Much of our work for critical conservation programs is made possible thanks to critical bipartisan support from U.S. Congressional leaders. To date, we have completed more than 900 conservation projects with our federal partners, saving U.S. taxpayers more than $350 million.

More than 1,700 land trusts across America do a remarkable job of saving the places that matter most. When a property comes up for sale, land trusts sometimes need to act fast—and invest big. We lend funds  from our conservation capital to land trusts for bridge financing, which allows them to acquire land before they secure permanent funding. And to help borrowers navigate the project and planning process, we provide technical assistance as well.  

Nature’s Key Role

Protecting natural and working lands gives landscapes a chance to adapt to the changing climate and its impacts by:

• safeguarding against devastating floods
• protecting our drinking water supplies
• storing carbon in forests, wetlands, and grasslands

Story of Climate Resilience:  Standing Up to Hurricane Harvey

The 12,376-acre Sabine Ranch in southeast Texas protects wildlife habitat for hundreds of thousands of birds and lessens the impacts of storm surges on communities by slowing and retaining water. During Hurricane Harvey in 2017, the ranch absorbed roughly 12 billion gallons of water of the roughly nine trillion gallons that fell on the Houston area. The permanent protection of Sabine Ranch helps restore the dynamic natural ecosystem and safeguards communities.

Empowering Communities

Bouncing back from a flood, economic downturn, or a wildfire is difficult in the best of times, and it is even more challenging when local job opportunities are limited. We build community and economic resilience by providing access to capital for small businesses and groups that use natural resources responsibly, support for local food systems, and technical assistance for energy transition.

Story of Climate Resilience: Restoring a River and Helping a Marginalized Community Build Climate Strength


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When severe storms hit, low-income communities and communities of color are often impacted the most because of inequitable distribution of public aid, discriminatory housing practices, zoning laws, and highway development that forced people of color to land that lacked natural barriers and led to declining environmental and socio-economic conditions within those neighborhoods.

Our Resourceful Communities program provides ongoing support to rural, socially- and economically distressed communities in North Carolina through grants, and strategic networking to explore strategies that ensure more inclusive and efficient hurricane recovery efforts. One grantee, the Coharie Tribe, completed a major restoration effort on the Coharie River to improve deteriorated water flow, which has noticeably lessened the impacts of flooding on streets, sidewalks and homes of many communities in Sampson County.

More Stories of Climate Resilience:

• Wildfires and People: What Can We Do Now?
• Growing a New Generation of Farmers
• Teens Use Their Voices to Become Environmental Advocates
• Greening Youth Plants Equitable Roots
• Houston’s Hurricane Recovery through Smart Green Infrastructure Investments
• Sabine Ranch: Adding To Texas' Land Legacy (video)

 

By partnering with government agencies, land trusts, nonprofits, communities, donors, corporations and others, we all gain momentum in this critical fight. We can do so much more when we work together.

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Partner examples

• Adapting to sea-level rise – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Implementing Proactive Strategies for Nature and Communities – U-Haul
• Strengthening Vulnerable, Urban Neighborhoods – JPB
• Sustaining the Health of Urban Waters – Pisces Foundation
• Permanently Protecting Working Forests – Apple

contact us

• Lauren Fety (Forest and Climate Project Manager), lfety@conservationfund.org
• Erik Meyers (Vice President, Climate and Water Sustainability), emeyers@conservationfund.org

The challenge is global, and here in America our forests are being irretrievably lost at a staggering rate.


^{Photo credit: Ivan LaBianca}

Although the challenge is great, we believe there is an incredible opportunity to reverse the tide and bolster the power forests can provide in addressing the climate crisis.

Our Working Forest Fund^® has already acquired over 760,000 acres of at-risk forests across America. Our vision is to protect five million acres of high-conservation-value forests by 2030—forests that will forever clean our air and water, absorb greenhouse gases and provide places for people to connect with nature.

Through sustainable forest management, we ensure trees are able to grow larger and absorb more carbon dioxide. And by working at the intersection of philanthropy and commercial capital, we are able to leverage the latest innovations in forest protection, technology and capital formation to realize the full potential of what U.S. forests can help us achieve for our climate.

 

contact us to learn more

• Lauren Fety (Forest and Climate Project Manager), lfety@conservationfund.org
• Brian Dangler (Vice President, Director, Working Forest Fund), bdangler@conservationfund.org

What We Do

We use an integrated suite of tools to:

• Conserve farm and ranch lands to support agricultural livelihoods and prevent landscape fragmentation and grow local economies Ensure local communities control natural resources to promote food sovereignty and food justice for regional resilience
• Expand the production and distribution capacity of food systems to increase food access and improve community health
• Develop innovative, resource-efficient technologies to ensure long-term food security
• Accelerate the adoption of best agricultural management practices at the production level to protect our soil, air and water