At the Public Lands Council (PLC) Annual Meeting, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced winners of the 2026 Rangeland Stewardship and Rangeland Innovation awards to recognize exemplary management and outstanding accomplishments in restoring and maintaining the health of public rangelands.
The BLM and PLC have partnered for 21 years to honor livestock grazing permittees and lessees who demonstrate exceptional management, collaboration and communication that restores, conserves or enhances our public lands, and to recognize their accomplishments at a gathering of their peers.
“These awards recognize the resiliency and ingenuity of federal lands ranchers, who are tasked every day with conserving and producing more with less,” said Public Lands Council President and Colorado permittee Tim Canterbury. “PLC appreciates this partnership with BLM to build up and promote the vital work these ranchers do to manage millions of acres by protecting critical wildlife habitat, improving the health of native grass stands, and reducing catastrophic wildfires. Congratulations to the award recipients for carrying out the hard work of livestock production and conservation—I am proud to call these ranchers my colleagues because their work lifts us all up.”
There are two permittee and two collaborative team winners, one each in stewardship and innovation.
The Rangeland Stewardship Permittee winner is Jamie Johnson, who implements key innovations of a drought response plan, independent rangeland monitoring and virtual fencing to efficiently manage livestock, enhance the land’s resilience, and protect sensitive cultural sites on the Yellow Jacket Canyon Allotment within the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in Colorado.
Johnson’s proactive collaboration with the BLM, academia and conservation partners result in data-driven adjustments to cattle numbers, resulting in the Foundation for America’s Public Lands funding this virtual fencing project.
The Rangeland Stewardship Collaborative Team winner is the Deep Springs Resource Management Team, based in Big Pine, CA, which integrates federal, state, and educational partners to collaboratively manage more than 100,000 acres in the eastern Sierra ensuring sustainable livestock production, rigorous protection of sensitive habitats and species, and responsive land use.
Led by Deep Springs College, which teaches students practical land stewardship, leadership skills and responsibility through hands-on ranch work, putting what they learn in the classroom into real-world conservation to foster the next generation of public land managers.
The Rangeland Innovations Permittee winner is the Hunewill Ranch Land and Livestock, Co., a seventh-generation ranching operation in Bridgeport, CA, who pioneered early adoption of virtual fencing on BLM, U.S. Forest Service and private lands to address complex grazing management issues.
The Hunewill family share lessons learned to help others. They have also established a 4,100-acre wildlife easement, actively participated in sage grouse action plans and watershed improvement initiatives. Their collaborative approach fosters a culture of partnership, driven landscape-scale improvements, and serves as a model for creative problem-solving.
The Rangeland Innovations Collaborative Team winner is the Carbon County Weed & Pest District, which increased to an unprecedented level the effectiveness of the BLM Rawlins Field Office’s weed program. Superintendent Reese Irvine coordinated multiple partners, leveraged BLM agreements to secure substantial matching grants to aerial treat more than 130,000 acres across BLM, state and deeded lands, then engaged partners to monitor effectiveness. This cross-boundary collaborative approach significantly expanded treatment windows, ensured full utilization of funding, and strengthened ecological mitigation protocols, including critical raptor monitoring efforts. — PLC
