Darrel and Karen Sweet, Sweet Ranch, Livermore, CA
Awarded at the 2026 Society for Range Management Annual Meeting in Monterey, CA
About
The Chuck Jarecki Rancher Land Stewardship Award recognizes ranch operators who demonstrate outstanding rangeland stewardship and contribute to the ranching profession through local, state, and national service.
Darrel and Karen Sweet exemplify rangeland stewardship excellence
through five decades of innovative conservation leadership on their
fifth-generation California ranch. Operating within the intense development pressures of the San Francisco Bay Area, the Sweets transformed challenges into opportunities, demonstrating that productive cattle ranching and endangered species conservation are mutually beneficial.
The Sweet Ranch serves as critical habitat for four federally endangered
species—California tiger salamander, California red-legged frog, Western burrowing owl, and San Joaquin Kit Fox—while maintaining a viable
commercial cow-calf operation. Through collaborative partnerships
with federal and state agencies, the Sweets developed groundbreaking
grazing management practices that protect San Francisco’s drinking
water supply, enhance riparian habitats, and maintain optimal conditions for endangered amphibians.
As founding members of the California Rangeland Trust, Darrel helped
establish an organization that has protected over 416,000 acres of
California rangeland. Karen’s leadership as Executive Director of the
California Rangeland Conservation Coalition brings together ranchers,
environmentalists, and policymakers, transforming endangered species
conservation from conflict to collaboration.
The Sweets’ educational philosophy, “no substitute for getting people
out on a ranch to see what it really is”, created a living laboratory
that influenced conservation policy across the American West. Their
approach helped direct millions in mitigation funding toward conservation easements on working ranches, proving that supporting private rangeland stewards provides the most effective path to ecosystem
sustainability. Until Darrel’s passing in February 2025, and continuing
through Karen’s ongoing leadership, the Sweet’s legacy demonstrates
that land stewardship is “the right thing to do.”