Preserving Beauty and Biodiversity: Robinson Ranch Company, LLC selected as 2025 Environmental Stewardship Award
At the start of each new year, the Wyoming Stock Growers Association (WSGA), in partnership with the Wyoming Department of å, recognizes one Wyoming ranch whose natural resource stewardship practices contribute to environmental sustainability, while also enhancing the operation’s productivity and profitability.
This year, Robinson Ranch Company, LLC received the prestigious 2025 Environmental Stewardship Award.
The ranch
Robinson Ranch Company, LLC was established in 1916 through the Homestead Act by Tom Robinson, Sr., who, with the help of his son Tom Robinson, Jr., developed the ranch into an 18,000-acre sheep operation.
In 1964, Tom, Jr. and his sister Helen Robinson-Eberspecher took over operations, but managed their businesses separately until Helen passed.
Tom, Jr. was able to reunite both halves of the ranch after buying out his nieces and nephews and continued running sheep, as well as some cattle.
After spending the long summer days of his childhood helping his grandfather – Tom, Jr. – on the ranch, Jay is now the full-time owner and operator of Robinson Ranch Company, alongside his wife Linda and his two daughters Beth Butler and Karen Drumhiller.
“In 2004, I took over managing the ranch and running cattle, all while continuing to teach eighth grade science at Douglas Middle School,” Jay shares. “I retired from Douglas Middle School in 2011 to focus all of my efforts on the ranching business, which included a herd of 200 cow/calf pairs and leased ranch grazing of another 200 cow/calf pairs.”
Today, Jay and his family run 100 head of their own cattle and lease ground to Aaron Clausen, Josh Ulibarri and Andy Moore for another 300 cow/calf pairs.
“This long-standing lease arrangement fosters collaboration with shared labor efforts which mutually benefit all of our businesses,” Jay explains.
The land
According to Jay, stewardship and conservation are top priority when it comes to the ranch’s management goals.
“We are committed to raising healthy cattle in a manner which promotes the health of the land, supports native plants and wildlife and ensures long-term sustainability of our ecosystem,” he says.
In order to accomplish this, the Butlers began working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to create a rotational grazing plan in 2005.
The plan consisted of installing over 25 new solar wells to enhance water availability for livestock and wildlife, as well as numerous miles of wildlife-friendly cross fencing.
The family utilizes this rotational grazing plan to this day, and Jay notes it has helped the ranch optimize forage utilization, maintain soil health, reduce erosion and prevent overgrazing. It also allows the family to leave plenty of forage for the wildlife they share a home with.
“We ensure our grasslands have ample time to recover and regenerate, supporting both livestock productivity and ecological resilience,” Jay states.
Additionally, to ensure success of native plant species on their property, the Butlers have been working with the Converse County Weed and Pest District to reduce the presence of invasive grasses through biological control and the use of specific herbicides to control cheatgrass.
Some of these projects include using seed-boring weevils to reduce musk thistle and stem-boring weevils to reduce Canada thistle; utilizing targeted grazing to reduce the seed bank of cheatgrass and Canada thistle and manually removing or utilizing targeted herbicide spraying to prevent the spread of noxious weeds such as Russian thistle, houndstongue, Scotch thistle and other emerging invasives.
The wildlife
In addition to taking care of their land and livestock, the Butler family is also a loyal friend to local wildlife.
“Our ranch is more than a livelihood, it is a legacy of care for the land and the animals that inhabit it,” Jay says. “We believe responsible stewardship not only ensures the well-being of our cattle but also preserves the beauty and biodiversity of our natural environment for generations to come.”
In addition to leaving ample forage on the landscape for wildlife, Robinson Ranch Company’s wildlife conservation efforts have been especially focused on fostering habitat for birds and small mammals.
Following a 25,000-acre burn, the Butlers and the Sage Grouse Recovery Team planted thousands of sagebrush plants to restore critical habitat for sage grouse.
In partnership with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the Butlers planted native trees and bushes to create nesting and feeding areas for resident and migratory birds along the Walker Creek drainage.
And, to ensure bird and small mammal safety and access to water, the family worked with the Converse County Conservation District to add escape ramps to water tanks and added overflow ponds to solar wells to mimic natural watering habitat.
Jay adds, “The National Audubon Society collected grassland bird population data on Robinson Ranch for many years. Our rotational grazing practices encourage plant diversity, providing birds with varied food sources and cover.”
The community
Not only does Robinson Ranch Company strive to be stewards of the land, livestock and wildlife, they also believe in the importance of community stewardship and are dedicated to helping local children succeed.
“During my term on the Converse County School Board, I helped source over 120 local beef and pork for the school lunch program through rancher donations with the Farm to School Program created by First Lady Jennie Gordon under the Wyoming Hunger Initiative (WHI),” Jay explains. “I have also been a leader in promoting the Food from the Farm and Ranch Program within WHI.”
Additionally, Jay has served on the board for the Boys and Girls Club of Douglas for 12 years, as the board chairman for four years and currently serves as the Wyoming State Boys and Girls Club Area council chairman.
“In these positions, I’ve been able to work closely with WHI to bring local, high-quality meat to Wyoming children across the state,” he says. “I personally donate beef and find other ranchers willing to donate animals, collect them and hold them at Robinson Ranch until processing, transport animals to meat processors and then deliver packaged meat to the Boys and Girls clubs across the state.”
For all of the years Jay worked as a Douglas Middle School science teacher, he used his platform to teach and advocate for agriculture.
“I started an innovative field science curriculum for middle school students which included many field trips to Robinson Ranch with the assistance of Tim Schroeder, former NRCS district conservationist,” he shares.
Through this curriculum, students conducted plant transects to gather data for analysis of rangeland conditions and took part in a living history experience about life on the homestead in the early 1900s.
Because of his hard work and dedication to Wyoming stewardship, Jay was nominated and ultimately chosen to receive WSGA’s esteemed Environmental Stewardship Award.
Andi Neugebauer-Bailey, Wyoming state resource conservationist, writes in her nomination letter, “Jay has worked to become a steward of the land and an advocate for the ranching community. His hard work, dedication and commitment to the youth of the community and improvement of the environment has helped set the stage to assist those who experience food insecurity and to leave the land better for the next generation.”
“I wholeheartedly support the Robinson Ranch Company, LLC for this recognition which they very much deserve,” adds Schroeder in a separate letter. “The ranch has a rich history in our county and state’s natural resource conservation. I know Jay, Linda, Beth, Karen and family will ensure their role as environmental stewards will continue for the next generations into the future.”
Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
