Richard (Dick), Kim, Eric, and Kiley Cates embody the spirit of conservation on their working farm in Spring Green, Wisconsin. In recognition of their leadership, the Cates family was honored with the 2025 Land Legacy Award by Gathering Waters: Wisconsin’s Alliance for Land Trusts during Driftless Area Land Conservancy’s annual Legacy Picnic on August 12, 2025.
Dick and Kim’s land stewardship story began in 1987 when they established a successful grass-fed beef operation on the Cates family property, following Aldo Leopold’s conservation ethic, using managed, rotational grazing to nurture healthy pasture and build soil health.
In 2016, their son, Eric, and his wife, Kiley, took over the farm operation. With the help of Dick and Kim’s daughter, Shannon, and her husband, Dan, they expanded the farm by purchasing adjacent land, which the previous landowner had protected with a conservation easement through Driftless Area Land Conservancy. The easement on their property protects working farmland, natural springs, ponds, wetlands, Lowery Creek, and a remnant oak savanna currently under restoration.
Lowery Creek, and one of its two principal tributaries, flows 3.5 miles through the Cates’ farm and into the Lower Wisconsin River. Their land management practices have helped elevate Lowery Creek from a Class 2 to a Class 1 trout stream. Lowery Creek is one of only three natural hatcheries in the state with a naturally reproducing population of “heritage” brook trout (referring to the original, native strain of brook trout that has evolved over thousands of years, distinct from hatchery raised brook trout).
In 2024, the Cates family added a streambank protection easement on their property along a stretch of Lowery Creek. The new easement, which was funded through the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Stream Bank Protection Program in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, provides public access for fishing and allows for certain habitat management activities. The Cates family worked closely with Driftless Area Land Conservancy to ensure that this new easement would complement the existing protections on the property and enhance the conservation values along the stream corridor.
With this new easement, the family has essentially doubled the protection of Lowery Creek! Anglers have always fished Lowery Creek from the Cates Farm, but by law, have had to remain in the stream. The streambank easement allows anglers to remain on land while fishing, which avoids the disturbance of sensitive aquatic habitat, such as disturbing brook trout nests and kicking up sediment.
“I was thrilled to hear that the Cates family had won this prestigious award,” said Jennifer Filipiak, Executive Director of Driftless Area Land Conservancy. “The conservation easement is just a part of their overall philosophy of conservation farming – I’m grateful to the Cates family for welcoming me and the public on their land regularly for field days to learn about how they successfully integrate a productive grass-fed beef farm with high quality habitat restoration.”
In addition to their work on the farm, they each serve their communities. Dick co-founded the University of Wisconsin-Madison School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers, which has assisted more than 600 beginning farmers. He has also served on the board of directors for the Driftless Area Land Conservancy and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. He currently serves as Chair of the Town of Wyoming and on the boards of the Sand County Foundation and Upland Hills Health Hospital and Clinics Foundation. Kim served as agricultural liaison for U.S. Senator Herb Kohl and presently serves on the Lower Wisconsin Riverway Board. Eric coaches the local youth ski team at Tyrol Basin and serves as elected Clerk for the Town of Wyoming. Kiley serves as a nurse (RN, BSN) in surgery at Upland Hills Health Hospital and is a member of the River Valley School Board. The Cates family was also honored with Wisconsin’s Leopold Conservation Award in 2013.
The Cates family regularly hosts visitors at their farm to share knowledge about working conservation, opening their land for educational events and serving as trail hosts for the developing the Driftless Trail, a 50-mile footpath connecting three state parks in the region.
“The legacy the Cates family has created on their property demonstrates how sustainable working lands can support healthy ecosystems,” said Mike Carlson, Executive Director of Gathering Waters. “Their efforts show how agriculture and land conservation can coexist, and inspire future generations to protect and preserve working lands in perpetuity.”
All of us at Gathering Waters thank the Cates family for their unwavering commitment to conservation and their protection of Wisconsin’s vital farmland.
About the Land Conservation Leadership Awards
The awards, presented annually to conservation leaders by Gathering Waters, recognize the outstanding achievements and contributions of people and organizations who devote their time and talents to protecting Wisconsin’s land, water, and wildlife.
About the Land Legacy Award
This award recognizes individuals whose extraordinary generosity and leadership have significantly benefited land conservation in Wisconsin.