For more on Dr. Kuhns' conservation success story, visit https://sandcountyfoundation.org/our-work/leopold-conservation-award/dr-james-greg-kuhns For all Kentucky Leopold Conservation Award recipients visit https://sandcountyfoundation.org/our-work/leopold-conservation-award/state/kentucky For more on Leopold Conservation Awards across the country visit https://sandcountyfoundation.org/our-work/leopold-conservation-award/award-recipients.

For more on their conservation success story visit: https://sandcountyfoundation.org/our-work/leopold-conservation-award-program/greg-and-janis-thoren To view all recipients of the Illinois Leopold Conservation Award visit: https://sandcountyfoundation.org/our-work/leopold-conservation-award/state/illinois For more on the Leopold Conservation Award visit: https://sandcountyfoundation.org/our-work/leopold-conservation-award

For more about Eagle Rock Ranch: https://sandcountyfoundation.org/our-work/leopold-conservation-award-program/eagle-rock-ranch All recipients of the Colorado Leopold Conservation Award: https://sandcountyfoundation.org/our-work/leopold-conservation-award/state/colorado For more on the Leopold Conservation Award, visit https://sandcountyfoundation.org/our-work/leopold-conservation-award

Wexford Ranches are seven diverse properties across seven Texas counties. Collectively, they showcase the O’Connor family’s commitment and devotion to the unique ecosystems and wildlife found in the Lone Star State. Thomas O’Connor came to South Texas from Wexford County, Ireland and established a ranch in 1836. Ever since, generations of O’Connors have acquired and stewarded river bottom forests, thorn shrublands, oak mottes, and one of the largest swaths of intact Coastal Bend prairie along the Gulf Coast, known as Duke Prairie. The Duke Prairie spans 14 linear miles with several lakes and waterways that host thousands of migratory birds. Thanks to decades of management to enhance and establish habitat for the critically endangered Attwater’s Prairie Chicken there has been an observed population of more than 50 birds over the past five years. Quail populations have also flourished thanks to increased nesting structure from targeted control of huisache and increased native grass cover. Abundant native grass cover has stabilized topsoil which increases water infiltration in a semi-arid region. Louise O’Connor is Wexford Ranches’ fifth-generation owner. She authored a historical memoir "Cryin’ for Daylight: A Ranching Culture in the Texas Coastal Bend". The book documents the lives of fellow ranchers, cowhands, and camp cooks, chronicling more than 155 years of history of the Mexican American, Anglo, and African American families who ranched in Goliad, Refugio, Victoria, and surrounding counties. For more than four decades, Louise has relied on the leadership of ranch foreman Kai Buckert in bringing new technologies and innovative conservation practices to the Wexford Ranches in South and West Texas. Their overarching goal across each property has been to collaboratively restore habitats that protect and increase wildlife populations. These efforts earned Wexford Ranches a Texas Parks and Wildlife Lone Star Land Steward Award, representing the South Texas ecoregion in 2012. Conservation practices at Wexford Ranches have led to increased water flow across its natural streams and other waterways. Well managed grazing practices have put less stress on their pastures and reduced parasite loads which in turn reduced worming costs for cattle and have led to a resurgence of native grasses. Beef cattle are calved year-round, which provides a market advantage for the family. In addition to cattle sales, the South Texas Wexford Ranches generates income from hunting leases, and rent from cotton fields. Wexford’s Lado Ranch, located 10 miles from Van Horn on the north end, borders the Rio Grande on the south end and features expansive desert grasslands and the Van Horn mountain range in between. This property when purchased by the O’Connor family was cross fenced into smaller pastures by sheep wire limiting wildlife movement by pronghorn and bighorn sheep. Since then, livestock and fencing were removed to facilitate wildlife movement and allow native grasses to recover and quickly reestablish in this arid environment. Prairie dogs were reintroduced in grassland areas to restore the ecology and serve as a food source for predatory birds. Despite being livestock-free, the Lado Ranch is profitable thanks to income from hunting leases which support ranch employees, property taxes, water distribution work, and supplemental wildlife feed. Desert bighorn sheep, mule deer, Aoudad, mountain lions, and multiple species of quail have been collared and studied by university researchers. Two decades of tracking data helps researchers learn more about the wide-ranging movements of native desert species. In addition to the many conservation partners welcomed to Lado Ranch, local FFA members have conducted plant identification field trips there. University students tour it for geology and anthropology field trips.

Bill Clark wanted to be a rancher ever since he was tall enough to feed calves at his grandfather’s dairy farm. He met the love of his life, a rancher’s daughter named Betty, in the sixth grade. Over the course of their 55-year love affair, Bill and Betty’s dreams took root at Rising Sun Ranch. In each other they had found someone equally committed to leaving their land and livestock better than they found them. Their ranch grew to about 5,800 acres of native rangelands with the help of their sons, Will and Garrett. Bill has been lauded as an innovator for adopting prescribed burning and rotational grazing practices while providing leadership to conservation organizations. However, he says none of it would have been possible without Betty, who died tragically in 2024. The Rising Sun Ranch’s welcome sign matches its cattle brand, four rays atop a rising sun: one for Betty, Bill, and their boys. It was 20 years ago that Bill came to appreciate how fire could rejuvenate native grasses. A friend who was an experienced practitioner of prescribed fire wrestled the drip torch from Bill’s hesitant hand and ignited the prairie at Rising Sun Ranch. Ever since, Bill has been a proponent of preserving prairie by setting it ablaze every few years. He has hosted workshops and field days for conservation professionals and fellow ranchers through his involvement with the Pontotoc Ridge Prescribed Burning Association. Following a spring burn, Bill uses a retrofitted Great Plains drill to seed Eastern Gamagrass. The “ice cream grass”, as it’s known, is a nutritious, highly palatable, forage for grazing livestock and wildlife. Its deep root system improves soil health, retain moistures, and supports beneficial fungi. It also provides crucial habitat and food for birds and insects. In recent years Bill has documented the repopulation of Texas horned lizards, quail, and turkeys to Rising Sun Ranch. Drilling wells and installing about 30 watering facilities allowed the Clarks to divide their ranch into 60-100-acre paddocks. Cattle and sheep are rotated to a fresh paddock twice weekly during the growing season, and once per week during the dormant season. Instead of applying herbicide to control weeds, Bill has found the grazing sheep and cattle works as a tag team against invasive species. Another way the Clarks use livestock to work with the natural ecosystem has been by breeding their cows with Lowline American Aberdeen bulls. Their moderate framed and maternally focused offspring require less grass and feed. Bill knows that his efforts to rejuvenate grasslands look inefficient to some, but he sees agricultural conservation as the pathway to returning the landscape to how it was “before county roads, barbed wire, and rural fire departments.” Others have taken notice of how Bill has navigated increasingly volatile weather, embraced new ways of grazing livestock and controlling invasive species. In its nomination of Bill for the Leopold Conservation Award, the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts wrote, “Bill’s pursuit of knowledge about the living world around him and willingness to try new practices is unwavering.” Rising Sun Ranch is more than an oasis of lush green prairie and pastures in south central Oklahoma. It’s the living embodiment of one couple’s dream.

The farm crisis of the 1980s led to something positive for Jim and Shirl Hershey. After purchasing her parents’ dairy farm in the late 1970s, they soon faced high debt and soaring interest rates. Unable to afford hired help, they tried to do it all. Something had to give. That’s when their conservation journey began. Jim tried no-till farming practices to reduce fuel costs and time spent plowing, without giving much thought to the potential environmental benefits. He jokes that farmers didn’t widely discuss soil biology back then. A decade later, when he began growing rye as a cover crop, he noticed that water no longer pooled in his fields. The combination of no-till with a cover crop was improving the soil’s ability to infiltrate moisture. With a roller crimper mounted to his planter, he became an early adopter of planting corn and soybeans into fields of living cover crops. This practice is better known today as “planting green.” He noticed early on that any soil compaction issues were alleviated and soil structure improved. Leaving crop residue on his fields has increased organic material and biodiversity in the soil while reducing erosion and weeds. With each growing season, Jim has adopted conservation practices to increase productivity and profitability while preventing soil erosion and water runoff, and reducing the need to apply costly nutrients and herbicides. Jim and Shirl farm with their son Marc and daughter-in-law, Crystal, who have operated an event venue, Harvest View Barn, since 2014. Together, they grow 500 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, and barley, and raise about 6,000 pigs and 1.7 million chickens annually. Their manure is incorporated into soil to maximize the efficiency of the nutrients, control odor, and prevent runoff. Penn State University researchers have long had an open door to the Hershey farm to conduct research trials on the impact of planting green and cover crops on nitrogen efficiency, weed control, and soil temperature. Jim has also partnered with 4R Alliance and Pasa Sustainable Agriculture to analyze soil health and water infiltration. To share his experience with other farmers, Jim co-founded the Pennsylvania No-Till Alliance in 2005. He has served as president of the farmer-led organization that promotes no-till practices for 15 years. He also leads the Pennsylvania Regenerative Ag Research Foundation, and serves on the State Conservation Commission Board. In 2019, Jim and Shirl traveled to Zambia to establish an agriculture sustainability program for farmers who grow maize and other vegetable crops. They continue to mentor a farm family they met there. On their own farm, the Hersheys established 13-acres of buffer strip along a stream with 3,200 trees. An NRCS Forestry Management Plan on another 27 forested acres controls invasive species. Jim’s drive to keep his farm’s landscape green through as many days of the year as he can has led him to innovate. He designed and built a cover crop interseeder that has been sold to other farmers. His expanded cover crop production now includes crimson clover, tillage radish, Hairy vetch, and winter peas. The multi-species mix is attracting more butterflies and bees to his farm, which serves as inspiration for a conservation leader who is still excited to learn.

The Nebraska Sandhills is one of the last intact grassland ecosystems in North America, and the largest sand dune formation in the Western Hemisphere. Formed by glacial meltwater carrying sand and silt from the Rocky Mountains, the Sandhills are defined by rolling grass-covered dunes, fragile soil, and a delicate hydrological system. Prairie grasses stabilize nearly 20,000 square miles of sand dunes in western Nebraska. This rangeland was never tilled on a large scale but makes ideal grazing for livestock when managed responsibly. Deeply rooted in this region is Robert and Susanne Jones’ Diamond Bar Ranch. For generations the Jones family has understood their success is tied to the health of the Sandhills, and they’ve worked to protect this unique environment. As they ranch with their grown children: Natalie, Shaylee, Grant, and Lance, their conservation ethic is centered around responsible grazing, water stewardship, soil preservation, and wildlife habitat management. Diamond Bar Ranch’s rotational grazing system follows time-tested Sandhills principles, designed to mimic the natural movement of bison herds that once roamed the region. By resting one-third of the ranch each year from grazing, native grasses like Little Bluestem and Prairie Sandreed are regenerated. While working cattle, horses are utilized rather than motorized vehicles to minimize soil disturbance in the sandy terrain. The Jones family’s adaptive grazing strategy takes into account rainfall variability, forage availability, and soil conditions. Cross-fencing allows for improved grazing distribution, while GPS tracking and aerial monitoring technology assists in pasture management. Since 2000, the Jones family has planted more than 31,000 trees and shrubs to reduce wind erosion and improve wildlife habitat. Strategically planted windbreaks offer protection for livestock during windy winters. With assistance from the Natural Resources Conservation Service and Sandhills Task Force, the Jones family has mechanically removed invasive eastern red cedar trees across their Logan County ranch. With access to the Ogallala Aquifer, natural springs, ponds, and the South Loup River, Diamond Bar Ranch employs 56 windmills and solar wells to provide drought-prone water sources for crop irrigation and drinking water for livestock and wildlife. Wet meadows are an ecologically significant part of the ranch. These lush, moisture-rich grasslands remain productive even in dry years, providing a valuable forage source. Wet meadows are also essential habitats for migratory birds, amphibians, and native fish species. To reduce dependence on external feed sources, the ranch produces its own high-quality forage, including irrigated corn, alfalfa, and wet meadow hay, to produce nutrient-dense beef from its Red and Black Angus cattle. Diamond Bar Ranch’s pastures support populations of prairie chickens, sharp-tailed grouse, mule deer, white-tailed deer, and antelope, all of which depend on the same healthy grasslands that sustain livestock. The Jones family follows wildlife-friendly haying practices, allowing ground-nesting birds to flush and escape during harvest. The Jones family shares their conservation knowledge with other ranchers, policymakers, and the public. Their ranch hosted the National Grazing Lands Coalition Tour in 2022 to provide a hands-on opportunity for ranchers and conservationists to learn about sustainable grazing practices. They are longtime supporters of the Nebraska Youth Ranch Camp, where high school students learn about range management and leadership. As pressure mounts in agriculture to balance production with sustainability, the Diamond Bar Ranch shows how these two priorities can coexist. The Jones family’s conservation-minded land management has produced economic success and ecological resilience.

Dave Tribbett had already made his mark as a poultry industry innovator before he discovered the dual benefits of growing Giant miscanthus grass. The son of an FFA advisor started out by leasing some farmland and chicken houses while still in high school. With hard work, strategic diversification, and a forward-thinking commitment to sustainability, he never looked back. Today, his Twin Maples Farms raises more than 1 million chickens annually in eight poultry houses, and 1,500 acres of crops, including corn, soybeans, and lima beans. Dave’s adaptability was evident when he pioneered the use of wooden trussed poultry barns. His 65-by-500-foot design improved construction efficiency, lowered costs, and became the regional industry standard. In search of a better bedding for his chicken flocks, he began growing miscanthus, a sterile, non-invasive perennial grass. The cane-like plant reaches heights of 12 feet and produces up to 8-12 tons of biomass per acre. He planted the first 30 acres on areas that were erosion-prone, soils high in phosphorus, and otherwise unproductive cropland. The harvested grass provides a clean, soft, dry, absorbent, dust-free bedding, that reduces flies, pests, and odors. Miscanthus fields stabilize soils, filter runoff, improve water retention, and enhance carbon sequestration, with no herbicides and minimal fertilizer inputs needed. By drying naturally in the field, no further drying is required. This reduces energy use when compared to wood shavings that require intense energy. Within a few years, Dave expanded his miscanthus production to 1,000 acres, significantly reducing legacy phosphorus and nitrate which historically have contributed to pollution in the Chesapeake Bay estuary. Off the farm, he advocated for the crop as an added-value resource for poultry producers, and an environmental buffer for Maryland’s waterways and ecosystems. The long-term soil health benefits of miscanthus, including increasing soil organic matter and reducing nutrient runoff, are well-documented at Twin Maples Farms. Data from 2020 showed a reduction in surface erosion by up to 97.7 percent on converted acres, along with a significant reduction in nitrate leaching and phosphorus runoff. In addition, nearly 600 tons of carbons are sequestered annually. Twin Maples Farms farm serves as a living laboratory for research on miscanthus’s role in nutrient reduction, erosion control, and buffer efficacy. David believes it’s a new water infiltration tool with the ability to heal farmland damaged by hurricanes. He frequently hosts tours for students, farmers, policymakers, and community groups, to share his knowledge. His leadership in environmental conservation didn’t stop there. He founded the Mid Atlantic Organic Resource Company (MAORC), which transforms agricultural by-products into high-quality organic compost. Marquis Roberts, the compost facility’s farm manager is credited with helping Dave achieve a closed loop system where resources are recycled and reused within a continuous cycle. Last year, MAORC diverted more than 19,360 tons of poultry and horse manure, hatchery and egg waste, and grain waste from landfills. These nutrient-rich agricultural by-products, coupled with miscanthus for carbon, helped MAORC produce 27,000 tons of organic compost sold to farmers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed as a sustainable alternative to synthetic fertilizers, promoting soil health and resource efficiency. Dave, who self-funded all his major conservation initiatives, has proven that environmental stewardship and agricultural success are not mutually exclusive. His proactive approach is setting a regional standard for conservation-minded agriculture, fostering a community-wide shift toward environmentally responsible practices.