf pine and the White fringetree. A cornerstone of the conservation success found at Boggy Slough is the role it has played for decades as an outdoor research laboratory for graduate students and other research collaborators studying issues of regional concern. Boggy Slough Conservation Area Executive Director, Steve Jack, and Forest and Wildlife Manager, Robert Sanders, have enhanced the property’s reputation for ecological research, natural resource stewardship, and public outreach. Through active management and collaboration with state agencies, conservation organizations, and landowners, they have promoted a strong land ethic and a deeper commitment to conservation throughout East Texas. The land management practices at Boggy Slough Conservation Area build on the Temple family’s legacy of conservation, stewardship, and philanthropy.

Ready to explore cover crops as a way to improve soil health and reduce runoff? Wisconsin Farmer Nick Viney shares his experience and tips to get started. This video was produced by Sand County Foundation in partnership with BASF for the BASF Center for Sustainable Agriculture. www.sandcountyfoundation.org

Having weathered droughts and the 1980s farm crisis, Scotty and Jo Herriman thought they knew the ups and downs of farming. Although agile in the face of adversity, nothing could have prepared them for a historic flood’s wrath. The heart of their 2,000-acre farm in northeast Oklahoma sits along the Verdigris River. Fertile river bottom land was cleared and terraced for growing corn, soybeans, wheat and milo in the 1970s, and a riparian area was maintained to prevent soil erosion and provide habitat for wildlife. It began raining on June 26, 2007, and five days later the Verdigris River crested over 30 feet. A broken levee flooded the Herriman’s home and deluged a local refinery, dumping 42,000 gallons of oil into the river. Everything along the float line turned black, and the flood washed away the topsoil the Herrimans had worked three decades to preserve. Their farm was nearly decimated with just 13 acres of crops left to harvest. That was followed by poor crop yields in 2008. Scotty says he was pushed to consider changing how he farmed. Inspired by other farmers having success with reduced tillage, in 2010 he adopted no-till soybeans and strip-till corn. In addition to time savings and less equipment maintenance, Scotty noticed positive changes in his soil. The prior year’s plant-root channels that dig deep into the ground were improving soil infiltration and creating a more stable and resilient soil structure. Future crops were less stressed by drought and pests due to increased crop vigor. To reduce herbicide use, Scotty planted a cover crop of cereal rye in 2016. Cover crops suppress weeds and leave a mulch layer an inch thick, which further increases soil moisture retention and moderates the soil’s temperature. Today, he sells cereal rye seed to farmers for cover crops and has hosted many farm tours to showcase the soil health benefits of cover crops. The Herriman Farm was also one site for the Oklahoma Conservation Commission and American Farmland Trust’s “Soil Health Case Studies” in 2022. The study analyzed the financial impacts of conservation practices on 350 acres of the farm. It found the farm’s net income increased by $4 per acre, per year, achieving a 7 percent return on investment. The Herrimans have been repeat winners in the National Corn Growers Association’s yield contest for dryland corn in Oklahoma. Other sources of pride for Scotty and Jo are their three grown sons, each with agricultural careers. The Herrimans have always been willing to try innovative techniques, such as terracing, prescribed burning, and brush management. In 1978, they purchased land that included 26-acre Chouteau Lake, the largest lake in Nowata County. The land was full of scattered timber and had poor drainage. Three acres of large trees along the lake act as a riparian area and natural buffer. Several fishing clinics have been hosted at the lake that serves as a popular community resource. Scotty’s passion for working with other conservation-minded people led the governor to appoint him to the Oklahoma Conservation Commission where he served for a decade, two years as chairman. He also served as president of the Oklahoma Soybean Association. “Scotty is truly inspirational, full of wisdom and counsel, willing to share and gently guide those around him,” said Kevin Norton, a retired associate chief with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. “He is absolutely the most humble, peaceful, and optimistic farmer I have ever encountered.”

With federal and local funding, Sand County Foundation and Dubuque County Watersheds worked with 75 farmers to seed 8,500 acres of cover crops with a drone in 2024. For more on Sand County Foundation's work to assist farmer-led watershed groups, visit: https://sandcountyfoundation.org/our-work/conservation/supporting-farmer-led-groups

Join moderator Lance Irving of Sand County Foundation as he discusses conservation-minded farming and ranching with three Leopold Conservation Award recipients: Jimmy Emmons of Oklahoma, Russell Hedrick of North Carolina, and Loran Steinlage of Iowa. This event took place on January 14, 2025

Sand County Foundation is launching a new funding opportunity for farmer-led groups in Wisconsin. Proposals will be reviewed and negotiated on a rolling basis through March 31, 2025. Learn more at https://sandcountyfoundation.org/our-work/conservation/supporting-farmer-led-groups

“A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” Those words from Aldo Leopold ring true for Troy Firth as he walks through a forest. Born into a family of loggers, early on Troy worked in sawmills and the woods. He grew unsatisfied seeing forests left degraded by severe harvests, and efforts to take only the best trees. The prevailing practices of the time were threatening the local ecosystem and compromising the long-term health of the local timber economy. At that same time, Troy’s conservation ethic was being influenced by reading Aldo Leopold and Wendell Berry. He came to see that forestry done right is an observational science that attempts to mimic nature. He acquired his first forest land in the 1970s, and has since purchased about 7,000 acres. Through decades of care and diligence, Troy’s forests thrived as he built a business that provides rural jobs and a unique model for the timber industry. In addition to lumber, Firth Maple Products is Pennsylvania’s second largest maple syrup producer. Its humble beginnings took shape when Troy began tapping maple trees while living on his family’s dairy farm. The 160-acre farm’s rolling terrain proved better for growing trees than crops. Troy also found that logging and maple syrup pair well, both seasonally and for managing a workforce. Troy says, “A bad logger goes to the woods thinking of what he can take out. A good logger goes to the woods thinking of what he can leave.” In addition to his unconventional “worst first” approach to selecting timber for harvest, he removes trees by doing the least possible damage to others left standing. The same care is given to the forest floor to not disturb soil, vegetation, and wildlife habitat. To foster tree species and age diversity, Troy uses an approach akin to the Femelschlag technique or gap silviculture. Small group selections, no larger than a few acres, are harvested to create canopy gaps where the forest understory stocked with native species allows for natural regeneration to occur. This approach attracted the attention of conservation biologists and avian researchers who conduct a multi-year study of songbird diversity in forests Troy manages. Troy subcontracts with four teams of Amish loggers who use horses instead of mechanical skidders. This minimizes damage to the forest floor, allowing the understory to recover quickly. Troy was demonstrating horse logging at a field day about 25 years ago when he met one of his conservation idols, Wendell Berry. “When Aldo Leopold was writing “The Land Ethic” and worrying about “the apathy of private timber owners,” he was thinking of the need for foresters like Troy,” Berry wrote in his letter nominating Troy for the Leopold Conservation Award. Troy and his late wife, Lynn, founded the Foundation for Sustainable Forests in 2004 to protect forested ecosystems and highlight sustainable forestry practices. He remains determined to see the organization serve as a regional model for other conservation-minded landowners. To date, Troy has had a hand in the conservation of 2,250 acres of working forests, with more gains on the horizon, including the generous bequest of his own lands. While Troy’s career may sound idyllic, his lived experience is far from it. He has been unfairly criticized for not having what others say is a “realistic” approach to industrial timbering. Yet, his 45-year career is proof that forestry can be both economically profitable and ecologically nurturing.

Lewis Heaton is a farmer, rancher, hunter, conservationist, and budding photographer. He does more than just capture the beauty of landscapes and wildlife; he has been prioritizing their care at Heaton Ranches for decades. Lewis returned home with a degree in diesel mechanics in 1975 to take over the family farm. The 160 acres near McKenzie in Burleigh County had been in his family since 1926. From the start, Lewis realized developing resilient and sustainable farm and ranch methods would be key to his long-term success. Long-held practices like traditional soil tillage and calving during the winter wouldn’t be sustainable. Experimentation took time, but gradual improvements fueled his growing interest in improving soil health, wetland and freshwater resources, and habitat for wildlife and pollinators. He embraced conservation practices that were both environmentally and economically beneficial as his business grew to 20,000 acres in four counties. Today, he and wife Sherry, daughter Ella, and sister and brother-in-law Colleen and Albert Kershaw, graze 800 cow-calf pairs on 14,000 acres of rangeland, and grow 6,000 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, and flax. Lewis began using no-till farming practices in the 1990s to reduce erosion by leaving crop residue on harvested fields. To introduce more organic material to the soil, he later began growing cover crops of rye grass, turnips, and radishes. By reducing fertilizer costs the profitability of crop production increased. He also sought new ways to make raising beef cattle more profitable. Grazing cattle on corn stalks following the harvest reduces feed costs while naturally fertilizing cropland with manure and urine. Moving the calving season to later in the spring reduced feed, building, and energy costs during the winter, while improving calf health and mortality rates. During the growing season, cattle at Heaton Ranches are rotationally grazed across more than 50 pastures. Depending on the pasture’s size, location, and water sources, the cattle are moved every three to 20 days. Wetlands are fenced off from grazing when native vegetation diversity and water quality can be improved. Lewis is a grazing mentor to other ranchers and is a frequent guest speaker on wildlife-friendly grazing practices. Likewise, he only cuts hay after the grassland bird nesting season and starts cutting hay in the field’s center to reduce the risk of harming wildlife. Like Aldo Leopold before him, Lewis understands the importance hunting plays in wildlife management. For the past 20 years, Heaton Ranches has enrolled more that 3,000 acres into the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s program that opens private land to sportsmen. This, coupled with planting trees and preserving wetlands, has increased the quantity and quality of wildlife found at Heaton Ranches. To protect pollinators, Lewis limits insecticide use and only plants wheat and soybean crops with noenicitinoid-free seeds. Heaton Ranches also participates in a project examining how carbon can be captured naturally by grassland ecosystems and how grazing cattle can enhance carbon uptake. Selling carbon credits from rangeland is something Lewis hopes will soon be available to more ranchers to provide income and preserve grasslands. Lewis is passionate about sharing what he’s learned with others. He’s one of two landowner representatives on the Prairie Pothole Joint Venture management board that oversees issues impacting this environmentally important region. Photographer or not, Lewis Heaton is the picture of what a conservation ethic looks like.