Dawn Salcito

Dawn Salcito is a wife, mother, grandmother, and rancher in Arizona. She has been married to her husband Justin for 31 years. They have three sons – Jacob, Owen, and Ben and two daughters-in-law – Cheyenne and Emma. Dawn also has three grandchildren and can’t wait for more!

Dawn’s family worked on ranches throughout Arizona. This industry and community is the driving force behind her desire for progress. Her husband’s family has owned the Z3 Ranch outside of Skull Valley for over 34 years. She and Justin have been fortunate enough to live and raise their family on the ranch. In 1997, Justin stopped riding saddle broncs full time and began running the family ranch. Raising their family and building a sustainable ranch business has been their primary focus ever since. 

She began her conservation journey as a natural resource conservation district board member in 2016. At that time, they were having issues with conservation practices on their federal allotment, and Dawn hoped to make a change by getting involved. She was drawn in by the concept of locally led efforts. From her perspective, the people on the land best understand the resource concerns and how to solve the problems but lack the ability to coordinate funding pools and stakeholders. This is the strength provided by conservation districts and by extension the Arizona Association of Conservation Districts.