2007 Award Recipients
Ojo Encino Ranchers Committee

Ojo Encino Ranchers:

• Barbara Antone, Alice Castillo, Mary Castillo, Watson Castillo, Lillie Calvin, John Cayaditto, Billy Chiquito, Ignacio Lewis, Yazzie Lopez, Ted Mace, James Rico, Cecil Sandoval, Henry Toledo, Larry Toledo, Ray Toledo, Bill Trujillo and Ross Willeto

We are also recognizing two individuals who are partners with the Ojo Encino Ranchers Committee and have made significant contributions to their succes:

• Michael Benson - Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources
• Steve Fischer - BLM & Rio Puerco Management Committee.

Excerpt from Program:
"In 1999, eleven Navajo ranchers joined together to move land stewardship at the Ojo Encino Chapter in a new direction. According to Watson, the Committee's president, the original goal was to "bring the land back so people could once again rely on it. We wanted to get things going in the community. We want to see something better for our community."

"Thanks to the efforts of a dedicated group of ranchers, a grazing and land stewardship tradition that was getting smaller each year is now growing. Seven years after forming the Committee, the membership has grown to twenty member ranches with a list of accomplishments and an ambitious agenda for the future. It shows no signs of slowing down.

"In 2002, the Committee approached the BLM and Rio Puerco Management Committee (RPMC) to help fund a 10,000 acre sagebrush control project. It was the most ambitious project ever presented to the RPMC for funding. The grazing permittees signed a cooperative agreement to rest the treated lands from grazing for 43 months to allow vegetation to respond. Committee members also agreed that they would not reintroduce livestock to these areas until they had individual managment plans in place..."