Arizona State Land Ranches

Arizona ranches with state land grazing leases that benefited from government assistance. These ranches hold leases administered by the Arizona State Land Department, but don’t have permits for public land grazing allotments in Arizona administered by the federal government. These ranches also benefited from the State Land Department’s favorable treatment of grazing lessees. (Additional ranches are added as information becomes available.)

Visit the Arizona Public Land Ranches Home Page for information about the state’s public land ranches.

Government Assistance For Ranchers Program Key
ALLBAWPFECPEQIPEWPHPCHeritage FundLCCGPLFPLOFFAPLRPPFWPWQIG
AALB - Arizona Livestock Loss Board, Arizona Livestock Loss Board (federal/state)
AWPF - Arizona Water Protection Fund, AWPF Commission (state)
ECP - Emergency Conservation Program, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (federal)
EQIP - Environmental Quality Incentives Program, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (federal)
The EQIP program absorbed the NRCS Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) after 2014.
EWP - Emergency Watershed Protection, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (federal)
The Arizona EWP Drought Program was discontinued in 2001 after a critical audit.
HPC - Habitat Partnership Committee, Arizona Game & Fish Commission (state)
Arizona Heritage Fund, Arizona Game & Fish Commission (state)
LCCGP - Livestock & Crop Conservation Program, Arizona Department of Agriculture (state)
Note: Open Space Reserve Grants became LCCGP Grants after 2002.
LFP - Livestock Forage Disaster Program, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (federal)
LOFFAP - Livestock Operator Fire & Flood Assistance Program, Arizona Department of Agriculture (state)
LRP - Landowner Relations Program, Arizona Game & Fish Department (state)
PFWP - Partners for Fish & Wildlife Program, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (federal)
WQIG - Water Quality Improvement Grant, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (federal/state)
Note: These grants were previously called Section 319 nonpoint source (NPS) water pollution prevention grants.
Allen RanchBallard RanchBig Boquillas RanchBig O Little O RanchCampbell RanchCataract RanchCoyote Creek RanchCrossline RanchDancing Y RanchDate Creek RanchDavis RanchDouble U RanchDunton RanchFort Rock RanchMcFee RanchMoore RanchM Triangle & Black RanchesNI RanchPerrin RanchRancho SacatalSan Jose RanchSlash S RanchSquaw Creek RanchThree Links RanchWarbonnet Ranch
Allen Ranch (Harvey Allen) - State Lease #05-0001717
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
1999EWP$12,096Paid to Take Cattle Off the Land During Drought
2013HPC #12-512$4,500Dirt Tank Cleanouts
2012-2019EQIP$386,347
2021-2022LFP$47,441
2023EQIP$39,364
2023LFP$22,402
$512,150TOTAL 1999 - 2023
The Allen Ranch is located in southern Cochise County.
Ballard Ranch (2-2 Cattle Co. LLC) - State Lease #05-103381
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2011-2021EQIP$423,874
2018-2019LFP$3,042
2023EQIP$10,110
2023LFP$2,373
$439,399TOTAL 2011 -2023
The Ballard Ranch is located east of Snowflake in Navajo County.
Big Boquillas Ranch (Cholla Livestock, LLC) - State Sublease #05-000132
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
1999EWP$219,850Paid to Take Cattle Off the Land During Drought
2010HPC #09-310$29,230Water Pipeline
2011-2021LFP$632,284
2011HPC #10-304$79,568Water Pipeline
2012HPC #11-304$25,000Dirt Tank Cleanings
2015EQIP$212,097
2016HPC #15-304$8,164Fence Cattle Out of Water Catchment
2016HPC #15-313$55,000Big Boquillas Ranch Waters
2017HPC #16-704$55,000Big Boquillas Ranch Waters
2018HPC #17-708$100,000Habitat Enhancement
2019HPC #18-703$100,000Big Boquillas Ranch Improvements (Year 1 of 4 years of $100,00 per year.)
2020HPC #19-???$100,000Boquillas Ranch Improvements (Year 2 of 4 years of $100,00 per year.)
2021HPC #20-702$100,000Boquillas Ranch Improvements (Year 3 of 4 years of $100,00 per year.)
2022LFP$160,785
2023LFP$117,875
$1,994,853TOTAL 1999 - 2023
The ranch is located between Seligman and the Grand Canyon. The ranch, which is also called the Diamond A Ranch, is owned by the Navajo Nation but leased and managed by Cholla Livestock LCC. In 2014 the Arizona Game & Fish Department completed a Public Access ranch agreement with the tribe that a created a permit system administered by Cholla Livestock LLC wherein hunters would be able to pay the company a fee to access the ranch lands, and the Department would enforce ranch rules and Arizona hunting regulations. In 2016 the agreement was renewed, but operation of the hunter permit system was taken over by Big Bo LLC, a new company owned by Cholla Livestock LLC. Harvey Dietrich, before he died in 2020, was the manager of Cholla Livestock LLC, and a board member of the Arizona Beef Council and a founder of Sun Land Beef Co.
Big O Little O Ranch (Big O Little O Ranch, LLC) - State Lease #05-104954
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2015-2021LFP$19,226
2017-2021EQIP$307,917
2022EQIP$14,329
2022LFP$856
$342,3282015 - 2022
The Big O Little O Ranch is located south of the Dragoon Mountains in Cochise County.
Campbell Ranch (Joe Campbell) - State Lease #05-002775
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2006-2021EQIP$289,628
2014-2021LFP$291,868
2022EQIP$62,369
2022LFP$24,992
$668,857TOTAL 2006 - 2022
The Big O Little O Ranch is located south of the Dragoon Mountains, in northern Cochise County.
Cataract Ranch (Cataract Natural Reserve Land, LLC) - State Lease #05-000216
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2015Heritage Fund$200,000Public Access for 10 Years
2018-2021LFP$414,811
$614,811TOTAL 2015 - 2021
The Cataract Ranch is located on the south side of the Grand Canyon, west of the Tusayan Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest. The conservation group Forest Guardians* applied to obtain the ranch’s state grazing lease when it came up for renewal in 1997. The State Land Department denied their competing application, but after some lengthy legal proceedings, it was accepted for consideration in June 2002. Forest Guardians, however, had to withdraw their lease application in August 2002 because it would have been too expensive to comply with the state’s requirement to purchase all of the ranch’s range improvements. In the meantime, the existing state lease holders, the Babbitt Brothers Trading Company, donated a conservation easement in January 2001 to the Nature Conservancy to prevent the subdivision of 34,480 acres of the ranch’s private land. Ownership of the ranch’s state grazing lease was eventually transferred to a newly-formed company called the Cataract Natural Reserve Land LLC, which shares at least one of its owners with Babbitt Ranches, LLC, which owns the massive nearby CO Bar Ranch .
*Forest Guardians became WildEarth Guardians when they merged with Sinapu, a Boulder Colorado environmental group in 2008.
Coyote Creek Ranch (Nicoll Cattle Co., LLC) - State Leases #05-001380 & #05-088165
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2012WQIG #12-002*$494,087 Improve Coyote Creek Watershed Degraded by Livestock Grazing
2014-2021LFP$113,557
2018-2020EQIP$328,725
2022EQIP$177,123
2022LFP$20,044
2023EQIP$15,479
2023LFP$20,603
$1,169,618TOTAL 2012 - 2023
* Per this project's final report, this grant was shared with six neighboring ranches.
The Coyote Creek Ranch is located northeast of Springerville in Apache County.
Crossline Ranch (George Geisler Jr.) - State Lease #05-000458
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2006-2009EQIP$16,300Catron County, New Mexico
2011-2020LFP$51,934Catron County, New Mexico
2011-2021LFP$68,908
2012-2020EQIP$377,978
2021LFP$5,903Catron County, New Mexico
2022EQIP$4,268
2022LFP$8,759Catron County, New Mexico
2023EQIP$27,399
2023LFP$8,868
$570,317TOTAL 2006 - 2023
The Crossline Ranch is located northeast of Springerville against the state line. There’s an adjacent portion of the ranch in New Mexico that includes the the BLM Socorro Field Office’s Crossline grazing allotment.
Dancing Y Ranch (Kelly M. Young) - State Lease #05-113401
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2013-2018EQIP$303,364
2021LFP$38,229
2022LFP$22,930
2023LFP$14,500
$379,023TOTAL 2013 -2023
The Dancing Y Ranch is located just east of Tombstone in Cochise County.
Date Creek Ranch (Knight Family Trust) - State Lease #05-003320
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2005-2021EQIP$433,144
2011LCCGP #11-36$51,610Livestock Water Pipeline & Pump
2011-2021LFP$191,647
2022LFP$28,222
$704,623TOTAL 2011 - 2022
The Date Creek Ranch is located along Date Creek, northwest of Wickenburg, in Yavapai County. The ranch was previously managed by Phillip Knight, who passed away in 2007. It’s now managed by his daughter Kimberly Knight. The ranch has used scientifically discredited Holistic Resource Management (HRM) intensive grazing theories. HRM grazing plans are typified by high utilization rates, which can increase competition between cattle and wildlife for forage, and degrade watershed health and wildlife habitat - especially in dry ecosystems and during droughts.
Davis Ranch (Davis Cattle Co. LLC) - State Lease #05-000238
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
1999EWP$7,432Paid to Take Cattle Off the Land During Drought
2005-2020EQIP$456,135
2007WQIG #9-001*$114,950Whitewater Draw Erosion Control Structures
2015-2021LFP$192,958
2016LCCGP #16-27$48,458Grassland Restoration
2019AWPF #19-194$341,626Aerial Application of Herbicide to Kill Mesquite Trees
2019HPC #18-512$20,000Aerial Application of Herbicide to Kill Mesquite Trees
2022HPC #21-511$5,521Saddle Fence Line Water System
2022HPC #21-512$4,710Mesquite Treatment
2022EQIP$8,437
2022LFP$17,302
2023LFP$21,267
$1,223,226TOTAL 1999 - 2023
* WQIG #9-001 grant was shared among four ranches.
The Davis Ranch is located south of the Dragoon Mountains in the Whitewater Draw NRCD. The ranch's manager Fred Davis is a member, and the current chair, of the NRCD. He is also a former president of the Cochise-Graham Cattle Growers' Association.
Double U Ranch (Telles Enterprises, Inc.) - State Lease #05-000557
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
1999EWP$4,992Paid to Take Cattle Off the Land During Drought
2005WHIP$14,918
2006-2018EQIP$185,925
2007WQIG #9-001*$114,950Whitewater Draw Erosion Control Structures
2009HPC #08-503$2,400Brush Removal
2011Heritage Fund$20,000Public Access for 5 Years
2011-2021LFP$138,933
2014HPC #13-502$6,872Solar Powered Water Well
2022LFP$18,830
2023LFP$23,141
$530,961TOTAL 1999 - 2023
* WQIG #9-001 grant was shared among four ranches.
The Double U Ranch is located south of the Dragoon Mountains in the Whitewater Draw NRCD.
Dunton Ranch (Dunton Ranch LLP) - State Leases #05-11023, #05-1040422
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2014-2021EQIP$400,079
2015-2021LFP$124,544
2018LRP$2,500Black Tank Cleanout
2022EQIP$49,938
2022LFP$15,911
$592,972TOTAL 2014 - 2022
The Dunton Ranch is located along Interstate 40 between Seligman and Kingman. Much of it is managed for cattle ranching. But the owners have exotic game species, including wild boar, bison, and yak on some of the ranch’s private land where they charge for private hunts.
Fort Rock Ranch (Maughan Ranches LLC) - State Lease #05-000289
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2015HPC #14-308$5,500Solar Powered Water Development
2023HPC #23-301$400,000Remove Juniper Trees
$405,5002015 - 2023
The Fort Rock Ranch is located east of Kingman and west of Ash Fork, south of Interstate 40.
McFee Ranch (Kevin B. McFee) - State Lease #05-116275
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2013-2021EQIP$338,585
2015WQIG #15-005*$322,822Improve Upper Little Colorado River Watershed Degraded by Livestock Grazing
2015-2021LFP$51,367
2016HPC #15-102$12,928Water Line Replaced
2023LFP$13,089
$738,791TOTAL 2013 - 2023
** Per this project's final report, this grant was shared with five neighboring ranches.
The McFee Ranch is located north of Springerville in Apache County.
Moore Ranch (Fred & Sylvia Moore) - State Lease #05-000887
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2012WQIG #12-002*$494,087Improve Coyote Creek Watershed Degraded by Livestock Grazing
2014-2015LFP$24,041
2015WQIG #15-005**$322,822Improve Upper Little Colorado River Watershed Degraded by Livestock Grazing
2015-2021EQIP$347,408
2022EQIP$77,538
$1,265,896TOTAL 2012 - 2022
* Per this project's final report, this grant was shared with six neighboring ranches.
** Per this project's final report, this grant was shared with five neighboring ranches.
The Moore Ranch is located northeast of Springerville in Apache County.
M Triangle & Black Ranches (M Triangle Ranch LLC) State Leases #05-001277 & #05-106611
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2007LCCGP #07-66$50,000Livestock Fence & Water
2007-2016EQIP$349,897
2011-2013WHIP$146,483
2011-2022LFP$127,855
2013HPC #12-509$24,000Kill Mesquite Trees - Phase 3
2016HPC #15-506*$20,000Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 1
2017HPC #16-505*$20,000Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 2
2017HPC #16-518$5,915Water Development
2018HPC #17-508*$20,000Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 3
2023HPC #22-502**$90,000Kill Mesquite Trees
2023LFP$19,683
$873,833TOTAL 2007 - 2023
* This grant was shared with five neighboring ranches.
** This grant was shared with three other ranches.

The M Triangle Ranch is located in in the Sulphur Springs Valley, in southwestern Graham county.
NI Ranch (Ruth Evelyn Cowan) - State Lease #05-001851
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
1998AWPF #98-066$116,525Repair Spillway, Install Erosion Control Structures, New Livestock Water
1999EWP$14,303Paid to Take Cattle Off the Land During Drought
2009-2021EQIP$759,386
2007WQIG #9-001*$114,950Whitewater Draw Erosion Control Structures
2011-2021LFP$83,619
2013LCCGP #13-29$25,309Livestock Water Pipeline and Brush Management
2016LCCGP #16-18$50,000Gadwell Fence
2022EQIP$140,584
2022LFP$28,868
2023EQIP$25,138
$1,358,682TOTAL 1998 - 2023
* WQIG #9-001 grant was shared among four ranches.
The NI Ranch is located south of the Dragoon Mountains in Cochise County.
Perrin Ranch (Perrin Ranch LLC) - State Lease #05-001045
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
1996-2002EQIP$76,626
2005LCCGP #05-64$91,200Grassland Restoration
2011LCCGP #11-41$45,537Livestock Water Storage Tank Lids
2012-2013EQIP$44,700
2022HPC #21-209$30,000Grassland Restoration
2022EQIP$7,254
2023EQIP$254,825
$550,142TOTAL 1996 - 2023
The Perrin Ranch is located west of State Route 64 north of I-40. The ranch’s owner Michael Macauley received the 2009 Arizona Farm Bureau Environmental Stewardship Award. He is a member, and past chair, of the Coconino NRCD and former president of the Coconino County Cattle Growers, as well as a former member of the Arizona Water Protection Fund Commission.
Rancho Sacatal (Rancho Sacatal, Inc.) - State Lease #05-000628
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2006-2009EQIP$120,813$206,457
2013LCCGP #13-08$40,000Livestock Water & Fences
2014-2022LFP$306,949
2023LFP$53,528
$521,2902006 - 2023
The Rancho Sacatal is located in the Sulphur Springs Valley in Cochise County.
San Jose Ranch (San Jose Ranch, Inc.) - State Lease #05-097447
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
1999EWP$5,603Paid to Take Cattle Off the Land During Drought
2000WQIG #2-003$168,000Brush Removal & Livestock Water
2016-2020EQIP$198,814
2021LFP$8,978
2022EQIP$13,353
2022LFP$14,707
2023EQIP$515
$409,970TOTAL 2000 - 2023
The San Jose Ranch is located along the Mexican border, east of the San Pedro River, in the Hereford NRCD. The ranch’s manager John W. Ladd is a member, and the current chair, of the NRCD.
Slash S Ranch (James M. Webb) - State Lease #05-000804
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2022APWIAP*$499,805Rebuild Livestock Fences & Waters Burned in the 2021 Telegraph Fire
2023EQIP$6,859
$506,664TOTAL 2022 - 2023
*Temporary program administered by the Arizona Dept. of Forestry & Fire Management.
The Slash S Ranch is located north of Kearny in northern Pinal County.
Squaw Creek Ranch (Magoffin Family Trust) - State Lease #05-107147
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2015-2021LFP$78,888
2016-2021EQIP$111,051
2016LCCGP #16-02$44,570Livestock Fence
2021ECP$35,632
2022LFP$1,680
2023LFP$30,647
$302,468TOTAL 2015 - 2023
The Squaw Ranch is located near Klondyke in Graham County.
The Magoffin family also received $176,598 of EQIP assistance, $91,603 of LFP, and $124,988 of LCCGP for their previous ranch in southeastern Cochise County.
* These projects were shared with neighboring ranches.
**Arizona Sportsmen For Wildlife Conservation (AZSFWC) is a nonprofit organization that receives money from the Arizona Department of Transportation through sales of the group's vanity license plates.
The 3 Links Ranch is in Cochise County, southwest of Willcox. The ranch was sold to Klump Ranches LLC in 2022.
Warbonnet Ranch (Warbonnet Ranch LLC) - State Lease #05-000535
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
1999EWP$12,398Paid to Take Cattle Off the Land During Drought
2000EWP$46,554Paid to Take Cattle Off the Land During Drought
2008-2012EQIP$143,183
2009LCCGP #09-113$75,000Conservation
2011-2021LFP$337,485
2016HPC #15-507*$10,000Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 1
2017HPC #16-504*$10,000Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 2
2018HPC #17-509*$10,000Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 3
2022LFP$52,645
$697,265TOTAL 1999 - 2022
* These projects were shared with neighboring ranches.
The Warbonnet Ranch is in Cochise County, northwest of Willcox.
Background Information About Government Assistance Programs

Some of this financial assistance was justified as being primarily for the purpose of improving wildlife habitat or watershed health. But those projects also benefited livestock production on the ranches where they were implemented. Whatever improvements to local natural resource conditions that might have resulted were tempered by the increased livestock grazing they facilitated.

The assistance didn’t always go directly to the ranchers, but sometimes to local non-profit organizations that helped them complete application processes and minimize taxable income. This included the Altar Valley Conservation Alliance, Coronado Resource Conservation & Development Area, Inc., Gila Watershed Partnership of Arizona, and the Upper Eagle Creek Watershed Association (UECWA).

Some of it also went to the local Natural Resource Conservation District (NRCD). Arizona’s NRCDs are regional subdivisions of the State Land Department, and are comprised only of local landowners, mostly ranchers, that work to obtain funding for agricultural “conservation” projects. They often work to obtain grants that directly benefit their members, including their governing supervisors. The local NRCDs also created the private nonprofit Arizona Association of Conservation Districts so they could apply for more types of assistance.

These aren't the only examples of Arizona ranches that benefited from government assistance. But it takes a lot of work to gather and compile this sort of information, because the agencies don't normally disclose it, so this web page will be updated as additional records are obtained. Also, the information provided about some of these ranches may be incomplete. But that just means those ranches benefited from at least the amounts shown.

This page was last updated on Feb 10, 2024 @ 7:01 am.

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