Washington,
DC, May 5, 2005: Steve Sinton, a fourth generation
rancher of San Luis Obispo County, CA, is being recognized
for his lifelong commitment to conservation and dedication
to furthering good stewardship practices throughout
California. Steve is the winner of American Farmland
Trust’s 2005 Steward of the Land Award, the largest
nationwide award for land conservation and stewardship.
He will be presented with the $10,000 prize at a ceremony
near his ranch on Tuesday, May 17.
“Throughout America there are farmers for whom
protecting agricultural land is more than a worthwhile
goal—it's a lifelong commitment,” said Ralph
Grossi, President of American Farmland Trust (AFT),
an organization committed to strengthening the future
of American agriculture and increasing the public benefit
from federal farm policies. “Steve is one such
farmer, leading not only by example on his own ranch,
but also actively working to promote land stewardship
throughout California. His tireless efforts are helping
to ensure the future of agriculture in his state and
the U.S.”
Steve is a fifth generation California agriculturalist
and fourth generation cattle rancher, but his efforts
extend far beyond his own fencerows. Steve played an
integral role in helping to form the California Rangeland
Trust, California’s statewide agricultural land
trust formed by the members of the California Cattlemen’s
Association (CCA). In 1998, a newly appointed Board
of Directors for the Rangeland Trust elected Steve to
serve as the organization’s founding chairman,
an office he held for two terms. Under his leadership,
the Rangeland Trust grew from a start-up nonprofit with
no staff to a statewide organization that currently
holds more than 173,000 acres in conservation easements
on working cattle ranches.
“The benefits from rewarding good stewardship
are enormous,” continued Grossi. “The Steward
of the Land Award was created to recognize ranchers
like Steve and to help increase awareness about how
rewarding good stewardship produces a greater diversity
of public benefits and conserves land for future generations.
There are thousands of farmers across the country who
would like to engage in better conservation practices
but currently lack the needed public financial support.
That’s one of the many reasons why AFT is working
hard for a farm policy that supports farmers like Steve.”
Throughout his 18,000 acres of ranchland and 125 acres
of vineyards, Steve utilizes a variety of innovative
practices to promote sustainability and protect the
environment. He has participated in experiments with
cover crops and erosion control, and has employed a
unique trellising method in his vineyards that helps
to balance the canopy to fruit ratio, which allows for
naturally higher yields and quality of fruit. Steve
and his wife Jane market their premium wine grapes to
vintners in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys and on the Central
Coast of California.
Additionally, Steve protects his own ranch from development
by enrolling it in the state’s Williamson Act
program, which allows private landowners to work with
local governments to voluntarily keep their land in
agriculture. Steve and his family also played an important
role in providing habitat for the reintroduction of
the California condor on parts of his ranch, fighting
successfully for the federal designation of the Machesna
Wilderness Area, a nesting ground for the condor that
includes parts of Steve’s ranch.
“Running a diversified ranching operation is obviously
a full time occupation,” said Nita Vail, Executive
Director of the California Rangeland Trust, who nominated
Steve Sinton for AFT’s award. “While Steve’s
on-the-ground accomplishments are matched in few places
in California, it is his policy and community contributions
in combination with the conservation-oriented management
of his own ranch that make him an outstanding candidate
for this award. Steve’s generous leadership is
a model for other farming and ranching community leaders.”
“Throughout California, we see ranchlands being
bulldozed, hillsides being terraced, century-old trees
being replaced by landscaping and wildlife being displaced
by condos,” said Steve Sinton. “Our farmlands
and ranchlands are critical to the survival of local
communities and businesses, our nation’s ability
to feed ourselves and the preservation of clean water
and wildlife habitat.”
In addition to his service to the Rangeland Trust,
Steve has served as the vice-chairman of the CCA Land
Use Committee where he led the CCA to change its policy
opposing the use of conservation easements on private
land (a move that prompted other statewide organizations
to follow suit). Steve regularly partners with the University
of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) on studies
investigating oak tree regeneration, grazing, and erosion
control. He is also a member of the Central Coast Vineyard
Team that has created a system of self-analysis to promote
research and innovative, environmentally friendly practices
involving vineyard sustainability.
“It seems to me that people with a historical
connection to the land not only care more about it,
but also understand it best,” continued Sinton.
“That’s why it’s so important to support
conservation organizations that help ranchers and farmers
preserve their family farms. By protecting our farmland,
we enable subsequent, knowledgeable generations to continue
their way of life and maintain not only the soil and
habitat, but also the working landscapes that make this
country so beautiful.”
Steve is a graduate of Stanford University and the
University of Colorado Law School. He practiced water
and environmental law in Sacramento for five years before
returning to San Luis Obispo County in 1978 to continue
his practice and help manage the family’s two
cattle ranches (both cow-calf operations) with his parents,
Norma and Jim. Steve and Jane have two children, Julie,
age 27 and Daniel, 24, who are still pursuing careers,
but love working on the ranch, becoming the fifth generation
on the same land.
American Farmland Trust’s Steward of the Land
Award was created in 1997 in honor of farmer and conservationist
Peggy McGrath Rockefeller, a founding AFT board member
who cared deeply about protection and conservation of
the nation's farm and ranch land. Steve Sinton is the
ninth American farmer to win this award.
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