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 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 FundLCCGPLFPLRPPFWPWQIG
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.
Ballard RanchBig Boquillas RanchCampbell RanchCarlink RanchCataract RanchCrossline RanchDancing Y RanchDate Creek RanchDavis RanchDouble U RanchDunton RanchMcFee RanchMoore RanchM Triangle RanchNI RanchPerkins RanchPerrin RanchSan Jose RanchSierra Bonita RanchSlash S RanchTen X RanchThree Links RanchWarbonnet Ranch
Ballard Ranch (2-2 Cattle Co. LLC) - State Lease #05-103381
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
2011-2021 | EQIP | $423,874 | |
2018-2019 | LFP | $3,042 | |
$426,916 | TOTAL 2011 -2021 |
The Ballard Ranch is located east of Snowflake in Navajo County.
Big Boquillas Ranch (Cholla Livestock, LLC) - State Sublease #05-000132
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
1999 | EWP | $219,850 | Paid to Take Cattle Off the Land During Drought |
2010 | HPC | $29,230 | Tank Car Water Pipeline |
2011-2021 | LFP | $632,284 | |
2011 | HPC #10-304 | $79,568 | Camp 16 Water Pipeline |
2012 | HPC #11-304 | $25,000 | Dirt Tank Cleaning |
2015 | EQIP | $212,097 | |
2016 | HPC #15-313 | $55,000 | Big Boquillas Ranch Waters |
2017 | HPC #16-704 | $55,000 | Big Boquillas Ranch Waters |
2018 | HPC #17-708 | $100,000 | Habitat Enhancement |
2019 | HPC #18-703 | $100,000 | Big Boquillas Ranch Improvements (Year 1 of 4 years of $100,00 per year.) |
2020 | HPC #19-??? | $100,000 | Boquillas Ranch Improvements (Year 2 of 4 years of $100,00 per year.) |
2021 | HPC #20-702 | $100,000 | Boquillas Ranch Improvements (Year 3 of 4 years of $100,00 per year.) |
2022 | LFP | $160,785 | |
$1,868,814 | TOTAL 1999 - 2022 |
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.
Campbell Ranch (Joe Campbell) - State Lease #05-002775
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
2006-2021 | EQIP | $289,628
| |
2014-2021 | LFP | $291,868 | |
2022 | EQIP | $62,369 | |
2022 | LFP | $24,992 | |
$668,857 | TOTAL 2006 - 2022 |
The Campbell Ranch is located southeast of Seligman, in northern Yavapai County.
Carlink Ranch (Bayless & Berkalew Co) - State Lease #05-000083
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
1999 | EWP | $61,644 | Paid to Take Cattle Off the Land During Drought |
2005-2020 | EQIP | $572,955 | |
2005 | LCCGP #05-85 | $47,448 | Water Development & Fencing |
2007 | LCCGP #07-82 | $100,000 | Water Development |
2023 | HPC #22-505 | $13,070 | Water Development, Phase 1 |
$795,117 | TOTAL 1999 - 2023 |
The Carlink Ranch is located in the lower San Pedro River Valley near the community of Redington. It’s owners, Bayless & Berkalew Co., include Stefanie Smallhouse, who is a member of the local Redington NRCD, a former Executive Director of the Arizona Association of Conservation Districts, a former Executive Director of the Arizona Water Protection Fund Commission, and the current President of the Arizona Farm Bureau.
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
.
*Forest Guardians became
WildEarth Guardians when they merged with Sinapu, a Boulder Colorado environmental group in 2008.
Crossline Ranch (George Geisler Jr.) - State Lease #05-000458
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
2006-2009 | EQIP | $16,300 | Catron County, New Mexico |
2011-2020 | LFP | $51,934 | Catron County, New Mexico |
2021 | LFP | $5,903 | Catron County, New Mexico |
2011-2021 | LFP | $68,908 | |
2012-2020 | EQIP | $377,978 | |
2022 | EQIP | $4,268
| |
$525,291 | TOTAL 2006 - 2022 |
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 a New Mexico BLM grazing allotment.
Dancing Y Ranch (Kelly M. Young) - State Lease #05-113401
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
2013-2018 | EQIP | $303,364 | |
2021 | LFP | $38,229 | |
2022 | LFP | $22,930 | |
$364,523 | TOTAL 2013 -2022 |
The Dancing Y Ranch is located just east of Tombstone in Cochise County.
Date Creek Ranch (Knight Family Trust) - State Lease #05-003320
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
2005-2021 | EQIP | $433,144 | |
2011 | LCCGP #11-36 | $51,610 | Livestock Water Pipeline & Pump |
2011-2021 | LFP | $191,647 | |
2022 | LFP | $28,222 | |
$704,623 | TOTAL 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 uses 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
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
1999 | EWP | $7,432 | Paid to Take Cattle Off the Land During Drought |
2005-2020 | EQIP | $456,135 | |
2007 | WQIG #9-001* | $114,950 | Whitewater Draw Erosion Control Structures |
2015-2021 | LFP | $192,958 | |
2016 | LCCGP #16-27 | $48,458 | Grassland Restoration |
2019 | AWPF #19-194 | $341,626 | Aerial Application of Herbicide to Kill Mesquite Trees |
2019 | HPC #18-512 | $20,000 | Aerial Application of Herbicide to Kill Mesquite Trees |
2022 | HPC #21-511 | $5,521 | Saddle Fence Line Water System |
2022 | HPC #21-512 | $4,710 | Mesquite Treatment |
2022 | EQIP | $8,437 | |
2022 | LFP | $17,302 | |
$1,201,959 | TOTAL 1999 - 2022 |
* 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
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
1999 | EWP | $4,992 | Paid to Take Cattle Off the Land During Drought |
2005 | WHIP | $14,918 | |
2006-2018 | EQIP | $185,925 | |
2007 | WQIG #9-001* | $114,950 | Whitewater Draw Erosion Control Structures |
2011 | Heritage Fund | $20,000 | Public Access for 5 Years |
2011-2021 | LFP | $138,933 | |
2014 | HPC #13-502 | $6,872 | Solar Powered Water Well |
2022 | LFP | $18,830 | |
$505,420 | TOTAL 1999 - 2022 |
* 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
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
2014-2021 | EQIP | $400,079 | |
2015-2021 | LFP | $124,544 | |
2018 | LRP | $2,500 | Black Tank Cleanout |
2022 | EQIP | $49,938 | |
2022 | LFP | $15,911 | |
$592,972 | TOTAL 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.
McFee Ranch (Kevin B. McFee) - State Lease #05-116275
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
2013-2021 | EQIP | $338,585
| |
2015 | WQIG #15-005* | $322,822 | Erosion Reduction Measures |
2015-2021 | LFP | $51,367 | |
$712,774 | TOTAL 2013 - 2021 |
* 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
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
2014-2015 | LFP | $24,041 | |
2015 | WQIG #15-005* | $322,822 | Erosion Reduction Measures |
2015-2021 | EQIP | $347,408 | |
2022 | EQIP | $77,538 | |
$771,809 | TOTAL 2014-2022 |
* This grant was shared with five neighboring ranches.
The Moore Ranch is located northeast of Springerville in Apache County.
M Triangle Ranch (M Triangle Ranch LLC) State Lease #05-106611
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
2007 | LCCGP #07-66> | $50,000 | Livestock Fence & Water |
2007-2016 | EQIP | $349,897 | |
2011-2022 | LFP | $127,855 | |
2016 | HPC #15-506* | $20,000 | Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 1 |
2017 | HPC #16-505* | $20,000 | Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 2 |
2017 | HPC #16-518 | $5,915 | Water Development |
2018 | HPC #17-508* | $20,000 | Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 3 |
2023 | HPC #22-502** | $90,000 | Kill Mesquite Trees |
$683,667 | TOTAL 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
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
1998 | AWPF #98-066 | $116,525 | Repair Spillway, Install Erosion Control Structures, New Livestock Water |
1999 | EWP | $14,303 | Paid to Take Cattle Off the Land During Drought |
2009-2021 | EQIP | $759,386 | |
2007 | WQIG #9-001* | $114,950 | Whitewater Draw Erosion Control Structures |
2011-2021 | LFP | $83,619 | |
2013 | LCCGP #13-29 | $25,309 | Livestock Water Pipeline and Brush Management |
2016 | LCCGP #16-18 | $50,000 | Gadwell Fence |
2022 | EQIP | $140,584 | |
$1,304,676 | TOTAL 1998 - 2022 |
* WQIG #9-001 grant was shared among four ranches.
The NI Ranch is located south of the Dragoon Mountains in Cochise County.
Perkins Ranch (Perkins Ranch, Inc) - State Lease #05-001039
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
1999 | EWP | $25,984 | Paid to Take Cattle Off the Land During Drought |
2004-2010 | EQIP | $134,342 | |
2007 | LCCGP #07-84 | $24,725 | |
2014-2021 | LFP | $256,692 | |
2022 | EQIP | $6,284
| |
$425,777 | TOTAL 1999 - 2022 |
The Perkins Ranch is located in Chino Valley in Yavapai County.
Perrin Ranch (Perrin Ranch LLC) - State Lease #05-001045
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
2005-2013 | EQIP | $121,325 | |
2005 | LCCGP #05-64 | $91,200 | Grassland Restoration |
2011 | LCCGP #11-41 | $45,537 | Livestock Water Storage Tank Lids |
2022 | HPC #21-209 | $30,000 | Grassland Restoration |
2022 | EQIP | $7,254
| |
$295,316 | TOTAL 2005 - 2022 |
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.
San Jose Ranch (San Jose Ranch, Inc.) - State Lease #05-097447
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
1999 | EWP | $5,603 | Paid to Take Cattle Off the Land During Drought |
2000 | WQIG #2-003 | $168,000 | Brush Removal & Livestock Water |
2016-2020 | EQIP | $198,814 | |
2021 | LFP | $8,978 | |
2022 | EQIP | $13,353 | |
2022 | LFP | $14,707 | |
$409,455 | TOTAL 2000 - 2022 |
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.
Sierra Bonita Ranch (Sierra Bonita Ranch LLC) - State Lease #05-088157
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
2010-2021 | EQIP | $492,066 | |
2011-2021 | LFP | $773,846 | |
2012-2013 | WHIP | $92,754 | |
2016 | HPC #15-506* | $20,000 | Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 1 |
2017 | HPC #16-505* | $20,000 | Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 2 |
2018 | HPC #17-508* | $20,000 | Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 3 |
2022 | EQIP | $30,395 | |
2022 | LFP | $163,130 | |
$1,612,191 | TOTAL 2010 - 2022 |
* These projects were shared with neighboring ranches.
The Sierra Bonita Ranch is located about 25 miles northwest of Willcox, in the Sulphur Springs Valley, between the Galiuro and Pinaleño mountains.
Slash S Ranch (James M. Webb) - State Lease #05-000804
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
2022 | APWIAP* | $499,805 | Rebuild Livestock Fences & Waters Burned in the 2021 Telegraph Fire |
$499,805 | TOTAL 2022 |
*Administered by the Arizona Dept. of Forestry & Fire Management.
The Slash S Ranch is located north of Kearny in northern Pinal County.
Ten X Ranch (Gregg L. & Dee Anne Gibbons) - State Lease #05-000419
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
2006-2011 | EQIP | $295,426 | |
2013 | LCCGP #13-04 | $30,000 | Jackwood Well, Solar Water Pump, Pipeline & Troughs |
2016 | LCCGP #16-13 | $50,000 | Mesquite Tree Removal |
2017 | HPC #16-517 | $4,800 | Water Enhancement |
2017 | AZSFWC** | $10,400 | Back Pasture Dirt Tank Cleanout |
2019 | HPC #18-505 | $12,000 | Back Pasture Solar Water Well Pump |
2019 | HPC #18-522* | $20,000 | Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 1 |
2020 | HPC #19-506* | $20,000 | Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 2 |
2021 | HPC #20-502* | $23,000 | Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 3 |
2022 | LFP | $92,523 | |
$558,149 | TOTAL 2006 - 2022 |
* 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 Ten X Ranch located in the southeast corner of Arizona, in the San Bernardino Valley.
Three Links Ranch (Dobson Cattle Co. LLC) - State Leases #05-052878 & #05-082580
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
2011-2021 | LFP | $699,900 | |
2016 | HPC #15-507* | $10,000 | Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 1 |
2017 | HPC #16-504* | $10,000 | Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 2 |
2018 | HPC #17-509* | $10,000 | Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 3 |
2021 | AZSFWC** | $14,274 | Water Project |
2018-2021 | EQIP | $186,030
| |
$930,204 | TOTAL 2011 - 2021 |
* 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
YEARS | PROGRAM | AMOUNT | PROJECT NAME |
1999 | EWP | $12,398 | Paid to Take Cattle Off the Land During Drought |
2000 | EWP | $46,554 | Paid to Take Cattle Off the Land During Drought |
2008-2012 | EQIP | $143,183 | |
2009 | LCCGP #09-113 | $75,000 | Conservation |
2011-2021 | LFP | $337,485 | |
2016 | HPC #15-507* | $10,000 | Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 1 |
2017 | HPC #16-504* | $10,000 | Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 2 |
2018 | HPC #17-509* | $10,000 | Kill Coyotes for Pronghorn Fawn Protection, Phase 3 |
2022 | LFP | $52,645 | |
$697,265 | TOTAL 1999 - 2022 |
* These projects were shared with neighboring ranches.
The Warbonnet Ranch is in Cochise County, northwest of Willcox.
Background Information About 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 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 23, 2023 @ 10:36 am.