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MSGA
nominates Malta-area Ranchers Stewardship
Alliance
for Environmental Stewardship Award
Helena
,
Mont.
-The
Montana Stockgrowers Association (MSGA) recently nominated the Ranchers
Stewardship Alliance (RSA) in
Malta
,
Mont.
for the 2010 regional and national Environmental Stewardship Award,
sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation
Service, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and the National
Cattlemen’s Foundation. This annual award recognizes the outstanding
stewardship practices and conservation achievements of cattle ranchers
across the nation. Award winners have been commended for their commitment
to protecting the environment and improving fish and wildlife habitats
while operating profitable cattle ranches.
“We are very proud and excited
to nominate RSA for this prestigious award,
”said
Tom Hougen, president of the Montana Stockgrowers Association."RSA ranchers exemplify the best of ranching. They are excellent
stewards of the land and animals under their care, and contribute greatly
to the economy and culture of their local area. Plus, RSA,
as a group, has become a strong and trusted leader through its willingness
and ability to reach out to diverse interests to find common ground in
implementing the conservation goals shared by ranchers and
conservationists alike.”
RSA is a non‐profit
group of about three dozen ranching families who have joined together to
find solutions to some of the most vexing land use dilemmas facing our
country today. The ranchers of RSA steward nearly one million acres in
Phillips County
,
Mont.
, an area that has been heralded by international conservation biologists
as a model of land care and condition. Numerous wildlife species that are
struggling elsewhere thrive on these ranchlands. Sage grouse, black-tailed
prairie dogs, black-footed ferrets, burrowing and short-eared owls,
mountain plovers, and long-billed curlews are among hundreds of species
that call RSA’s ranches home.
RSA first began meeting in 2003
to address endangered species issues, and since then, the group has shown
that ranchers are the most cost-effective and time-proven conservationists
by implementing on-the-ground conservation swiftly throughout the area.
RSA has-been able to do this by forging unique partnerships that draw on
the strengths and knowledge of both the ranching and environmental
communities.
The on‐the‐ground
stewardship of RSA’s ranching families is impressive and progressive
enough on its own merits,” Hougen said. “What stands out most to me,
though, is the way RSA has brought neighbors together, both ranchers and
conservationists, and the way they work with, not against, others who have
an interest in the continued stewardship of the prairie that has been
under ranchers’ care for more than a century.”
RSA was named winner of the 2010
Montana Environmental Stewardship Award during MSGA’s 125th Annual
Convention and Trade Show at the MetraPark in
Billings
,
Mont.
in December. The Montana Environmental Stewardship Award is sponsored by
MSGA with support from the Montana Beef Council. RSA is the 17th winner
in the history of the award and the first group to be honored.
“No group has ever received
the national award,” Hougen said. “But MSGA felt strongly that this
group exemplifies a passion for the land, and a commitment to teamwork and
collaboration to achieve shared goals, that sets a great example for the
rest of us. We feel that it is time to honor groups like RSA, not just for
their on-the-ground stewardship, but also for their efforts to bridge the
gap between ranchers and conservationists to find solutions to even the
most difficult of natural resource issues.”
Regional winners of the
Environmental Stewardship Award will be notified in April with a public
announcement to follow in July. The national winner will be announced at
the 2011 Cattle Industry Convention in
Denver
.
To learn more about the Montana Environmental Stewardship Award and
see RSA’s application for the national award, go to http://www.mtbeef.org/index.cfm?show=10&mid=14.
For more information on the national Environmental Stewardship Award
Program, visit www.environmentalstewardship.org/.
Learn more about RSA at www.ranchersstewardshipalliance.org.
The
Montana
Stockgrowers Association, a non-profit organization representing nearly
2,500 members, strives to serve, protect and advance the economic,
political, environmental and cultural interests of cattle producers, the
largest sector of
Montana
’s number one industry –agriculture.
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