CHEYENNE, WY – The Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust (WSGLT) is pleased to announce that Ogden Driskill of Devils Tower, WY will be the recipient of the 2020 Kurt Bucholz Conservation Award. Driskill is being recognized for his exceptional support of agricultural land conservation, private property, and water rights. Driskill was nominated by Wyoming representative Tyler Lindholm, candidate for U.S. Senate Cynthia Lummis, and his daughter Andrea Wood.
The Bucholz Conservation Award is given in memory of the late Dr. Kurt Bucholz, DVM, rancher from Carbon County, and early supporter of the WSGLT. The Bucholz Award winner encompasses the values and stewardship principles that Kurt exemplified in his life. Kurt had a unique understanding of water and land issues and worked to protect the historic water rights that are fundamental to the North Platte River Valley
Cynthia Lummis, who served on the WSGLT Board of Directors with Ogden Driskill in its early years, commented on his dedication to agricultural conservation, saying “Ogden has conserved essential elements of our Wyoming heritage and protected our core tie to the land that binds us as a state.”
Driskill, who is a Farm Bureau and WSGA member, was also a founding board member of the Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust and has partnered with the land trust to place two conservation easements on his personal and family owned property at the base of Devils Tower – the nation’s first National Monument. These conservation easements have ensured that the view sheds around the monument remain unobstructed, while ensuring that the family ranch stays in production. The ranch now supports several wetland and irrigation projects, as well as holistic practices and pioneering techniques using sheep, goats, and black and brown flea beetles to combat noxious weeds and re-establish native vegetation.
Driskill has been a strong advocate for Wyoming agricultural conservation on a national level, sponsoring numerous bills and testifying for the U.S. House of Representatives Agricultural Committee, consulting with the USDA, and providing testimony for multiple farm bills.
He was instrumental in changing Wyoming’s perpetuity law, helping to establish the first land trust accreditation program in the United States, and lobbying for land trust insurance policies. Driskill was also a founding member of the Partnership of Rangeland Trusts, a partnership of land trusts between 8 states, with over 2.2 million acres under conservation easement. WSGLT is extremely proud to be a part of that legacy.
“There is no question that Ogden has been a tireless advocate for ranching and conservation throughout the United States. His past and current efforts have had an everlasting impact on Wyoming, its lands, water, wildlife and people—keeping Wyoming the way we have known it for the future,” stated Tyler Lindholm in his endorsement of Driskill.
Ogden Driskill will be presented with a bronze statue sculpted by Wyoming artist Jerry Palen, at the Wyoming Stock Growers Association Summer Convention in Rock Springs on August 26th.
