Leopold Conservation Award Program

The Leopold Conservation Award Program recognizes and celebrates extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation by agricultural landowners.

Donor Name: Sand County Foundation

State: Selected States

County: All Counties

Type of Grant: Awards and Prizes

Deadline: 07/01/2024

Size of the Grant: $1000 to $10,000

Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned

Details:

Sand County Foundation, the national sponsor American Farmland Trust, and conservation partners across the U.S. present the prestigious honor, which consists of $10,000 and a crystal award, in settings that showcase the landowners’ achievements among their peers.

The Leopold Conservation Award program widely shares the stories of these conservation-minded farmers, ranchers, and forestland owners to inspire countless other landowners to embrace opportunities to improve soil health, water resources and wildlife habitat on their working land. Finally, the program builds bridges between agriculture, government, environmental organizations, industry and academia to advance the cause of environmental improvement on private land.

Award Criteria

Although the specifics within each category may vary slightly from state to state, these are the base criteria that are used by an independent panel of agricultural professionals in each state to evaluate each application for the Leopold Conservation Award.

Conservation Ethic
- The award seeks landowners who have voluntarily exceeded the minimum obligations of regulation to enhance and conserve natural resources.
Resilience
- The award seeks landowners who have used business and conservation methods to make their operation productive into the future.
Leadership and Communication
- The award seeks nominees who have shared their conservation ethic and techniques with others insider and outside of agriculture, through community service, leadership roles and media outreach.
Innovation and Adaptability
- The award seeks landowners who have taken risks by utilizing or experimenting with new techniques to adapt a change (consumers, markets, weather, regulations, etc.).
Ecological Community
- The award seeks landowners with farms, ranches and forests that work with natural systems (soil, water, plants and wildlife, etc.) and benefits others.