Adapting and innovating are what farmers and ranchers do daily. So, it’s not surprising that they’re also at the forefront of discovering newways to conserve and protect the land where they work and live. Dedicated to the memory of world-renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the Leopold Conservation Award celebrates California farmers and ranchers for their sustainability efforts. The 2021 award was presented to Glenn and Marie Nader of Witcher Creek Ranch in Modoc County. “It’s all about trying to see what you can leave to the world after you’ve been here on the land,” Glenn Nader said. The Beretta Family Dairy of Sonoma County and Stemple Creek Ranch of Marin County were also finalists. The Leopold Conservation Award in California is made possible thanks to American Farmland Trust, Sustainable Conservation, California FarmBureau and Sand County Foundation. Additional sponsors are FarmCredit, The Harvey L. &Maud C. Sorensen Foundation, The Nature Conservancy in California, McDonald’s and California Leopold Conservation Award recipient alumni. Award recognizes farmers and ranchers for commitment to sustainability Story by Tracy Sellers ∞ Photos by Paolo Vescia Making a plan with Mother Nature Realizing the impact land management can have on a landscape, Glenn and Marie Nader developed a plan to restore Witcher Creek Ranch upon purchasing it in 1999. From the start, they believed they could have a profitable cattle ranch and organic hay operation while also improving soil health, conserving water and providing wildlife habitat. To that end, the Naders have worked closely with a variety of agencies, including the University of California Cooperative Extension, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “We asked them to tell us what we were doing wrong and how we could fix things. We knew this would be a collaborative effort from the beginning,” said Glenn Nader, a retired UC livestock farm advisor. Creating a rotational grazing system was a key step in restoring the ranch. The Naders built more than 4 miles of fencing that subdivided the pastures into smaller sections to accommodate a high- intensity, short-duration grazing schedule. Such a system helps soil health, protects water quality and increases plant productivity for successive grazing seasons by giving the land time to rest and restore itself. The 2,800-acre ranch has two large creeks running through it. For riparian restoration and erosion control, the Naders stabilized the banks with a variety of methods including rocks, sand, soil and juniper log weirs. One of their goals was to deepen and narrow the creeks with the hope of someday reintroducing redband trout, which are on the brink of the endangered species list. All the projects involve extensive, long-termmonitoring through photography, stream temperature data collection, soil sampling and forage testing. “You have to have patience to do this,” Marie Nader said. “And you have to have the ability to keep moving forward with your plan.”
Marie and Glenn Nader, with their son, Alan, are the winners of the Leopold Conservation Award. The family works to improve soil health, water quality and wildlife habitat on their land near Canby.
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