Alto “Bud” Lee Adams, Jr., is renowned for his outstanding environmental stewardship and wildlife preservation, while running a successful cattle operation at Adams Ranch in Fort Pierce, where he demonstrated that agriculture and land conservation can be successfully integrated. His environmental efforts include innovations in exotic plant pest control and wetlands management. Adams provided access to researchers to study the sandhill crane, bald eagle, osprey and caracara. Adams began breeding Brahmans and Herefords in the late 1940s, and became nationally known when the USDA recognized Braford as a new breed of cattle in 1969, which achieved his goal to develop a heat-adaptive strain that would thrive in Florida’s subtropical environment. He was Cattleman of the Year, receiving the Stewardship Award from the National Cattlemen’s Association, and the Florida Environmental Award from the Soil Conservation District.