Wickens Salt Creek Ranch of Hilger has been selected as the recipient of the 2024 Montana Leopold Conservation Award.
The award honors ranchers, farmers and forestland owners who go above and beyond in the management of soil health, water quality and wildlife habitat on working land. Wickens Salt Creek Ranch’s owners, Eric and Emma Wickens, will be presented with the award at the Montana Farm Bureau Annual Convention in November. They receive $10,000 for being selected.
As engaged college graduates, the Wickenses returned home to take the reins of his family’s Wickens Salt Creek Ranch in 2007. They have since prioritized conservation practices to improve the health of their grasslands. Doing so nourishes their cattle and builds a more resilient ranch and rural community for their five children, they said. Sand County Foundation and national sponsor American Farmland Trust will present Leopold Conservation Awards to landowners in 28 states this year. In Montana, the award is presented annually with the , and the Montana Rangeland Resources Program. Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, and the Montana Rangeland Resources Program.
