See this family on new YouTube video!

SACAMENTO, Calif., July 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Tim Koopmann and his family were honored in June at the annual fundraiser for the California Rangeland Trust with the third annual Conservationist of the Year Award for their life-long commitment to ranching, the environment and rangeland conservation.

Tim, his wife Melinda and children Clayton and Carrisa, operate a family-run beef cattle ranch in Sunol, a small community in Alameda County. They partnered with the Rangeland Trust, the Department of Fish and Game and a private developer in 2003 and again in 2005 with the City of Pleasanton to place two mitigation easements on their ranch. Both easements provide habitat for the California tiger salamander, a state listed species, and the California red legged frog, a federally threatened species and a state species of special concern. As a rancher, he knew protecting his family ranch with a conservation easement would maintain this critical habitat, ease the development pressure surrounding him, and help sustain the viability of ranching in the Bay Area.

"To be selected as conservationist of the year by my ranching colleagues is an unexpected honor that could be shared with many ranchers throughout California who have a similar vision of land conservation and want these rangelands preserved for many generations to come," said Tim.

Tim is a member of the Board of Directors for the California Rangeland Trust, a Certified Range Manager and a Watershed Resource Specialist with the Land and Resource Management Section of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. The Koopmann family conducts tours throughout the year on their property for community students, environmentalists, agency personnel and wildlife enthusiasts. The Koopmann Ranch is also the place where environmentalist and ranchers first came together to form the unprecedented California Rangeland Conservation Coalition.  

"The Rangeland Trust wants more than open space, we want to preserve a way of life, encourage good stewardship and allow that opportunity to be there for future generations of people and critters. Tim and his family are being given this award because they share this vision and have continued to work with us over the years to see rangeland conservation continue to be successful," said Steve McDonald, chairman of the board of the Rangeland Trust.

The Conservationist of the Year Award is the highest and most prestigious award bestowed by the California Rangeland Trust. The recipient of this award exemplifies true dedication to the advancement of the environment and rangeland conservation in California and preserving the ranching industry's legacy of land stewardship.

To date, the Rangeland Trust has worked with ranchers, other conservation groups and local land trusts to permanently conserve over 200,000 acres of privately owned rangeland in California. At their annual fundraiser, A Western Affair, over 250 guests from around the state gathered at Wente Vineyards in the Livermore Valley to celebrate our State's ranching history and to honor those, like the Koopmann Family, who have contributed to its success. To view a new video of the Koopmann Family produced with funds from the National Beef Check-off Program, please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfFegsRVmEY.

The California Rangeland Trust, a 501(c)(3) public benefit corporation, was created to conserve the open space, natural habitat and stewardship provided by California's ranches. To date, the Trust has protected over 200,000 acres of productive grazing lands across the State through the use of conservation easements. For more information, please visit www.rangelandtrust.org.

SOURCE California Rangeland Trust

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http://www.rangelandtrust.org