Know a farmer or forestland owner who goes above and beyond in their care and management of natural resources? Nominate them for the 2020 New England Leopold Conservation Award.
Sand County Foundation presents the Leopold Conservation Award to private landowners in 20 states for extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation. In New England the $10,000 award is presented annually with American Farmland Trust, Wildlands and Woodlands and New England Forestry Foundation.
Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the award recognizes landowners who inspire others with their dedication to soil health, water quality and wildlife habitat on private, working land. In his influential 1949 book, A Sand County Almanac, Leopold called for an ethical relationship between people and the land they own and manage.
Nominations may be submitted on behalf of a landowner in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. Landowners may also nominate themselves. Click here to view and download the application.
The application deadline date is July 15, 2020. Applications can be emailed to award@sandcountyfoundation.org. If mailed, applications must be postmarked by July 15, and mailed to:
Leopold Conservation Award
c/o New England Forestry Foundation
P.O. Box 1346
Littleton, MA 01460
Applications will be reviewed by an independent panel of agricultural and forestry conservation leaders.
“Leopold Conservation Award recipients are at the forefront of a movement by America’s farmers, ranchers and foresters to simultaneously achieve economic and environmental success,” said Kevin McAleese, Sand County Foundation President and CEO.
Last year the inaugural recipient of the award was Bill Hull of Hull Forest Products in Pomfret Center, Connecticut.
The New England Leopold Conservation Award is made possible through the generous support of American Farmland Trust, New England Forestry Foundation, The Ida and Robert Gordon Family Foundation, Wildlands and Woodlands, David and Ann Ingram, Whole Foods Market, the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and Farm Credit East.
Photo by Lauren Owens Lambert.