Leopold Conservation Award applications now available

RBC | Applications are now being accepted for the prestigious Leopold Conservation Award® honoring agricultural landowners in Colorado who demonstrate outstanding stewardship and management of natural resources.
Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the $10,000 award recognizes private landowner achievement in voluntary conservation. It is presented annually by Sand County Foundation, the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and American AgCredit.
Applications are due by Feb. 27. Finalists and recipient will be announced by April. For complete application information, visit www.leopoldconservationaward.org.
In his influential 1949 book, “A Sand County Almanac,” Aldo 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.”
“The outstanding agricultural landowners we honor with the Leopold Conservation Award exemplify what it means to be leaders in conservation for the benefit of our environment,” said Kevin McAleese, Sand County Foundation president.
President of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, Tim Lehmann noted that “keeping working lands in working hands yield amazing conservation results for the environment, society and our economy. The Leopold Conservation Award celebrates this ideology and is advanced through those who apply for this amazing recognition and honor.”
“The Leopold Conservation Award is a powerful reminder that production agriculture has both the opportunity and the responsibility to ­give back to the land,” said Terry Lindley, chief marketing officer of American AgCredit.
“Tri-State and its member electric cooperatives are proud to support the Leopold Conservation Award,” said Mike McInnes, chief executive officer of Tri-State. “The environmental stewardship recognized with the award reflects the strong conservation ethic of rural communities and their electric cooperatives.”
Award applicants are judged based on their demonstration of improved resource conditions, innovation, long-term commitment to stewardship, sustained economic viability, community and civic leadership, and multiple use benefits.
The Colorado award is sponsored by Tri-State Generation and Transmission Assoc., American AgCredit, The Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, The Nature Conservancy, and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.