The Movement to Save America’s Cultural Landscapes

When we talk about conserving America’s most important places, we often think of sweeping landscapes — old-growth forests, wild rivers, fertile farmland, remote mountain peaks. These places matter not just for the species they protect or the climate benefits they provide, but because they hold stories. Stories about who we are, what we value, and where we’ve been. 

But not all of those stories live in the wilderness. 

In cities and towns across the country, buildings, parks, churches, neighborhoods and gathering places tell a different kind of story — about freedom, resilience, protest, invention, perseverance, and identity. These are cultural landscapes, and they are just as endangered, and just as worthy of protection, as the natural ones. 

Too often, places of deep historical importance to African American communities and other groups are overlooked, underfunded, or allowed to crumble. Many aren’t on any map. Some are still standing only because someone — a neighbor, a pastor, a local historian — decided to fight for them. 

At The Conservation Fund, we believe those fights are worth joining. Because these places are part of the American story — a story of struggle and progress, of unfinished work, of triumph against extraordinary odds.