Osage Nation Ranch Selected as Conservationist of 2022: "Protecting the Land"

OSAGE RESERVATION, OKLA. (March 4, 2022) –Osage Nation (ON) Ranch, LLC was awarded “Conservationist of the Year” from the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts (OACD) on February 28 at the 2022 84th Annual State Meeting. The “Conservationist of the Year” Award is a partnership award with Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The ON partnered with NRCS to restore the 43,000+ acre ranch that is home to 2,600 head of cattle and 190 bison.

“Most of all, we want to protect the land that the Osage Nation purchased,” said ON Ranch consultant Galen Crum.

Within the partnership between ON and NRCS, the Ranch was able to maintain the services of Cody Parker and Dean Collyar. Parker serves as a tribal resource conservationist while Collyar guides as a soil conservation technician. Together, the ON Ranch and NRCS associates have evaluated and improved resource concerns. This led to Parker’s and Collyar’s nomination of the ON Ranch, LLC for the “Conservationist of the Year” Award. 

Accepting that nomination put the ON Ranch advisors at the OACD State Meeting “Sparking Conservation: Regenerative AG & Conservation Partnerships.” The meeting was held at the Edmond Convention Center and provided local, state, and national networking opportunities. 

Crum commented, “The NRCS award states Osage Nation Ranch LLC is the 2021 Oklahoma Conservationist of The Year. But what it truly reflects is more than a five-year collaboration between the Osage Nation Ranch BOD and Natural Resources Conservation Service. At our request, the NRCS conservation specialists Dean Collier and Cody Parker conducted a physical assessment of all 43,000+ acres of ONR, the purpose of which was to evaluate the range management and conservation-restoration needs of the ranch. This resulted in the development of a five-year plan to control invasive species, conduct erosion control and conduct good range management practices. The greatest identified need was controlling invasive plant species that were significantly reducing pasture efficiency. The major tools used to effect control of this problem are prescribed burning (approximately 25,000 acres per year) and targeted aerial spraying along with some prescribed grazing. More recently we have embarked on pond building to enhance livestock water and control soil erosion.”

“This collaborative effort with the NCRS has allowed the ranch to make these improvements while utilizing USDA cost-sharing programs that greatly reduce the cost to the ranch,” he continued. “And the results are already being realized with significant increases in grazable acres that allow for increased stocking rates which will increase profitability."