Congratulations to Jerry and Renae Doan and their family, of McKenzie, N.D. Their operation — Black Leg Ranch — received a national Environmental Stewardship Award during the recent 2017 Cattle Industry Convention in Nashville, Tenn. It was one of four so honored.

The award, which is sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the National Cattlemen’s Foundation, is presented to farmers and ranchers who are working hard to protect America’s natural resources.

Jerry and Renae operate the ranch with their sons and daughters and their spouses — Jeremy and Ashlee Doan, Jay and Kari Doan, Jayce Doan, and Shanda and Don Morgan.

It’s always great to see a Dakota family being recognized nationally. It makes us all look good.

The Doans are doing a lot of the conservation things that many other ranchers in the Dakotas are doing. They no-till and have a diverse crop rotation. They plant cover crops and use an intensive grazing system. But the Doans always seem to be out in front, leading in conservation innovation. Jerry says that he is always looking for the next new thing in conservation and believes there is much more that they can do to improve their stewardship.

Another reason the Doans stand out is that they have branched out into agritourism. They offer everything from hunting expeditions to wedding receptions. Corporate meetings and family vacations are all in a day’s work. They don’t just cater to visitors from Fargo, Minneapolis and Chicago. They are international. The ranch has been featured in German, Norwegian and Australian travel magazines.

On their website, the Doans make this pitch:

“Come experience the Wild West! Step back in time to a land where cowboys still roam the open range. A land where Native Americans hunted buffalo in herds of 10,000 and more! Ride horseback down the wagon trails from the 1800s while driving cattle. See a land that hasn't changed much since the early settlers or Lewis and Clark’s expedition in 1804. This is not a ‘Dude Ranch’ nor is it a ‘Guest Ranch’; we are a ‘Working Cattle Ranch.’ As a welcomed guest, you will get the true cowboy experience. You will learn from the BEST cowboys who have bloodlines dating back to the early 1600s and whose ancestors were pioneers of this country. The Doan family first came to this country back in 1629. Since that day, the Doans were considered outlaws by most. … . George Doan, the ninth generation, homesteaded the Black Leg Ranch in 1882, becoming the first generation on the ranch. Five generations later, the Black Leg Ranch is home to over 10,000 acres of buffalo wallows, the ghost town of Brittin, three abandoned farmsteads, quicksand, 1800s’ wagon trails, the old railroad built in the 1800s, Native American artifacts and much more!”

Clearly, the Doans see the beauty and romance in something most of us probably too often take for granted — the land around us.