Driskill chosen as award recipient
On July 21, the Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust (WSGLT) announced Ogden Driskill of Devils Tower as 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. He was nominated by Wyoming Representative Tyler Lindholm, candidate for U.S. Senate Cynthia Lummis, and his daughter Andrea Wood.
Driskill, a Farm Bureau and Wyoming Stock Growers Association member, was also a founding board member of WSGLT 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.
These conservation easements have ensured the viewsheds around the monument remain unobstructed, while ensuring 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.
Driskill 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 eight states, with over 2.2 million acres under conservation easement.
“There is no question 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,” stated Lindholm in his endorsement of Driskill.
Driskill will be presented with a bronze statue sculpted by the talented Wyoming Artist Jerry Palen at the Wyoming Stock Growers Association Summer Convention on Aug. 26.
