California Leopold Conservation Award Seeks Nominees

Nominations must be postmarked by July 11, 2014 for the $10,000 environmental stewardship award.

Source: Sustainable Conservation

Sand County Foundation, the California Farm Bureau Federation and Sustainable Conservation are accepting applications for the $10,000 California Leopold Conservation Award.

The award honors California farmers, ranchers and other private landowners who demonstrate outstanding stewardship and management of natural resources.

"The Leopold Conservation Award is the highest national award given to land stewards who focus on conservation," said Lynn Giacomini-Stray of the Robert Giacomini Dairy, recipient of the 2013 California Leopold Conservation Award. "As the 2013 California recipient, we’re honored and proud to be recognized and acknowledged for our conservation efforts. We encourage others to step up and share their conservation efforts in hope that others will follow."

"The Giacomini family demonstrates that business success goes hand in hand with thoughtful natural resources stewardship," said Brent Haglund, Ph.D., Sand County Foundation President. "We look forward to recognizing more outstanding landowners who are committed to conservation in California."

Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the Leopold Conservation Award inspires other landowners by example 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."

"The Leopold Conservation Award provides outstanding recognition of farmers and ranchers who often take small steps to realize big gains in managing their farms in a sustainable and profitable manner," said California Farm Bureau Federation President Paul Wenger. "The Giacomini Family is a great example of the generational appreciation farmers and ranchers have for their land. The stewardship the Giacominis employ at their farm and dairy serves as a great example of California farmers and ranchers commitment to the environment."

"California farmers, ranchers and other landowners prove daily that a healthy environment and economy are not only possible, but essential, to a bright future," said Sustainable Conservation Executive Director Ashley Boren. "The California Leopold Conservation Award celebrates these often overlooked conservation heroes who produce our food and steward our environment in ways that benefit people and the planet."

Nominations must be postmarked by July 11, 2014, and mailed to Leopold Conservation Award c/o Sustainable Conservation, 98 Battery Street, Suite 302, San Francisco, CA 94111. The 2014 California Leopold Conservation Award will be presented in December at the California Farm Bureau Federation’s Annual Meeting in Monterey.

The California Leopold Conservation Award is possible thanks to generous contributions from many organizations, including The Nature Conservancy, and S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Farm Credit, DuPont Pioneer and The Mosaic Company.

For application information, please visit www.leopoldconservationaward.org.

The Leopold Conservation Award is a competitive award that recognizes landowner achievement in voluntary conservation. The award consists of a crystal award depicting Aldo Leopold and a check for $10,000. Sand County Foundation presents Leopold Conservation Awards in California, Colorado, Kentucky, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Sand County Foundation is a private, non-profit conservation group dedicated to working with private landowners to advance the use of ethical and scientifically sound land management practices and partnerships for the benefit of people and their rural landscapes. 

The California Farm Bureau Federation works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of more than 74,000 members statewide and as part of a nationwide network of more than 6.2 million Farm Bureau members. 

Sustainable Conservation believes promoting a healthy environment can be good for business. Its award-winning air, water, wildlife and climate initiatives promote practical solutions and tangible results for California and its people. Founded in 1993, Sustainable Conservation’s effectiveness lies in building strong alliances with business, agriculture and government – and establishing models for environmental and economic sustainability that can be replicated across California and beyond.