BLM Arizona Strip District Office Ranches

Ranches that are permitted to use grazing allotments administered by the Bureau of Land Management Arizona Strip District Office and have benefited from government assistance. (Additional ranches are added to this list as information becomes available.)

Visit the Arizona Public Land Ranches Home Page for information about ranches in other regions of the state.

Government Assistance For Ranchers Program Key
ALLBAWPFECPEQIPEWPHPCHeritage FundLCCGPLFPLOFFAPLRPPFWPWHREFWQIG
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)
WHREF - Wildlife Habitat Restoration & Enhancement Fund, Arizona Game & Fish Department (state)
This fund was created by a one-time $3.5 million appropriation by the Legislature in 2006.
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.
Bar 10 RanchBean Hole RanchBridlebit Three RanchBundy RanchClayhole RanchEsplin RanchesGrand Canyon RanchGubler RanchesLayton RanchTop Hat RanchWolfhole RanchY Cross Ranch
Bar 10 Ranch (Superior Cattle, LLC - Utah) - Belnap, Big Springs Pipeline & Pa's Pocket Allotments, State Leases #05-000173, #05-052493 & #05-111024
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2007-2010EQIP$178,641Canyon Edge LLC - Utah
2008HPC #07-218$24,000Water Catchment Repair
2022LFP$36,362Superior Cattle LLC - Utah
2023EQIP$136,612Superior Cattle LLC - Utah
2023LFP$76,635
$452,250TOTAL 2007 - 2023
The permits for the three BLM grazing allotments were transferred from Canyon Edge LLC to Superior Cattle LLC in early 2020.
The Belnap, Big Springs Pipeline, Pa’s Pocket allotments are located within the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument.
Bean Hole Ranch (Mackelprang Family Trust) - Bean Hole Well Allotment, State Lease #05-002819
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2011LCCGP #11-42$100,000Tater Canyon Water Pipeline Replacement
2011-2021LFP$95,262
2012-2014EQIP$121,877
2022HPC #21-205$80,000Tater Canyon Water Pipeline Storage Tank
2022LFP$9,635
$406,774TOTAL 2011 -2022
Bridlebit Three Ranch (Bridlebit Three Cattle Co. - Utah) - Wildcat Allotment
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2019-2020LFP$47,679
2023HPC #22-224*$50,000Pinyon Pine & Juniper Tree Removal, Water Tank Lids, Fence Replacement
2023HPC #22-216*$150,000Pinyon Pine & Juniper Tree Removal
2023HPC #23-201$165,000Pinyon Pine & Juniper Tree Removal
$412,679TOTAL 2019 - 2023
* Portions of these projects were completed on the BLM’s Wolfhole Lake allotment.
The Wildcat allotment is located within the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument.
Bundy Ranch (S. O. Bundy Ranch, LC) - Mt. Trumbull Allotment, State Lease #05-000174
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2013-2014EQIP$46,301
2013LRP$5,000Livestock Water
2015-2019EQIP$285,946
2019HPC #18-218*$100,000Pinyon & Juniper Tree Removal
2020HPC #19-219*$100,000Pinyon & Juniper Tree Removal
2015-2021LFP$92,392
2022LFP$18,426
2023EQIP$82,196
2023LFP$4,431
$734,692TOTAL 2013 - 2023
* This project was shared with neighboring ranches.
The S. O. Bundy Ranch LC was created in 2014.

The separate southern unit of the Mt. Trumbull grazing allotment is located within the BLM’s Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument.
Clayhole Ranch (Heaton Cattle Co. LLC) - Clayhole Allotment, State Leases #05-108648 & #05-108647
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2008-2021EQIP$577,968
2014-2022LFP$674,777
2023LFP$152,666
$1,405,411TOTAL 2008 - 2023
Esplin Ranches (Esplin Livestock LLC - Utah) - Antelope, Flat Top Well, Glazier Dam, Swapp Tank & Pakoon Allotments, State Leases #05-034860, #05-108487, #05-003037 & #05-121398
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2008-2021EQIP$239,598
2011LFP$20,084
2015-2016LFP$263,900
2019-2021LFP$230,531
2022EQIP$72,655
2022LFP$55,392
$882,160TOTAL 2008 - 2022
The Pakoon allotment is located within the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument.
Grand Canyon Ranch (Territorial Livestock & Cattle Co., LLC) - Ryan (FS), Grama Spring, Hacks, Kanab Gulch & Gulch (BLM) Allotments, State Lease #05-000667
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2007-2021EQIP$467,049
David O. Johnson
2017HPC #16-205$100,000Pinyon Pine & Juniper Tree Removal
2022LFP$5,823David O. Johnson
$572,872TOTAL 2007 - 2022
The grazing permits for the four BLM allotments were transferred to Territorial Livestock & Cattle Co., LLC, in late 2021.
Gubler Ranches (Gubler Ranch, LLC) - Wolfhole Mtn., Whiterock-Soapstone, Pocum Tank, Toquer Tank, Rock Canyon, Lambing-Starvation & Wildband Allotments, State Leases #05-001269, #05-000650
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2010-2020EQIP$235,142
2014-2015LFP$279,680
2016HPC #15-204$9,000Water Storage Tank Lid
2017HPC #16-215$26,040Dirt Tank Repairs
2018-2021LFP$249,789
2022LFP$88,297
2023LFP$23,481
$911,429TOTAL 2010 - 2023
Layton Ranch (Layton Cattle Co. LC) - Mud & Cane Spring Allotment, State Lease #05-001195
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2006-2015EQIP$138,449
2021LFP$15,438
2022LFP$31,707
2023EQIP$22,891
$208,485TOTAL 2006 - 2023
The Mud & Cane Spring allotment is located within the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument.
Top Hat Ranch (Rudger C. Atkin, Inc.) - Mainstreet, Ivanpah & Little Tank Allotments, State Leases #05-001564 & #05-001487
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2013-2021EQIP$537,761
2018HPC #17-217*$100,000Pumphouse Water Catchment & Pipeline
2018-2021LFP$307,718
2020HPC #19-219*$100,000Pumphouse Water Catchment Redevelopment
2022LFP$93,919
2023EQIP$145,835
2023LFP$32,228
$1,317,461TOTAL 2013 - 2023
* This project was shared with neighboring ranches.
Wolfhole Ranch (Wolfhole Cattle LLC - Utah) - Wolfhole Lake, Lizard & Blake Pond Allotments, State Lease #05-003533
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2022EQIP$38,500
2023HPC #22-224*$50,000Pinyon Pine & Juniper Tree Removal, Water Tank Lids, Fence Replacement
2023HPC #22-216*$150,000Pinyon Pine & Juniper Tree Removal
2023EQIP$48,548
2023LFP$8,813
$295,861TOTAL 2022 - 2023
* Portions of these projects were completed on the BLM’s Wildcat allotment.
Y Cross Ranch (Y Cross Ranch LLC - Utah) - Grama Spring, Head of Hacks & Loco Point Allotments, State Lease #05-000585
YEARSPROGRAMAMOUNTPROJECT NAME
2021LFP$49,674
2022EQIP$81,100
2023LFP$18,630
$149,404TOTAL 2021 - 2023
Chris Heaton, an owner of Y Cross Ranch LLC, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court of Arizona in February 2024 against Pres. Joe Biden’s creation of the Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in August 2023. Heaton claimed the monument threatens his ranching “way of life” and is “putting his family’s future in doubt.”
Note: Ranch ownership often changes in Arizona, because much of the state is too hot and dry for most operations to be sustainably profitable. The ranch owners shown in the tables above are updated when information about a new owner is acquired, but the amounts of government assistance that benefited the ranch's previous owners are maintained.
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.

Update

On June 21, 2024, Gov. Katie Hobbs signed HB 2865, creating a new state agency called the Natural Resource Conservation District Board, comprised primarily of local NRCD supervisors. It's tasked with providing administrative assistance to the state's regional Natural Resource Conservation Districts, which was formerly the responsibility of the Arizona State Land Department. The initial operating funds for the Board will come from the Legislature's regular annual appropriation of $650,000 to the state's NRCDs. The NRCD Board is also responsible for dispensing "conservation" and "education" grants from a new NRCD Fund to the local NRCDs and Soil and Water Conservation Districts. The monies in the fund can include state appropriations, grants and contributions - although the Legislature didn't make an initial appropriation to the fund. Most of the grants dispensed by the Board will likely benefit ranchers, as most NRCD supervisors are ranchers.

This page was last updated on Apr 6, 2024 @ 7:21 am.

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