News release
In September 2021, the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies awarded Ian Tomlinson and the Vera Earl Ranch its Private Lands Fish and Wildlife Stewardship Award “for their proactive conservation and environmental practices and for continuing to exhibit outstanding stewardship of fish and wildlife resources.”
In addition, in January 2022, the Arizona Game and Fish Commission awarded its Wildlife Habitat Steward of the Year to the Vera Earl Ranch, Inc.
For the past 13 years Ian Tomlinson of the Vera Earl Ranch, Inc. has continued the ranching operations of the Empire Ranch in Sonoita, starting with a grazing lease on Las Cienegas National Conservation Area from the Bureau of Land Management in 2009.