Sweet Ranch Honored by Society for Range Management with Jarecki Stewardship Award

MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA – Darrel and Karen Sweet and the Sweet Ranch of Livermore, California, received the Chuck Jarecki Rancher Land Stewardship Award at the Society for Range Management’s 79th Annual Meeting in Monterey, California last month. The award was recently established thanks to a generous donation by its namesake, Montana rancher Chuck Jarecki, a Society for Range Management (SRM) life member. The 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 Sweets’ legacy demonstrates that land stewardship is "the right thing to do." 

For their tremendous contributions to the management of rangeland ecosystems, it is with great honor the Society of Range Management recognized Darrel and Karen Sweet with the Chuck Jarecki Rancher Land Stewardship Award.