Eisele family chosen as recipient of the 2023 Kurt Bucholz Conservation Award
The Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust (WSGLT) is pleased to announce Mark Eisele and the Eisele family of the King Ranch Company in Cheyenne have been chosen to receive the 2023 Kurt Bucholz Conservation Award.
The Eiseles are being recognized for their dedication to agricultural land conservation, water rights and habitat conservation.
The nomination was submitted by Justin Derner of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Rex Lockman of the Laramie County Conservation District.
The Kurt Bucholz Conservation Award
The Kurt Bucholz Conservation Award is given in memory of the late Dr. Kurt Bucholz, a rancher from Carbon County and early supporter of WSGLT. The Kurt Bucholz Conservation Award winner holds the same agricultural stewardship values and conservation ethic Bucholz demonstrated throughout his life.
Mark and his family are the epitome of what this award represents.
Mark was one of the five founding members of WSGLT. He served as president from 2000-02 and 2006-08 and has completed an 11-year term on the board of directors. He also served as president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association from 2011-13.
Mark is currently serving as president-elect for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, as well as president of the Pole Mountain Grazing Association, a role he has served in since 2004.
In addition to leadership roles, Mark has put a great amount of work into policy development for the agricultural industry, representing Wyoming and producers at state and national levels.
Lockman stated, “The King Ranch and Mark Eisele are an extraordinary Wyoming agricultural operation that embodies conservation. They are advocates of conservation and agriculture at the county, state and national levels and make Wyoming proud.”
Commitment to conservation
The Eisele family and the King Ranch Company are committed to habitat conservation through the implementation of land and resource conservation practices.
In fact, King Ranch Company has supplied cattle to the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service High Plains Grassland Research Center since 2003, where grazing research has addressed habitat conservation, soil carbon responses, adaptive grazing management and the effects of cow size on calf performance.
“King Ranch, across multiple generations, has exemplified commitment to conservation with many organizations for stewardship of natural resources,” Justin Derner stated.
On the ranch, they have incorporated numerous land and resource conservation practices such as drought management, targeted grazing to reduce cheatgrass, restoration of disturbed lands and more.
The King Ranch Company promotes hunting and fishing with areas set aside for youth and hunters with disabilities and works with the Platte River Healing Waters Flyfishing Veterans’ Group.
“Ranchers are conservationists at heart,” Mark Eisele remarked. “We do it easily and naturally. We are fortunate to blend our love of the land with our families and the ranching business.”
In recognition of the Eisele family’s dedication to conserving Wyoming’s agricultural lands, they will be presented with a bronze statue sculpted by the late Jerry Palen during WSGLT’s 2023 Annual Roundup Fundraiser and Barbecue at the TY Ranch near Boulder on Aug. 26.
Tickets for the barbecue can be purchased by visiting wsglt.org/annual_roundup_bbq, e-mailing sarah@wsglt.org or calling 307-772-8751.
WSGLT is dedicated to conservation through ranching. Based in Cheyenne, the nonprofit organization serves the entire state and is Wyoming’s only agricultural land trust. Through partnerships with ranch families, WSGLT holds and stewards conservation easements on more than 297,000 acres of agricultural land throughout Wyoming. Founded in 2000 by the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, it is one of the largest regional land trusts in the U.S. For more information, visit wsglt.org.
