Wexford Ranches to Receive 2026 Texas Leopold Conservation Award

Wexford Ranches to Receive 2026 Texas Leopold Conservation Award

May 7, 2026

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AUSTIN - The Wexford Ranches of South and West Texas are the recipient of the 2026 Texas Leopold Conservation Award.

Leopold Conservation Awards honor ranchers, farmers, and forestland owners who go above and beyond in their management of soil health, water quality and wildlife habitat on working land.

The O'Connor family will be presented with the award at the Lone Star Land Steward Awards Dinner on May 14 in Austin. They will receive $10,000 as part of their selection to further the stewardship of their properties.

Sand County Foundation and national sponsor American Farmland Trust will present Leopold Conservation Awards to landowners in 28 states this year. In Texas the award is presented in partnership with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Lone Star Land Steward Awards program which is supported by TPWD's official non-profit partner Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation.

The award, given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, recognizes ranchers, farmers, and forestland owners who inspire others with their dedication to environmental improvement. In his influential 1949 book, A Sand County Almanac, Leopold advocated for "a land ethic," an ethical relationship between people and the land they own and manage.

The Texas Leopold Conservation Award is made possible thanks to the generous contributions from Lee and Ramona Bass, American Farmland Trust, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Dixon Water Foundation, Toyota, ConocoPhillips, the Wagley Ranch and Sand County Foundation.

ABOUT WEXFORD RANCHES

Wexford Ranches are seven diverse properties across seven Texas counties. Collectively, they showcase the O'Connor family's commitment and devotion to the unique ecosystems and wildlife found in the Lone Star State.

Thomas O'Connor came to South Texas from Wexford County, Ireland and established a ranch in 1836. Ever since, generations of O'Connors have acquired and stewarded river bottom forests, thorn shrublands, oak mottes, and one of the largest swaths of intact Coastal Bend prairie along the Gulf Coast, known as Duke Prairie.

The Duke Prairie spans 14 linear miles with several lakes and waterways that host thousands of migratory birds. Thanks to decades of management to enhance and establish habitat for the critically endangered Attwater's Prairie Chicken there has been an observed population of more than 50 birds over the past five years.

Quail populations have also flourished thanks to increased nesting structure from targeted control of huisache and increased native grass cover. Abundant native grass cover has stabilized topsoil which increases water infiltration in a semi-arid region.

Louise O'Connor is Wexford Ranches' fifth-generation owner. She authored a historical memoir Cryin' for Daylight: A Ranching Culture in the Texas Coastal Bend. The book documents the lives of fellow ranchers, cowhands, and camp cooks, chronicling more than 155 years of history of the Mexican American, Anglo, and African American families who ranched in Goliad, Refugio, Victoria, and surrounding counties.

For more than four decades, Louise has relied on the leadership of ranch foreman Kai Buckert in bringing new technologies and innovative conservation practices to the Wexford Ranches in South and West Texas. Their overarching goal across each property has been to collaboratively restore habitats that protect and increase wildlife populations. These efforts earned Wexford Ranches a Texas Parks and Wildlife Lone Star Land Steward Award, representing the South Texas ecoregion in 2012.

Conservation practices at Wexford Ranches have led to increased water flow across its natural streams and other waterways. Well managed grazing practices have put less stress on their pastures and reduced parasite loads which in turn reduced worming costs for cattle and have led to a resurgence of native grasses. Beef cattle are calved year-round, which provides a market advantage for the family. In addition to cattle sales, the South Texas Wexford Ranches generates income from oil and gas production, hunting leases, and rent from cotton fields.

Wexford's Lado Ranch, located 10 miles from Van Horn on the north end, borders the Rio Grande on the south end and features expansive desert grasslands and the Van Horn mountain range in between. This property when purchased by the O'Connor family was cross fenced into smaller pastures by sheep wire limiting wildlife movement by pronghorn and bighorn sheep.

Since then, livestock and fencing were removed to facilitate wildlife movement and allow native grasses to recover and quickly reestablish in this arid environment. Prairie dogs were reintroduced in grassland areas to restore the ecology and serve as a food source for predatory birds.

Despite being livestock-free, the Lado Ranch is profitable thanks to income from hunting leases which support ranch employees, property taxes, water distribution work, and supplemental wildlife feed. Desert bighorn sheep, mule deer, Aoudad, mountain lions, and multiple species of quail have been collared and studied by university researchers. Two decades of tracking data helps researchers learn more about the wide-ranging movements of native desert species.

A cell-phone-controlled game camera system is maintained to monitor wildlife and water sources throughout the ranch, capturing images of insects, birds, big horn lambs, and predatory animals. Cameras helped determine where to move watering stations to ensure a maximum number of wildlife species could benefit in this water limited landscape.

In addition to the many conservation partners welcomed to Lado Ranch, local FFA members have conducted plant identification field trips there. University students tour it for geology and anthropology field trips.

ACCOLADES

"Texas Parks and Wildlife is pleased to see this award go to such a deserving recipient. The O'Connor family has stewarded these lands since Texas came into existence. Their management allows a glimpse into what portions of our state looked like prior to settlement and allowed the species dependent on these systems to thrive," said Tim Siegmund, Private Lands Program Leader for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's Wildlife Division. "Whether it be Attwater's prairie chicken and alligators near Goliad or desert bighorn, mule deer and pronghorn out west at the Lado; the O'Connor family, Kai Buckert, and Andrea Wilson have put in the work, cooperation, and time to bring their vision to fruition that sustains the land and their family. It has set up the next generation for success as Steele O'Connor looks to lead the family's management into the future."

"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."

The first Texas Leopold Conservation Award was presented to Richards Ranch of Jacksboro in 2005. The Boggy Slough Conservation Area along the Neches River in East Texas received the 2025 award. For more information on the award, visit https://www.leopoldconservationaward.org.

The original press release can be viewed here.