In the News

Sand County Foundation in partnership with the Utah Farm Bureau Federation, Utah Cattlemen’s Association, Western AgCredit and the are proud to name Johnson Mountain Ranch as the recipient of the prestigious Utah Leopold Conservation Award®. Stuart and Carma Johnson, with their son Jared and his wife Ginger, own and operate the cattle ranch near Aurora.

The Leopold Conservation Award honors Utah landowner achievement in voluntary stewardship and management of natural resources. The Johnsons were presented with a crystal award and $10,000 at the Utah Farm Bureau Federation’s Annual Convention in Layton.

Finalists for the award included Jerrold Richins of Coalville, and William “Junior” Goring and son Blake of Deweyville.

The Johnsons graze cattle on different landscapes year round. With help from partners, the family has worked to improve the health and productivity of the ranch. Some of their conservation practices include a rotational grazing program, removing juniper and other brush, and reseeding spring range infested with cheat grass.

Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the Leopold Conservation Award recognizes extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation. It inspires other landowners through these examples 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.”

“Western AgCredit congratulates the Johnson family for winning this prestigious award in recognition of their multigenerational conservation efforts. The four generations of Johnson’s who have been on their ranch are proof that sound conservation results can be achieved while simultaneously maintaining their ranch’s economic viability,” said Richard Weathered, president. “Conservationist Aldo Leopold made the following challenge to stewards of the land: ‘Examine each question in terms of what is ethically and aesthetically right, as well as what is economically expedient.’ The Johnson family has achieved this critical balance.”

The Leopold Conservation Award in Utah is made possible through the support of Western AgCredit, Utah Farm Bureau Federation, Utah Cattlemen’s Association. Producers Livestock Marketing, The Nature Conservancy, DuPont Pioneer, Farm Credit, The Mosaic Company and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.