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John Sanders honored as 2025 Landowner of the Year for wetland work on private farm
Summary
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation honored John Sanders for converting low-lying cropland into managed wetlands, installing homemade water-control devices and piloting low-cost conservation tools on a 932-acre property near the Red River Basin.
John Sanders, a private landowner with a 932-acre project in the Red River Basin, was named the Oklahoma Landowner of the Year for 2025 by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.
The award recognizes Sanders’ conversion of marginal cropland into a 55-acre complex of 5–10 acre wetland units, construction of a levee that created a 50-acre lake, and ongoing stewardship of a forested oxbow called Dead Man’s Slough, which Sanders manages as a evening roost sanctuary for migratory waterfowl. Paxton Smith, the department’s migratory game birds and wetlands biologist, said Sanders’ efforts "increase the connectivity of habitat in the area" and singled out his water-control structures and other low-cost innovations.
Sanders’ projects use moist-soil management — water-level manipulation and selective vegetation control — to create seeds and foraging habitat for ducks and shorebirds. He has documented about 2,500 bare-root seedlings planted at multiple elevations, though presenters noted survival has been low ("only one in five survived," per the presentation). Staff highlighted Sanders’ homemade water-control structures, an electric beaver-exclusion device and a ditching tool designed to help dry units for herbicide work and planting. The commission presentation said Sanders has worked with regional supervisors and Ducks Unlimited on portions of the property and anticipates transferring parts of the project to Ducks Unlimited for long-term protection.
In accepting the award, Sanders described the project as a personal passion: "It's been a project of love... I did it because of the duck hunting," he said, adding that the property’s location in an historically productive oxbow helps maintain roosting habitat for waterfowl. Alan Stacy, a former department employee now with Ducks Unlimited, and other local partners were named as contributors to the nomination and on-site assistance.
Why it matters: department staff noted that about 97% of Oklahoma land is privately owned, so private landowners like Sanders play a central role in regional habitat connectivity and in maintaining the health of adjacent Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) such as Grassy Slough and Red Slough.
The award presentation included a photo and video overview of Sanders’ site and a short list of specific management metrics used by the department evaluators, including acreage converted, structures installed and seedlings planted.
