In addition to supporting the work of our Land Trust, your sponsorship will get your company or ranch name in front of Wyoming’s agricultural community and demonstrate your commitment to the conservation of working lands and the rural communities they comprise.

Diamond, Platinum, Gold, and Silver Sponsorships will receive recognition through print and online media, including the Wyoming Livestock Roundup, regional newspapers, website, social media, BBQ invitation, and newsletters and through signage at the barbeque.  We also welcome donations of auction items!

Dan served on the Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust Board and was instrumental in facilitating the conservation easements on Padlock Ranch and other Scott family properties in Wyoming.

“Dan Scott was an early Board member and strong supporter of the Stock Growers Land Trust, lending his stature and credibility and that of the Padlock Ranch to our mission. His quiet and thoughtful competence were an invaluable component of our meetings. And he was an all-around great guy. I admired him a lot.” – John Lunt, Stock Growers Land Trust Board Member.

“Dan was full of life whether he was cattle ranching, fishing or flying; he relished every moment, and I appreciated his dedication to Wyoming ranches and landscapes.” -
Mark Eisele, President, Board of Directions, Wyoming Stock Growers Association.

The Wyoming Public Lands Coalition (WPLC) has elected Dennis Sun as its Chairman and Wyoming Director of the Public Lands Council. Sun will replace Niels Hansen who ranches near Rawlins.

“We are extremely grateful to Niels for his leadership of the Wyoming Public Lands Coalition and we welcome Dennis into his new role. We are confident Dennis will lead WPLC well,” said Wyoming Stock Growers Association Executive Vice President Jim Magagna.

Sun has been involved in the livestock business since his grandmother gave him a cow and calf at 5 years old. He has ranched all his life west and southwest of Casper with his wife, Peggy. They have two grown children. Dennis is also publisher of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and has served on various federal lands boards and boards in land conservation, range conflict resolution, livestock, church, health care and ag education and local school education. His family has lived in Wyoming since the 1870s.

Hansen will continue to serve as Wyoming’s representative to the Public Lands Council’s Sage Grouse Task Force. WPLC delegates to PLC also include Rob Hellyer – Lander, Glenn Alameda – Rawlins and Shaun Sims – Evanston.
WPLC is made up of the Wyoming State Grazing Board, the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and the Wyoming Wool Growers Association. The WPLC is an affiliate of the Public Lands Council, a national organization representing livestock ranchers who use public lands. Both groups work to preserve the natural resources and unique heritage of the West.

According to the Public Land Council, public land ranchers own nearly 120 million acres of the most productive private land and manage vast areas of public land, accounting for critical wildlife habitat and the nation’s natural resources. WPLC and the Public Lands Council work to maintain a stable business environment in which livestock producers can conserve the West and feed the nation and world.

To avert the looming expiration of the enhanced easement incentive, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) has introduced the Rural Heritage Conservation Extension Act

Since 2006, an enhanced income tax deduction for agricultural producers has allowed family farmers, ranchers, and forest land owners to get a significant tax benefit for donating all or part of the value of a conservation easement on their land. 

Conservation easements allow private landowners to permanently retire development rights to protect significant natural resources. The enhanced conservation easement tax incentive opened the door to voluntary, landowner-led conservation on millions of acres of important wildlife habitat, farmland, and scenic open space across the country. The incentive also enhances “bargain sales” of easements purchased by local, state and federal conservation agencies.

Donating development rights to land – often a family’s most valuable asset – requires careful planning and consideration. It often takes years from the initial conversations with a landowner before a conservation easement is executed. Landowners considering a perpetual commitment of their land should not be pressured by an artificial deadline, and many will never begin the process without the reassurance of a permanent incentive.
How the Enhanced Easement Incentive Works
 
The enhanced incentive helps landowners of modest means choose conservation by:

• Raising the maximum deduction a donor can take for donating a conservation easement from 30% of their adjusted gross income (AGI) in any year to 50%;
• Allowing qualified farmers and ranchers to deduct up to 100% of their AGI; and
• Increasing the number of years over which a donor can take deductions from 6 to 16 years.
• Without the enhanced easement incentive, an agricultural landowner earning $50,000 a year who donated a conservation easement worth $1 million could take a total of no more than $90,000 in tax deductions!  Under the enhanced incentive, that landowner can take as much as $800,000 in tax deductions – still less than the full value of their donation, but a significant increase.

 
For more information click here

Brush Creek Ranch announced it was a finalist in the Conde Nast Johansens 2013 Awards for Excellence in the category of ranches in the U.S. and Canada.
Although it has only been open since December 2010, the Saratoga ranch has attracted national recognition.

“We are thrilled Conde Nast Johansens has nationally recognized our property as ‘most excellent’ and believe our standards leave our guests wanting for nothing,” said Michael Williams, Executive Vice President and COO of Brush Creek Ranch in a press release.

In 2002, the owners of Brush Creek Ranch donated a conservation easement to the Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust on a portion of a large property southeast of Saratoga, WY.  Since then, ownership of Brush Creek Ranch has changed hands.  In 2008, the Stock Growers Land Trust had the pleasure of developing a working relationship with the new owner, manager and staff at Brush Creek Ranch.

“The operators of Brush Creek Ranch are very deserving of the recognition from such a prestigious group as Conde Nast Johnasens” says Lance Schutte, Stewardship Coordinator for the Stock Growers Land Trust. 
Link to full article

Affie is the President of Ellis Public Affairs; Indian Law and Order Commissioner; Adjunct Professor at the University of Wyoming; Member of the Navajo Nation; Cheyenne Frontier Days Indians Committee Volunteer; Wyoming Community Foundation Board of Directors; Former Assistant Attorney General, Wyoming Attorney General’s Office – Water and Natural Resource Division; former Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Craig Thomas; mother of two children.

“While Dennis and I feel very blessed with the upcoming addition of a newborn to our family, it has meant scaling back on some of my work and volunteer commitments, at least for the next few years.  Thanks so much for all your hard work to promote conservation in Wyoming!”