Eagle Rock Ranch of Park County has been selected as the recipient of the 2026 Colorado Leopold Conservation Award, which recognizes ranchers, farmers and forestland owners who go above and beyond in their management of soil health, water quality and wildlife habitat on working land.

Dave and Jeannie Gottenborg, who own the cattle ranch near Jefferson, will receive the award in June at the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association’s Annual Convention. The award includes a $10,000 prize.

Eagle Rock Ranch joins a long line of Colorado honorees, including last year’s recipient when Wagon Wheel Ranch received the 2025 Colorado Leopold Conservation Award.

Sand County Foundation and national sponsor American Farmland Trust will present Leopold Conservation Awards to landowners in 28 states this year. In Colorado, the award is presented annually with the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust and the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service of Colorado.

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The award is given in honor of conservationist Aldo Leopold, who in his 1949 book A Sand County Almanac advocated for “a land ethic,” an ethical relationship between people and the land they own and manage.

Earlier recipients include the year when Collins Ranch in Cheyenne County received the 2020 Colorado Leopold Conservation Award.

When the Gottenborgs took ownership of Eagle Rock Ranch about 15 years ago, the property was, as Aldo Leopold described, a “wounded landscape.” Corrals were knee-deep with mud and manure, creekside willows had been cut to grow more hay, and hay fields were mowed to the ground to the detriment of wildlife, soil health and water quality. Fencing had been torn apart by migrating elk, even though propane cannons had been used to ward them off, and the previous owner had feuded with state and federal personnel who managed the surrounding forests and wildlife areas.

After taking ownership, the Gottenborgs removed garbage and rotted corrals and replanted native grasses. They replaced rusty barbed wire with wildlife-friendly fencing and began leaving hay stubble long enough to trap blowing snow, slow erosion and improve soil quality. Clean water is now diverted from a settling pond to hay fields through an underground culvert system.

A solar pump powers miles of new underground pipe carrying fresh drinking water to 10 stock tanks. Their placement around the ranch supports a rotational grazing system that the family says increases forage availability while reducing impacts to the land.

A creek on the property now runs clean thanks to erosion prevention and fish habitat structures, and hundreds of willow saplings have been planted to control erosion and provide shade for trout. New ditch screens keep fish out of irrigation ditches, while fish ladders give trout greater access to spawning habitat. All stock tanks are equipped with ladders to prevent birds from drowning, and the family has installed bird houses for Mountain Bluebirds, bat houses for pollination and mosquito control, and owl boxes for rodent control.

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The ranch’s economic resilience strengthened when the Gottenborgs’ daughter, Erin Michalski, a former Wall Street investment banker, returned home to handle the finishing, processing and marketing of beef sold at the family’s retail store and through online sales.

The Gottenborgs’ conservation work extends beyond the ranch’s borders. Dave initiated discussions that led to what is described as the nation’s first elk migration agreement, a voluntary, incentive-based, privately funded effort with the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust and the Property and Environment Research Center that compensates landowners for facilitating the migration of elk and other ungulates across their properties.

Eagle Rock Ranch also hosts research with PERC on elk and deer crossings along county roads and highways. Trail-camera data may show that elk can be conditioned to cross roadways at certain areas with strategically placed wildlife-friendly fencing. Dave also invited the Colorado Natural Heritage Program to survey and catalog the plants, birds and invertebrates found on the ranch.

“Colorado’s farming and ranching families carry forward a legacy of stewardship, community support, and agricultural excellence. These characteristics are exemplified by all Leopold Conservation Award applicants,” said Curt Russell, Colorado Cattlemen’s Association President. “CCA extends its congratulations to the Gottenborg family and Eagle Rock Ranch on their well-deserved recognition for their hard work and dedication to their land and livestock, and also for being leaders in Colorado’s conservation and ranching industry and beyond.”

“The Gottenborg family embodies what Aldo Leopold envisioned when he wrote that conservation is harmony between people and land. The Gottenborgs steward the Eagle Rock Ranch in Park County not just for the resources that exist today, but for the generations who will inherit the landscape,” said Erik L. Glenn, Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust CEO. “CCALT exists to support exactly this kind of vision, and we are proud to partner in presenting this year’s Leopold Conservation Award to the Gottenborg family and Eagle Rock Ranch.”

“These award recipients are examples of how Aldo Leopold’s land ethic is alive and well today,” said Kevin McAleese, Sand County Foundation President and CEO. “Their dedication to conservation is both an inspiration to their peers as well as a reminder to all how important thoughtful agriculture is to clean water, healthy soil, and wildlife habitat.”

“As the national sponsor for Sand County Foundation’s Leopold Conservation Award, American Farmland Trust celebrates the hard work and dedication of the award recipients,” said John Piotti, AFT President and CEO. “At AFT we believe that exemplary conservation involves the land itself, the practices employed on the land, and the people who steward it. This award recognizes the integral role of all three.”