Why This Project Matters
The Ranch’s namesake, the Santa Rita Creek’s headwaters, starts on the ranch and feeds down into the Salinas River, flowing into the Pacific Ocean to nearby Monterey Bay, the nation’s largest marine sanctuary. This key watershed refreshes water supplies for communities such as Salinas and Monterey as well as providing habitat for the endangered steelhead—a fish species that requires clean, freshwater streams with access to the ocean. A lake on the ranch is the fourth largest privately owned reservoir in the county and a flock of Mallard ducks live on the lake year-round.
Santa Rita Ranch.
Our successful partnership with the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County (LCSLO)to acquire Santa Rita Ranch has expanded the network of protected lands in the region and safeguarded critical habitat for wildlife and important water resources in drought-stricken California. Cattle grazing will continue on the property as ranching is a traditional and economic staple in the community. The grazing cattle will also play a role in mitigating fire risks by eating down brush, which also will help keep non-native plants at bay. Protecting a pristine property of this size is a rare and major win for conservation in California’s rapidly developing Central Coast.
"It is highly unlikely we would have been able to buy and protect the Santa Rita Ranch without The Conservation Fund and we are so grateful for their help. Our dream is to make the ranch a center for nature education and research, a premier example of sustainable grazing practices and native grassland restoration, a sanctuary for wildlife, and a place where people can connect quietly with nature. The Conservation Fund made it possible for us to start that journey."
— Kaila Dettman, Executive Director for LCSLO
our role
When the Santa Rita Ranch came up for sale, fears of development loomed—private roads and home plots would have fragmented this important watershed and magnificent landscape. Fortunately, our partner, the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County (LCSLO) works within the region to protect special lands like Santa Rita Ranch. But LCSLO needed more time to raise funds to acquire the property, so The Conservation Fund stepped in to quickly negotiate the purchase.
“We were thrilled to play this critical role in the protection of Santa Rita Ranch, a jewel in the stunning landscape of the Central Coast of California. Now, this property will provide key wildlife habitat, protection of the headwaters of a vastly important watershed and a lasting legacy for the region cared for by our partners at the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County.”
—Steve Hobbs, California State Director, The Conservation Fund
We kept the land safe, giving LCSLO extra time to fundraise for this property. In early 2021, the Ranch was officially transferred to LCSLO for permanent protection. The conservation of the Santa Rita Ranch, with its proximity to San Luis Obispo, will also provide opportunities for environmental education for community members and passive recreation once LCSLO has established the necessary infrastructure.
When timberland owner PotlatchDeltic decided to sell its rural timberlands in Minnesota, the fate of those forests and the benefits they provide to the climate, people and wildlife became uncertain. So The Conservation Fund stepped in to secure a new future for these lands.
The company’s remaining tracts in Minnesota had exceptional water quality, wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities for anglers, hunters and wildlife watchers. We purchased more than 72,000 acres, called Minnesota’s Heritage Forest, through our Working Forest Fund® in 2020 and began working with local partners to determine conservation outcomes that would balance environmental protection, economic benefits and opportunities for climate change mitigation.
Approximately 28,000 acres (44 square miles) of the forest fell within the reservation boundaries of the Bois Forte Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. We saw a unique opportunity to restore those acres to the Bois Forte Band, who were both eager and ready to sustainably manage the land for economic, cultural and environmental purposes.
our role
As a mission-driven national nonprofit, The Conservation Fund is focused on creating lasting solutions for naturally and culturally important lands that make sense for the environment and communities.
Protecting and ensuring U.S. working forests stay forested is a top priority because our forests provide a multitude of vital benefits – including clean air and water, mitigating the effects of climate change, and providing wildlife habitat, forestry jobs, revenue streams and recreational opportunities. We collaborated with the Bois Forte Band and the Indian Land Tenure Foundation to create an outcome for this portion of Minnesota’s Heritage Forest that provides the Band with an important revenue stream through sustainable land management, all while advancing the Fund’s mission to conserve more of the lands that matter most for wildlife and people, along with economic and cultural vitality.
why it matters
Over the past few decades, much of Minnesota’s industrial forestland has been subdivided and converted to non-forest uses due to changing land uses and economic forestry conditions. By reuniting these 28,000 acres with the Bois Forte Band and ensuring the long-term stewardship of these forests, we honor the heritage of this land. Moreover, we respect the Band as the best possible caretakers for this forestland, and we celebrate together this historic land restoration.
Photo courtesy of the Bois Forte Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe
The importance of this transaction to the Bois Forte Band cannot be overstated. The Band first sought to safeguard their land by entering into a treaty with the United States in 1854. Twenty years later, the federal government set aside that treaty so it could subdivide the Band’s land, selling it to timber companies and homesteaders. When we learned how we could help the Band regain 21% of its homeland as outlined in that 1854 treaty, securing forever what should have been secured 168 years ago, we were compelled to act.
The Band has an unquestionable commitment to do what’s best for the forest. And now, for the first time since the 1800s, the future of this forestland is a story that will be told by Bois Forte Band.
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Lone Pine Ranch, once owned by Dean Witter, is an expansive landscape across Mendocino and Trinity counties far away from the crush and cacophony of San Francisco Bay. At 30,000 acres (that’s more than 23,000 football fields) this was a ranch lost in time but threatened to be fragmented by piecemeal development. It was a target of various conservation groups for decades and now we are able to realize the dream of its protection for recreation, ecological importance and stunning scenic beauty.
In a conservation partnership among a variety of public and private interests, we are working to achieve that goal and protect this incredible area.
An Outdoor-Lover’s Dream
Lone Pine Ranch will be a recreational wonderland for hikers, campers, anglers, kayakers, and more. The property includes 18.5 miles of frontage on the Wild and Scenic Eel River and lies at the heart of the "Grand Canyon of the Eel" along the future Great Redwood Trail. The towering canyon walls and tumbling rapids make the Eel River one of the most popular rivers in the region for rafting and kayaking.
Diversity Worth Protecting
The property is also known for its intriguing geology, expansive lush wetlands, dense conifer forests, and classic California oak savanna. This forest/grassland community provides a significant carbon sequestration opportunity with more than 13,000 metric tons of carbon stored in fir, pine and oaks.
The Eel River is home to the southernmost summer population of steelhead trout as well as chinook and coho salmon. It’s also home to resident population of Roosevelt elk.
A Family Legacy
Lone Pine Ranch was owned for decades by Dean G. Witter, the founder of Dean Witter and Company in 1924. Based in San Francisco, Dean Witter and Company was one of the few brokerage firms on the West Coast when it was created, and their foresight and determination allowed them to be one of the few firms in the nation to survive the Great Depression. He purchased the land in the early 1940’s and until recently, the property carried on his legacy under the ownership of 16 Witter heirs. They are ecstatic to see the ranch protected and the Witter family legacy preserved.
our role
For many years, our partners at The Wildlands Conservancy (TWC) owned a 3,000-acre portion of the Lone Pine Ranch. But in 2019, they sought our help to protect the remaining 26,000 acres. With a generous low interest loan from the Packard Foundation, The Conservation Fund has acquired Area 3 of the map, the last 8,000-acre parcel of the whole 30,000-acre ranch. 
Click on the image to view a larger map. Credit: The Wildlands Conservancy
The support for this project has been tremendous with the help of Governor Newsom, Secretary of Natural Resources Crowfoot, the Center for Biological Diversity, California Wildlife Conservation Board, and the California State Coastal Conservancy.
Now we need to focus on reimbursing the Packard Foundation so that their loan can be used for other worthwhile projects. We are actively fundraising to pay back that loan and ensure Lone Pine Ranch remains protected forever under TWC’s ownership. To support this effort, please contact Samaria Jaffe.
IRC’s New Roots Program does just that. New Roots helps refugees reestablish their ties to the land, celebrate their heritage and nourish themselves and their neighbors by planting strong roots—literally—in their new communities. Through community gardening, nutrition education and small-business farming, New Roots is giving hundreds of refugee farmers the tools and training they need to grow healthy and affordable food and become self-sufficient.
Our Role: Finding New Spots for Urban Farms and Gardens
IRC has more refugee farmers interested in growing and marketing their own food than it has land to support them. To help meet this growing demand for land–safe and accessible places for community gardens and urban farms—IRC turned to The Conservation Fund to assess vacant and underutilized parcels in neighborhoods where IRC’s refugees live. We’re starting in San Diego, and looking to expand into cities where New Roots is growing, including Oakland, Sacramento and Phoenix. It’s our hope that we can use our real estate savvy and access to conservation funding to make it easier for IRC to accelerate its humanitarian efforts. Together we can create a powerful force for good, offering a fresh start to displaced families who want access to food and markets that can sustain them.“The New Roots program enables refugees to reestablish their ties to the land, celebrate their heritage and nourish themselves and their neighbors by planting strong roots—literally—in their new communities.”-- International Rescue Committee
Why This Project Matters
“Food deserts”—places where healthy, nutritious food is either too expensive or not available at all—are a major problem, not just in cities like San Diego, but also in many rural areas of the U.S. By encouraging families to grow their own nutritious food and sell their surplus harvest in the community, the New Roots program makes the whole community healthier.Learn More
Little did we know that our restoration efforts might also provide a brighter future for the coastal tailed frog, whose recent discovery on our property symbolizes the many environmental benefits of our commitment to sustainably manage this land.
Dating back even before dinosaurs, the tailed frog is one of the world’s most primitive frog species. To survive, the coastal tailed frog needs cold and clear running water. For years, that was not the kind of condition you’d find at Garcia River Forest, where decades of intensive logging and road-building clogged streams with sediment and eroding soil.
But beginning in 2004, once the Garcia property was in our hands, we worked with scientists from The Nature Conservancy, to develop and implement a land-management plan that includes forest ecosystem restoration and sustainable harvests. We’ve taken steps to reduce stream sediment by repairing roads, and we are monitoring waters for a healthy level of shade from trees above. And the coastal tailed frog has now been found on site, where it belongs.
Research is in the early stages, but scientists say the frog’s presence at Garcia is a good sign for the health of our streams. By restoring this special place, we’re also providing safe haven for salmon, owls and other wildlife. Equally important, we’re providing jobs to support people and families who call this area home.
Just like this project, our work across America combines a passion for conservation with an entrepreneurial spirit to protect your favorite places before they become just a memory. With your support, we can do so much more.
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While Chivington’s troops returned to a heroes’ welcome in Denver, the Sand Creek Massacre was soon recognized as a national disgrace. The incident was investigated and condemned by two congressional committees and a military commission. More recently, Colorado’s political leaders made formal apologies on behalf of agents of government and rescinded 1864 proclamations by Governor John Evans that authorized killing of Native Americans in Colorado territory. These proclamations had remained on the books for more than 150 years prior to recission in 2021.
PROTECTING THE LAND WHERE HISTORY HAPPENED
In 1999, archaeologists and historians from the National Park Service and the Colorado Historical Society, accompanied by Cheyenne and Arapaho descendants, collected the Indigenous knowledge and physical evidence of the massacre site. As a result, in 2000 Congress authorized a 12,480-acre site boundary. However, all of the properties within the boundary were held by private individuals. Over the course of over 20 years, The Conservation Fund built relationships with willing landowners to purchase land within the site boundary and transfer it to the National Park Service to protect, interpret and memorialize the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. By 2007, over 3,000 acres had been assembled — enough land for the site to be formally established and opened to the public. In 2022, the protected acreage more than doubled with the addition of 3,500 acres which The Conservation Fund acquired and held until transfer to NPS, thanks to funding from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. Visitors to the National Historic Site can now experience how dramatically the Site is forever changed by the protection of this addition.
At a special event on October 5, 2022, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, NPS Director Charles Sams, representatives of the Northern Arapaho, Northern Cheyenne, and Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, and many others came to dedicate this new land to the national historic site. Learn more here.
“It is our solemn responsibility at the Department of the Interior, as caretakers of America’s national treasures, to tell the story of our nation. The events that took place here forever changed the course of the Northern Cheyenne, Northern Arapaho, and Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. We will never forget the hundreds of lives that were brutally taken here – men, women and children murdered in an unprovoked attack. Stories like the Sand Creek Massacre are not easy to tell but it is my duty – our duty – to ensure that they are told. This story is part of America’s story.”
- Secretary Haaland
“The freshwater spring on this land, the creek bed, the mature stand of cottonwoods — all are associated with the Cheyenne and Arapaho encampments that were attacked at Sand Creek. Adding this land to the National Historic Site helps us to venerate the traumatic events of 1864, the land itself serving as a vehicle to carry the lessons of the Sand Creek Massacre into the future.”
- Christine Quinlan, Colorado Associate State Director for The Conservation Fund
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The majority of Illinois hill prairies remaining today are less than five acres in size — and about half of these sites are smaller than one acre. The primary threat is encroachment by woody, invasive plants that crowd out native species and diminish nesting areas for pollinators.
Prairie habitat restoration (before and after)
Private landowners are partnering with local nonprofits and public agencies to recover hill prairie ecology, a critical strategy to increasing species abundance and diversity. Current partners include the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, US Fish and Wildlife Service, The Conservation Fund, Pheasants Forever, and the Illinois office of The Nature Conservancy.
“We have a great opportunity here to restore a large hill prairie complex by working together.”
- Ray Geroff, natural heritage biologist for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
The Fund’s Role
The Conservation Fund is working with corporate partners to secure resources to support this work, which will expand the habitat corridor around the Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area. One such partner, Apex Clean Energy, made a significant investment in the project in 2022 to support prairie habitat and water quality. This investment will be combined with additional funding to jumpstart private land restoration while engaging local communities in the work. The Illinois Electric Cooperative has been a strong partner by providing additional tree removal to support restoration under and near power lines. A past donation from TC Energy has helped expand prairie areas as foraging habitat for migratory tree roosting bats. Additional inquiries from corporate partners are welcome.
Why This Project Matters
Hill prairies were formed atop river bluffs coated with thick layers of wind-blown soils along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. Over time, unique grasses and flowers made homes on these slopes. These plants provide critical habitat for key species, including chuck-will’s-widow, Acadian flycatcher, eastern whip-poor-will, northern bobwhite, bald eagle, barn owl, and redheaded woodpecker. These dynamic regions also are home to ornate box turtles and migratory tree roosting bats. But perhaps most notably, this project area supports the monarch butterfly, a candidate for listing as a federally threatened or endangered species.
Clouded Sulphur butterfly. Photo: Michael Budd, USFWS
In addition to supporting wildlife, this project will also help reduce erosion into nearby waterways and rivers. Hill prairies are composed of erodible soils that are not well anchored by the shallow, coarse roots of woody vegetation. Removing invasive trees and restoring prairie grasses will reduce water runoff by improving soil structure and facilitating better infiltration of rainwater. In this way, fewer pollutants and fertilizers will be transported into the riverine system, increasing water quality and benefiting aquatic species from mussels to fish.
“The Conservation Fund is grateful to corporate partners like Apex Clean Energy, which recognizes the importance of giving back to local communities, and wants to ensure that Illinois solar projects generate environmental benefits for Illinois species like essential pollinators, in addition to clean solar energy. A seed gift from TC Energy to support migratory tree roosting bat habitat kick-started a multi-species, multi-partner initiative that will pay dividends for all the species that rely on critical hill prairie habitat for decades to come.”
- Emy Brawley, Project Manager
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The Challenge
Once remote U.S. military installations are facing rapid development from surrounding communities that constrains training operations and threatens the readiness of our armed forces. Urban sprawl and land conversion near installations creates significant challenges for both the military and surrounding communities, while also negatively impacting natural and working lands that support wildlife habitat, agriculture and recreation.Land Conservation as a Solution
In 2002, Congress gave the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) authority to enter into cost sharing agreements with state and local governments and conservation organizations to promote military readiness and prevent encroachment from incompatible development. To lead this effort, DoD created the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) program, which provides federal funding to conserve land that both protects wildlife habitats and working lands while preserving the training and testing mission of military installations.
To date, the REPI program has provided funding to over 100 installations at significant risk of encroachment. However, REPI funding alone cannot address the increasing development pressures facing DoD training and testing areas tasked with maintaining and improving U.S. military readiness.
The Need
REPI partners are required to provide as much as 50% matching funds from non-DoD sources to complete land conservation projects, while also providing funding to cover due diligence, staff time, and indirect costs. Without these matching funds available when landowners are ready to sell, high priority lands near military bases are at risk of being lost to incompatible development and conversion, which can present obstacles to aircraft, create electronic interference that negatively affects sensitive communications equipment and create increased hazards to nearby communities.
Accelerating Readiness and Environmental Protection
The Conservation Fund created the Military Readiness Fund to support the permanent conservation of high priority lands near military bases by providing matching funds and related project expenses needed to complete REPI projects across the country. This dedicated source of funding, together with The Conservation Fund’s ready bridge capital, will allow us to be ready to secure lands to meet the needs of landowners and will expand our ability to complete mutually beneficial projects that enable conservation, communities and military installations across the nation to support continued military readiness.
How You Can Help
Our goal is to raise $25 million to ensure we can quickly conserve priority REPI lands and cover funding gaps that delay the completion of critically important projects. This funding will help stretch REPI dollars, enabling the protection of even more lands at risk from incompatible development near military installations before it is too late.
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One of The Conservation Fund’s top priorities is ensuring large, forested landscapes that support wildlife, water quality and local economies are not subdivided and converted to non-forest uses. When the Greater New York Councils of the Boy Scouts of America, one of the largest Scout operations in the U.S., reached out to us in 2021 to discuss the opportunity to acquire most of the 95-year-old Scout reservation for conservation, we recognized the importance of securing this serene forestland in the southern Catskill Mountains, four miles from the Woodstock Festival site.
By leveraging proceeds from our pioneering green bonds and a private partnership with the nonprofit Malone Family Land Preservation Foundation, we launched an initiative to protect 9,400 acres of the historic Ten Mile River Scout Reservation. This will allow the Scouts to continue using the land for scouting activities and its charitable mission – all while ensuring the land is forever protected and made available for public recreation.
Our Role
In May 2022, The Conservation Fund and the Greater New York Councils embarked on a multi-year effort to permanently protect most of the historic Ten Mile River Scout Reservation. The Fund’s acquisition of nearly 6,100 acres through our Working Forest Fund provides time for the development and implementation of permanent conservation strategies on the forest to support water quality and wildlife habitat protection, help combat climate change, and explore opportunities for future public recreational access for hiking, camping and fishing. We are currently fundraising to purchase an additional 3,300 acres from the Greater New York Councils within the next year.
The Scouts will maintain ownership of the four active summer camp facilities encompassing 2,100 acres so that the Reservation can continue to support youth leadership programming as well as outdoor and camping opportunities.
During its temporary ownership of the Ten Mile River Forest, the Fund will continue sustainable forest management to enhance carbon storage, recreational access, climate and fire resilience, and water and wildlife resources. We plan to work with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation on the permanent protection of this land.
Why It Matters
Through this project, the Fund is again facilitating conservation at a landscape scale, securing forestland with extraordinary habitats and resources for the public. This project will forever secure over 18 miles of streams and three miles of river frontage on the Upper Delaware Scenic & Recreational River along with 60 miles of hiking trails. Additionally, it will store over 2.1 million tons of CO2 equivalent — comparable to the emissions from over 472,000 passenger vehicles over the course of a year.
The National Park Service will continue to manage the Delaware River access site and Tusten Mountain Trail for the public.
Ten Mile River. Photo: Michael Lennon
Aquatic and terrestrial species will benefit through this project as well. Because the Delaware River has remained undammed throughout the length of its mainstem, it remains a natural connection to the Atlantic Ocean, allowing migratory fish to reach the Upper Delaware River for spawning. Moreover, the dense forest cover of the Ten Mile River Scout Reservation provides ideal habitat for black bear, bobcat, coyote, wild turkey, muskrat, mink, raccoon and white-tailed deer. The highest concentration of bald eagle wintering areas in New York is also found in this watershed.
Permanent conservation of the Ten Mile River Forest also places safeguards on the numerous sites documented on the property as once used by the indigenous Lenape people.
learn more
- Greater New York Councils, Boy Scouts of America
- News release: “Effort Launched To Conserve Ten Mile River Scout Reservation In New York State”
- Learn about the Working Forest Fund
- Learn about our work in New York
Over the last 20 years, we’ve helped add over 17,500 acres to Cherokee National Forest, including key sections of popular hiking trails, critical wildlife habitat and a portion of the historic Trail of Tears. And that number continues to grow. By working in collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), The Nature Conservancy and other partners like Volkswagen, and leveraging funding from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), we continue to secure additional forestland for future generations.
Recreation & Trails
Did you know only about 94 miles of the Appalachian Trail runs through Tennessee? And a small portion of that trail runs through Cherokee National Forest thanks to a 2016 effort between us, USFS and the Appalachian Trails Conservancy to relocate the trail and provide hikers a safe crossing at U.S. 321. Other portions of the trail run through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park — the country’s most visited national park — which the Cherokee National Forest sandwiches with a southern forest portion and northern forest portion. Between park visitors and the 3 million people who hike the Appalachian Trail annually, this area and the forest are a haven for outdoor recreation and tourism.
There are also trails within Cherokee National Forest with historical and cultural importance. The people of the Cherokee Nation were the original stewards of this landscape. But when European settlers pushed into the Cherokee's ancestral homeland, disease and exploitation caused the Cherokee population to go from roughly 200,000 to 25,000. In 1830 after the Indian Removal Act, what Cherokee remained were forced to relocate to new territory in Oklahoma. An estimated 4,000 people died on the journey route, now known as the Trail of Tears.
In 2014, we helped conserve a property adjacent to Cherokee National Forest that contains a portion of the Unicoi Turnpike Trail (a former Cherokee trading path) and the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail — a 4,900-mile land and water trail that traces parts of the original Trail of Tears route through nine states.
Habitat & Biodiversity
One of our keystone projects in Tennessee, the 10,000-acre Rocky Fork property, was once one of the largest unprotected tracts of land in the Southern Appalachians. Located within Cherokee National Forest and adjacent to the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina, the protection of this landscape created a vast unfragmented haven for rare wildlife species such as the peregrine falcon, eastern hellbender and the Yonahlossee salamander. Through our efforts, some of this land went to the USFS for the Cherokee National Forest, and some became part of the new Rocky Fork State Park — both excellent recreation destinations.
About 1.5 miles of the Appalachian Trail crosses through the Rocky Fork property, and sixteen miles of pristine blue-ribbon trout streams harbor exceptional populations of native brook trout. Rocky Fork also boasts habitat for game animals such as bear, turkey, deer and grouse. The protection of this biodiversity hotspot is a critical victory in our larger fight against habitat loss and climate change.
Cherokee National Forest also includes part of the Conasauga River, which is an ecosystem teeming with aquatic wildlife, including 12 federally endangered species and 76 native fish species. When we learned that 300 acres (with half-mile river frontage) along the Conasauga was listed for sale, we quickly helped USFS secure it as part of the national forest’s Ocoee Bear Reserve.
“Being involved in the Conasauga River project is one of many that I have been fortunate enough to be engaged in to assist the Cherokee National Forest with their ongoing efforts to protect significant natural resources for the citizens of Tennessee and beyond.”
— Ralph Knoll, The Conservation Fund’s Tennessee State Director
Partnerships
These critical additions to Cherokee National Forest would not have been possible without the dedication of our partners at USFS and many others, as well as strategic funding from the LWCF. LWCF, annually approved by the U.S. Congress uses offshore drilling royalties paid to the federal government, not taxpayer dollars, to conserve key land and waters like these in the U.S.
In 2021, we partnered with Volkswagen to protect 1,500 acres within Cherokee National Forest near the company’s Chattanooga plant. The sites protected through this partnership include ecologically important waterways like the French Broad River, Little Toqua Creek and the Conasagua River.
Other partners at the Cherokee National Forest include The Nature Conservancy in Tennessee, the Lyndhurst Foundation, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, and the Imperiled Bat Conservation Fund.
