A prestigious award that celebrates voluntary conservation by farmland owners is coming to Pennsylvania.

This year Pennsylvania will become the 14th state to present the Leopold Conservation Award in partnership with the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and Heinz Endowments.

Sand County Foundation, an advocate for private land conservation, presents the Leopold Conservation Award to farmers, ranchers and foresters for extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation on private working lands.

The inaugural award will be presented at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in January. The recipient receives $10,000 and a crystal award depicting conservationist Aldo Leopold.

The award recognizes those who inspire others with their dedication to land, water and wildlife habitat management on private, working land. The award brings together agriculture, government, environmental organizations, industry and academia to advance the cause of private lands conservation.

“Pennsylvania Farm Bureau welcomes this opportunity to promote the inaugural Leopold Conservation Award in the state as another occasion to recognize and reward farmers, who are going above and beyond in adopting Best Management Practices on their farms to protect the environment, while maintaining the future economic viability of their farming operations,” said Rick Ebert, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau president, in a news release.

Nominations for the award are now being accepted. They may be submitted on behalf of a landowner, or landowners may nominate themselves. The application can be found at https://sandcountyfoundation.org/uploads/Pennsylvania-2018-CFN.pdf