[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 9792]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 IN HONOR OF THE 2005 STEWARD OF THE LAND AWARD RECIPIENT, STEVE SINTON

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. WILLIAM M. THOMAS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 16, 2005

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Steve Sinton of 
Shandon, California, who will receive the American Farmland Trust's 
2005 Steward of the Land Award on May 17. This is an impressive 
accomplishment as Steve is just the ninth American farmer to win this 
award, which is given to recognize exemplary leadership exhibited in 
environmental stewardship and the protection of farmland.
  Steve is a fifth-generation Californian and a fourth-generation 
rancher whose family has been grazing cattle in San Luis Obispo County 
for over 125 years. He graduated locally from Shandon High School, and 
then went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University and 
his Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado. He began his 
professional career working as an attorney for the California 
Department of Water Resources in Sacramento before returning to his 
family's cattle ranch in 1978. Steve and his wife Jane have two 
children, Julie and Dan, who are both pursuing their own careers, but 
have also become fifth-generation cattle ranchers.
  I have personally known of Steve's leadership and commitment to 
conservation for many years. In fact, over 20 years ago, I worked with 
the Sinton family to protect land in San Luis Obispo County. Today, 
Steve oversees his family's ranches, the Canyon Ranch in Shandon and 
the Avenales Ranch near Pozo, and manages his family's vineyard on 
Shell Creek Road. To promote the sustainability of his ranch and 
vineyard while also protecting the environment, he has employed a 
variety of original methods, including the use of a unique trellising 
method to balance the canopy to fruit ratio on the vineyard. Steve has 
also participated in experiments with cover crops and erosion control.
  In addition to his hard work on the ranch and in the vineyard, Steve 
has also been a national leader in the effort to promote conservation 
and sustainable agriculture. He was a founding member and the founding 
chairman of the California Rangeland Trust, which is a statewide 
agricultural land trust formed in 1998 that has used conservation 
easements to keep 173,000 acres on cattle ranches undeveloped. Steve 
also has been active in the San Luis Obispo, the California, and the 
National Cattlemen's Associations, and has served as the Vice-Chairman 
of the Land Use Committee of the California Cattlemen's Association. 
Steve also has used his talent and expertise to benefit the San Luis 
Obispo County agricultural community through his involvement with the 
Central Coast Vineyard Team and the San Luis Obispo County Water 
Advisory Committee. Accordingly, I would like to congratulate him and 
wish him well as he continues in his various endeavors.

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