Living with the land

Balancing production & stewardship

Neil Bien was simply going about life on the family ranch when he received an invitation to be honored in Washington, D.C. Granted, the South Dakota rancher's way of life is anything but simple. Bien has planted nearly 60 acres of trees, preserved 1OO wetlands and restored 15 more on his 5,000-acre ranch. That's why leading environmentalists recognized him with the 2005 National Wetlands Award for Landowner Stewardship in May.

"It's just part of our life experience of wanting to protect, preserve and make it better," Bien says. "We expect the land to be productive, but I feel we can do that without destroying anything."

Other projects for Bien and his wife, Muriel, who are members of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Veblen, S.D., have included building dams, filling ditches and rotating pastures-all while rearing nearly 1,000 cattle in a profitable ranching business.

The second of seven children, Bien was born on the family ranch 62 years ago. He began managing the property when he was just 18, after his father's death. Then he moved away to attend college and later teach high school.

Bien returned 30 years ago with Muriel, but his time away didn't affect his relationship with the land. "Our whole family has it instilled in them the uniqueness and love of the land," he says. "It comes natural to us." His grandfather, Ole E. Bien, homesteaded the original land in 1892. Since then, Bien descendants and their families have been the only ones to inhabit it.

"There's no question that we realize this is a special place on Earth and it's probably special for a reason," Bien says. "It's hard to even see a weed growing in the , wrong place or trash on the land because it's almost sacred." Speaking for this sacredness, a 30-foot cross stands atop Pleasant Peak, a hill overlooking the ranch. "From almost any part of our land, we can see the cross," Bien says. He constructed the cross in "recognition of the relation [the land] has to our spiritual life."

Bien hesitates to accept praise for his work. "I never thought of myself as an example before this," he says. "But if we're doing something beneficial, we're sure willing to share that."

Bob Harden, Peace, Gaylord, Mich., was named Der Burgermeister, the honorary mayor of Gaylord for its annual Alpenfest. The retired builder was involved in the construction of all three buildings that comprise Peace.

Nathaniel Chapman, First, Columbus, Ind., earned All-American honors in swimming for Carthage College, Kenosha, Wis., with an eighth-place finish in the 200-meter backstroke at the NCAA Division III Swimming Championships.

Lee Nelson, music director of Trinity, Tucson, Ariz., won first place, graduate division, in the American Choral Directors Association National Conducting competition. He's a graduate of Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn.

Christine Wenderoth was elected to a one-year term as president of the American Theological Library Association. She is director of the JKM Library of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and McCormick Theological Seminary.

The U.S. Achievement Academy honored Sarah Whitworth, Cherokee Village, Cherokee Village, Ark., for her studies in history and government. The academy honors top students nationwide in a variety of subjects.

Jim Mallinson, Gloria Dei, Salisbury, N.C., received the E. Dean Lovette Award for excellence in college healthcare administration. He is director of student health services at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Nicole Adamson

Adamson was a summer intern at The Lutheran. She is a senior at the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill.

Copyright Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Oct 2005
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