Awards

Rancher of the Year

Broken 1 Ranch- The Ivins Family

“Shawn and Tyler run on the Camp Jackson Allotment on the Manti La Sal National Forest, Monticello Ranger District. The upper pasture is extremely steep, high elevation and covered with thick trees and brush, making fence construction and maintenance expensive and difficult. To make matters worse, they are backed by the culinary watershed. A cow’s dream pasture with lush grass and water in plentiful supply. When given the task to keep cows off the watershed once and for all, they not only came up with a plan, but started the process before our next meeting was even scheduled.To my knowledge, the Broken I Ranch was the first ranching operation to use virtual fencing on public lands in the state of Utah, on both BLM and USFS. They are successfully using new innovations as a livestock management tool. So far, virtual fencing is working better than traditional fencing ever has in this area. They took a chance with a new technology to find a fix for an age-old problem. They should be commended for their efforts in range land management as they are setting the standard for the future of ranching.”

Nominator, Christina Tinsley

Range Excellence

Tabby Mountain Red Creek Allotment- Price Ranch

“ The Price Ranch is a multi-generation cattle operation in the Northeast region of Utah. They purchased both permits on Tabby Mtn and bought out the association in 2018. In their time running this allotment they have worked very hard to improve the range in all aspects. They have rebuilt fences that no one ever knew about. They have installed 4 new water systems and updated old systems…, built new fences to create new pastures…., updated the corrals and cow camp…, and implemented rest into multiple pastures. They work well with all partners. They have a good relationship with the county roads department… and the DWR. They have applied for GIP funds 3 out of 4 years running on this permit and completed projects working with UDAF. They are great to work with and communicate well with me as their range manager. They are always willing to try new ideas and do new projects.

They are great stewards of the land and their management is making a difference on the landscape. They are not the type to reach out for any accolades. They quietly do their job and take good care of the range they are permitted for. With their cooperation and ideas and many different range managers, this allotment has very much improved and is reaching all of its management goals.”

Nominator, Ethan Hallows

Range Manager of the Year

Slate Stewart

“Slate is very deserving for the range manager of the year award. Slate is the one you want on your team if you are a producer. He is an advocate for agricultural and responsible grazing. He grew up on a family ranch and is still involved in his family operation… He intimately understands the issues at hand for ranchers and is better able to address them. He has great repour with his permittees… and knows how to get things done. He has worked especially hard this year to get water rights secured and wells drilled on Trust Lands within the Bear Ears National Monument that will be traded to BLM. This is no easy feat. I think there have been close to 50 wells drilled to better distribute water across this dry area of the state. He understands livestock, wildlife, water rights, plants, soil, and all other aspects of range management. He is a well rounded rangeland manager. He has worked with the BLM, UGIP, and now SITLA. Working for SITLA, he covers 1/3 of the state of Utah for all things natural resources. He is active in the Utah SRM and has served in various capacities. He has led tours and helped plan state meetings. He has been involved with tough grazing issues with wildlife and wildhorses. If you get the chance to work with Slate as a permittee, cooperator, or coworker consider yourself lucky. He is good at his job and deserves recognition.”

Nominator, Ethan Hallows

Outstanding Young Range Professional

Nathan Roberts

Nathan started with the UDAF Grazing Improvement Program in 2016 and jumped in with both feet. Nate has obtained and maintained a great working relationship and rapport with the ranching community within his area. Over the past three years Nate has managed the completion of over 40 water wells throughout the desert ranges of Southeastern Utah, completely changing the grazing world in his region. Nate has maintained a good knowledge base of range management practices and does an awesome job at communicating those to and getting ranchers to implement changes to their operations that benefit range conditions. Nate has also been leading the La Sal Sustainability Collaboration (LSSC) group comprised of special interest groups, county reps, ranchers, DWR, USFS, BLM, SITLA, and others, working as a whole to improve conditions through grazing management in the fisheries and uplands across multiple allotments with two permittees on the Southern end of the La Sal Mountains and West onto the desert overlooking the Colorado River. Nate has always exhibited an extremely high level of professionalism in all that he does and can speak the language of whatever interest community he works with to accomplish good things for the rangelands of southeastern Utah.”

Nominator, Slate Stewart