I support land conservation mainly because I want there to be something left for my kids to enjoy.
I grew up in northern California, and spent most of my time outdoors. California's natural resources were (and still are) spectacular. As a kid, my family frequented Mount Tamalpais, Yosemite, Tahoe, the Redwood Forest, the Sierra Foothills and various lakes and small farms. I have fond memories of river rafting, hiking, and drinking fresh spring water in the mountains. Tilden Park (in the East Bay) was practically in my back yard, and they have their wonderful Little Farm, various nature programs, and day camps for kids. By the time I was 3, I had a pretty deep appreciation for what nature had to offer.
I currently live near Sandy Hook, New Jersey. It's a 7 mile peninsula with Atlantic Ocean beaches on one side, a bay on the other, bird sanctuaries, bike paths—with spectacular views of New York City, Long Island, and the Jersey Coast. And every year or so, there's an attempt to "open it up" to development. It's up to us to save what's left, and try to reverse the destruction of our planet, one acre, one river at a time.
I was checking Charity Navigator and The Conservation Fund stood out—big time! First, 97 percent of contributions go directly to the programs they are intended to support. Instead of producing slick commercials, the Fund makes every dollar count. They walk the walk. And the results speak for themselves: Almost 7 million acres preserved, among other accomplishments.
We've protected nearly 7 million acres of wildlife habitat, parks, historic sites, working forests and farms across the United States.
A hallmark of our work is our unwavering understanding that for conservation solutions to last, they need to make economic sense. Our land conservation work often has economic benefits, whether we're saving recreation destinations that attract tourists or protecting working forests that provide timber and jobs.
Corporate Partner contributions are highly leveraged: We have the lowest fundraising costs in our field and 97% of our funds go to conservation programs.
With your help, we can continue to make sure America's favorite places stay that way.
Tom Stults is a member of our Cornerstone Society, a special group of individuals who have invested long-term in our conservation efforts by making gifts of $500 or more for five years or longer.
Read his story:
My most enduring memories all come from time spent outdoors. My favorite outdoor place is the Sleeping Bear Dunes lakeshore in Michigan, which is actually a place that The Conservation Fund helped to protect. My family has been spending summers there for nearly 75 years, and to me it remains among the most beautiful places I've been. The area's pristine lakes, rolling dunes, peaceful forests and postcard shorelines taught me an early lesson about the value of our natural assets—not only for their own sake, but also for the well-being of the surrounding communities and beyond.
It is by no means the most "wild" of places I've enjoyed, but that lakeshore holds the most sentimental value. To me, Northern Michigan means time with family, a total refresh and an escape from television and routine. We fill our days with activities rooted in the area's surroundings. We hike the dunes, canoe the Crystal River, birdwatch on the bluffs, cool off in the Caribbean turquoise waters of Glen Lake, and of course fuel ourselves on delicious Michigan cherries and ice cream.
I believe it is our responsibility to leave our environment in as good or better condition as how we inherited it. We rely on our surroundings to sustain and improve our quality of life, yet much about the way we live is unsustainable. Land conservation and sustainability projects help to balance this dynamic and ensure a healthy world for future generations.
The Fund is the most efficient organization out there when it comes to land conservation and environmental sustainability. Not only is its overhead impressively low, it has the ability to quickly shift focus to wherever the need for resources is greatest. The Fund works with an amazing array of people and organizations to secure the best outcome for the areas it seeks to protect or improve. By donating to the Fund, I’m making a permanent impact with each dollar spent—work that has a future value well beyond the money used to make the project happen.
My father was an avid outdoorsmen and he took my sisters and me out hiking and backpacking from an early age. I’m 73 and I still hike and still enjoy exploring scenic and wild places. I have a long history of enjoying the outdoors and want to see the scenic outdoors endure for other generations.
There are so many worthwhile charities out there and I support a number of organizations that do different types of work. I decided to focus on conservation because it appeals to my interests. I would like to see my donation go to saving wild, scenic places and preventing encroachment from things like housing and roads and mining that have devastating impacts on nature.
The Conservation Fund was highly recommended to me by a friend. I looked it up in the American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP) and saw the Fund got an A rating so I know that the money goes to the mission of the organization and not to marketing and overhead. I know the Fund will use my money wisely.
Andy Walker is a member of our Cornerstone Society, a special group of individuals who have invested long-term in our conservation efforts by making gifts of $500 or more for five years or longer.
Read his story:
I grew up in a small town in East Tennessee, and spent nearly all my time in the summers running around in the woods. When I was old enough I started backpacking, canoeing, tubing the Hiwassee and rafting the Ocoee.
I have hiked and camped throughout the southern half of the Cherokee National Forest and the adjacent parts of North Carolina and Georgia, but my favorite place is the Citico-Slickrock Wilderness Area/Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest—it has both great views and great creeks. When I go to the woods I want solitude, and I once spent five days in the Citico-Slickrock and saw just one other person.
The Conservation Fund stands out from similar organizations because of its thrift, its cost-effectiveness. I know that nearly all the money I give goes to protect land, water, and wildlife—not to pay for a huge administrative bureaucracy.
Buying land and conservation easements is simple, direct, and cost-effective. So is partnering with local groups that understand local conservation needs and economic realities better than any national group possibly could. These are the strategies that attract me to The Conservation Fund. I also like the fact that The Conservation Fund protects not just environmentally important places, but places of historic and cultural importance too.
The Conservation Fund saves your special places before they become just a memory. From national parks to local summer camps, our projects—of all sizes—make a tremendous impact for the land and people who love it.
Wander the Petrified Forest National Park today and you may see fallen trees turned into stone. You may discover the 200 million-year-old fossil of a dinosaur, freshwater shark or giant reptile. What is now a colorful desert was once a lush landscape of coniferous trees and shallow seas. Today the park is a living laboratory, offering unparalleled opportunities for paleontological research as well as discovery and delight for visitors from around the world. This summer we protected 26,000 acres within the boundary of the park that had not yet been preserved. Across the country, we are making sure that unique and wondrous places like the Petrified Forest are there to be rediscovered by each new generation. Learn more about our work expanding the Petrified Forest National Park here.
"The shores of Sturgeon Lake provide a magical place to spend summer days. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to make Camp Miller such a big part of my childhood." — Tim Wheeler, former camper.
Something special happens at summer camp. Lifelong friendships are born, kids discover the wonders of nature and camp songs are forever seared in memory. For more than a century, the YMCA of Duluth, Minnesota, has offered summer camps and environmental education at Camp Miller. This summer we helped to secure the camp’s 300 acres and miles of shoreline through a conservation easement—land where kids will hike, swim, grow organic vegetables and build a connection with nature. People protect what they love and only love what they understand and value. We believe these special experiences will produce tomorrow’s conservation leaders and voters. That’s why, with your help, we will keep saving land for the Camp Millers of this nation. Read about our other successful conservaiton efforts that have saved land for kids here.
With your support, no conservation problem is too complicated, no place is too large or too small for us to save. No matter how tough the situation is, we have the expertise to find the right solution. With your generous support today, we will make sure America’s favorite places remain that way for each and every tomorrow.
Whether it's a 2,000-mile hiking trail along the backbone of the country’s East Coast or protecting vanishing wildlife habitat outside Yellowstone National Park, we know that with your support, no conservation problem is too complicated and no place is too large for us to save.
Scared-of-Bears, Sun-Lover, Captain-Trailblazer. Hikers usually earn a “trail name” while hiking the Appalachian Trail—or AT as it’s known—from end-to-end. And earn it they do: hiking more than 2,000 miles, crossing through 14 states and taking 5 million steps! We are protecting the view for these rugged individuals, known as “thru hikers,” and the 3 million other hardy souls who hike a portion of the trail each year. From Vermont to Alabama, we have protected more than 28,000 acres on and around the trail. From the AT to your local trail, it is your support that helps us fill in the gaps to create wildlife corridors and save buffer lands that prevent encroaching development. Go ahead—pick your name and hit the trail.
Anyone who’s seen the majestic beauty of the greater Yellowstone region knows it is one of the West’s most memorable landscapes. Flanked by mountain ranges on either side, Wyoming’s Upper Green River Valley is also home to an amazing array of wildlife. One unforgettable spectacle is the courtship display of the male sage grouse. But with the loss of small family ranches, sage grouse breeding grounds are at risk and the sight of the elaborate strutting dance the males perform is becoming increasingly rare. An expanse of wide-open private ranchlands in the Valley is the last best hope for conserving the region’s rich wildlife. We are partnering with local ranchers to protect and link together some of the highest priority habitat in the area—more than 100,000 acres and counting. Now that’s a reason to dance!
The Conservation Fund's projects, of all sizes, make a tremendous impact for the land and the surrounding communities. With your generous support today, we will make sure America’s favorite places remain that way for each and every tomorrow.
Whether it’s protecting a two-mile bike path or balancing development and nature in our nation’s largest cities, we have the expertise to find the right solution to conservation challenges. No place is too large or too small for us to save. Thanks to support from you, our projects, of all sizes, make a tremendous impact for the land and the surrounding communities.
The Galveston-Houston region is currently the fourth-largest metro area in the country, and the population is expected to triple by 2040. Planning for this kind of growth—and avoiding the pitfalls of haphazard development—can be a thorny problem for cities of all sizes.
That’s why our expertise in balancing nature and development is so key. Leaders in the area have called on us to assist with a green infrastructure planning and implementation initiative for the region. They see the need for thoughtful decision making on conservation, local food production, water resources and development. Together we will figure out how best to stitch green and blue space into the city’s infrastructure and people’s everyday lives. Our goal with each community green infrastructure endeavor: vibrant growth and a healthy environment.
Listening to jazz, buying vegetables from a local farmer, biking to work. What do these things have in common? They are all activities people do in today’s mixed-use urban parks. People need green space; studies show that those with access to walkable parks have better health. We agree, everyone should have access to green space close to home. That’s why to us, no project is too small to take on. Even small projects can have a big impact on communities. In the city of Atlanta alone we have created or added to 21 urban parks since 2003.
From parks and playgrounds to greenways and trails, we will continue to protect the open spaces that are critical to helping residents bond and build stronger, safer and healthier communities.
We make sure your special places are protected before they become just a memory. With your generous support today, we will make sure America’s favorite places remain that way for each and every tomorrow.
Thank you to everyone who voted for us in the
EcoTools Gives Back campaign!
EcoTools believes in making the world beautiful, not only through its eco-conscious beauty and bath products, but by protecting beautiful landscapes, oceans and wildlife.
As a member of 1% for the Planet®, an alliance of businesses that support environmental initiatives, EcoTools donates one perecent of annual revenue to environmental causes.
Giving back is beautiful and spreading the word about the importance of protecting our natural treasures really makes a difference! That's why EcoTools pledged to give $75,000 in their EcoTools Gives Back campaign and asked voters to chose how to share this award among The Conservation Fund, Ocean Conservancy and Jane Goodall Institute.
With 14 percent of the total vote, we're thrilled to be able to put EcoTools generous contribution to work right away toward smart conservation solutions!
So THANK YOU, EcoTools for keeping America's lands beautiful! With this donation we'll be able to save favorite places—from forests and rivers to wilderness and parks—across the nation.
For full results, click here.
Where Montana’s dramatic peaks give way to the Northern Great Plains, the Rocky Mountain Front forms a landscape unlike any other in America. The Front represents some of the nation’s rarest wildlife habitat—where grizzly bears still roam freely from the mountains to the plains, as they have for centuries.
Increased demand for recreational property and vacation homes threatens this natural area. More than 3 million acres have been subdivided over the past 15 years.
For generations, family ranchers have owned large swaths of the land in this region. But as financially-strapped ranchers sell off their land for development, this landscape gets fragmented with new roads and home development. Not only does this development erode the ranching tradition that characterizes the region, it also disrupts wildlife migration routes and cuts off access to breeding grounds, food and safe wilderness for dozens of species such as grizzly bears, elk, and nesting birds like the long-billed curlew.
The Fund is part of a partnership of government agencies and nonprofits that launched an unprecedented five-year effort to protect 220,000 acres along the Rocky Mountain Front. The goal is to protect this wildlife habitat while maintaining the region’s traditional ranching heritage.
We work with ranching families to place conservation easements on their properties. Rather than selling the land to be developed into subdivisions, conservation easements allow them to continue ranching while protecting the land for wildlife habitat.
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1655 N. Fort Myer Drive, Suite 1300
Arlington, Virginia 22209-3199
Phone: 703-525-6300
Fax: 703-525-4610
Email: postmaster@conservationfund.org
