Pine River Residents Honored as ‘Outstanding Conservationists’ for North Central MN

Thomas Stattelman (third from left, back row) posed with representatives from the Cass and Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation Districts after receiving his Outstanding Conservationist award. (Credit: Crow Wing SWCD)

Two Pine River residents have been honored as Outstanding Conservationists for north central Minnesota.

Thomas and Cyriana Stattelman of the Stattelman Family Ranch in Pine River received the honor recently at the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts annual convention in Bloomington. The Stattelman Family Ranch has worked with the Cass and Crow Wing soil and water conservation districts on multiple projects to enhance their beef cattle operation with the goal of increasing the grazing season and improving nutrient cycling.

The late Rick Nolan, a former U.S. Congressman who represented Minnesota from 1975-1981 and again from 2013-2019, was also honored with the Outstanding Forest Steward Award for planting more than 150,000 tress on his Crow Wing County properties, as well as his steadfast efforts to protect natural resources at the local, state, and national levels.

The Crow Wing SWCD says that every year, soil and water conservation districts across Minnesota come together to celebrate exceptional achievements in conservation and the enhancement of the state’s natural resources.