September 2024

Dear Network Friends,

Earlier this month we were honored to be able to announce 15 new Catalyst Fund grant awards to Landscape Partnerships across the country. Invariably, with each grant cycle, we come away incredibly inspired by all of the examples we see in proposals of locally driven, long-term collaboration across jurisdictions, sectors, and interests–partners coming together to co-create and work towards a shared vision for the places they care about. 

Through the Catalyst Fund we have had the privilege of working alongside 85 Landscape Partnerships over the last six years–this is indeed an incredibly impressive community of practitioners, and it is exciting to track these Partnerships and the impacts that are emerging from their continued efforts. This month we are especially excited to be able to share a Perspectives piece that highlights the Tri-Pueblo Coalition, a Catalyst Fund grantee from 2022, and how it has been able to utilize strengthened collaborative capacity to advance access to co-stewardship opportunities on Tribal ancestral lands in the Jemez Mountains. 

We think of Landscape Partnerships–and the way in which they serve as vehicles for building holistic conversations around the future of place–as vital to the long-term future of our communities and our landscapes. This is especially acute in the face of threat–and as we write, our hearts are with those of you in the southeastern United States who are navigating the devastating impacts that Hurricane Helene brought over the weekend. 

Backbone Leadership

Connectivity & SWAPs

The Tahoe Basin

Perspectives: Co-stewardship on Ancestral Lands

Jon Peterson

Director, Network for Landscape Conservation

Cover photo: Jemez Pueblo Forest Restoration Site. Credit: Trees, Water & People.

As we grapple with challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental injustice–challenges that aren’t neatly contained within jurisdictional boundaries–collaborative landscape conservation and stewardship offers an approach that is rooted in the belief that we can accomplish more together than any single entity can accomplish on its own. This means that collaboration and networked approaches are critical to achieving collective impact at the landscape level. Yet, explaining how a network is structured and functions can be challenging, and it can be difficult to persuade decision-makers–who are much more familiar with the structuring and functioning of hierarchical organizations–of the value of networks and the collective impact they can deliver. All of this means that the work of practitioners that are coordinating landscape collaboratives and other networked approaches is often overlooked, and the unique leadership demands that these individuals face are poorly understood. 

A new report from the Collective Impact Forum, ‘Backbone Leadership is Different: Skills and Mindset Shifts for Collective Impact’ (and associated webinar) explains how leading a collective impact initiative is different and more complex than leading a traditional organization, and highlights the complexity of “leadership” in these efforts, with various roles–steering committees, work groups, and staff–all contributing to shepherding partners through relationship-building, co-creation, and accountability to reach outcomes together. Pair this resource with an exploration of Collective Mind’s Network Diagnostic Framework, which it has recently made open-source. This Framework offers a way to understand what a network is, how it functions, and what it needs in place to do so optimally. As we continue to think about the practice of collaborative landscape conservation and stewardship, a deeper understanding of how groups of partners can come together to create change around shared goals is critical–and will position us all to more effectively advance the landscape-level outcomes that we need to address interwoven challenges like the biodiversity, climate, and environmental injustice crises. 

Recent U.S. legislative actions at federal and state levels, such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Florida’s Wildlife Corridor Act, have demonstrated a growing bipartisan interest in connectivity conservation. These policies have led to significant funding for connectivity conservation. However, effective planning is still crucial for strategically leveraging these historic investments. State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs) are therefore important vehicles for connectivity conservation. State wildlife agencies must complete SWAPs to qualify for funding from the State Wildlife Grants program, established in 2000 to support the conservation of at-risk species and their habitat. SWAPs have become recognized as “conservation blueprints” that compile the best available science, identify threats and actions, and promote coordination across various partners.

The Center for Large Landscape Conservation recently released a report reviewing efforts to integrate ecological connectivity into SWAPs under the 2015 revision cycle. The report provides SWAP planners and concerned partners with a comprehensive collection of existing plan components related to connectivity and makes recommendations for advancing connectivity conservation in upcoming revisions.

The Tahoe Basin in California and Nevada has long been a pioneering landscape for collaborative, cross-jurisdictional approaches to managing natural resources, tracing to the 1960s and the bistate compact that created the nation's first interstate land authority to steward environmental quality. This landscape continues to be at the forefront of efforts to advance collaborative landscape conservation and stewardship efforts in response to the 21st Century challenges facing our lands and waters. Those efforts are set to benefit from the successful reauthorization of the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, which passed Congress last week and is now heading to President Biden's desk for signing. The reauthorization will provide approximately $300 million in funding to support environmental protection and habitat restoration programs across the basin for the next ten years—serving as the cornerstone of federal investment in the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program, one of the most comprehensive and successful conservation programs in the nation. Elsewhere in the Tahoe Basin, the Tahoe Central Sierra Initiative has just released a new report that explores the capacity needs for forest health and wildfire resilience. This report emerges from an in-depth survey of practitioners seeking to identify needs and barriers related to capacity in processes to advance forest restoration and wildfire resilience work across multiple scales. And finally, earlier this year partners in the Tahoe Basin celebrated successful completion of an acquisition project for environmentally sensitive lakeshore land that was decades in the making. The way that this small project fits within the larger context of the Basin-wide work that has been accomplished since the 1960s to protect and steward the Tahoe landscape is a testament to the power of local communities to come together—with alignment of capacity and funding—and secure the futures they desire for the landscapes that they call home. 

Catalyzing new opportunities in the Jemez Mountains: Reflections on the Tri-Pueblo Coalition’s successful efforts to gain co-stewardship access on ancestral lands

In July, Trees, Water, & People, a Colorado-based nonprofit, signed two agreements with the Santa Fe National Forest in New Mexico, formally establishing Tribes’ access to co-stewardship of ancestral lands within the Jemez Ranger District. These agreements emerged out of TWP’s efforts to coordinate and support the Tri-Pueblo Coalition, an inter-Tribal coalition comprised of the Cochiti, Kewa, and Jemez Pueblos that works to advance post-fire restoration and promote Tribal-led stewardship within the Pueblo’s ancestral homelands in the Jemez range. What is unique about this story is the approach of a nonprofit organization entering into agreements on Tribes’ behalf. In this month’s Perspectives piece, James Calabaza—Director of the Indigenous Lands Program at Trees, Water & People providing coordination support to the Tri-Pueblo Coalition—shares the story of how TWP served as a liaison between the Coalition and SFNF representatives, reducing the administrative burden upon Tribal partners while working to ensure an agreement would meet the needs of all involved. As James notes in the piece, this unprecedented approach may serve as a model that can be replicated elsewhere through the country (or even globe) for how NGOs can take on a role supporting increasing access to Tribal co-stewardship of ancestral lands.

Image: Santa Fe Forest Service signing agreement with Trees, Water & People.

Additional Landscape Conservation & Stewardship News

Earlier this month the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership announced the addition of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) to its Federal Coordinating Committee, underscoring the Sentinel Landscapes Program emphasis on building climate resilience.

Learn more

The National Park Service issued a new Policy Memorandum affirming its commitments and obligations to advance landscape and seascape conservation and connectivity of species and ecological processes. 

Learn more

The latest issue of the Park Stewardship Forum (PSF) explores themes around the conservation and stewardship of complex, lived-in landscapes, highlighting insights on cross-disciplinary, collaborative, and creative approaches to empowering local communities to chart their future relationship to the landscapes in which they live.

Explore the issue

What is misunderstood about Indigenous cultural fire is sovereignty: Article from Sightline highlights how the Karuk Tribe is using cultural burning to build Tribal sovereignty.

Read the article

New “Return on Conservation” report from Texan by Nature, highlights the positive financial, people, and natural resource impact that conservation is producing in Texas, and calls for increasing funding for important conservation efforts. 

Read the report

New documentary spotlights how the Fort Huachuca Sentinel Landscape is leveraging the power of partnerships to advance climate resilience and military readiness.

See the film

Rethinking Resilience: A report synthesizes best practices and opportunities that emerged from a 2023 workshop for Upper Columbia and Missouri Basin Tribes around strengthen Tribal engagement and action for climate and drought resilience.

Read the report

Article from the Open Space Institute highlights an innovative Resilient Communities program that it launched in partnership with the Thrive Regional Partnership–which is helping urban and rural residents use data, planning, and natural solutions to address environmental challenges. 

Learn more

The Northwest Climate Resilience Collaborative releases key findings from listening sessions with Northwest coastal Tribes, highlighting the barriers and needs that Tribes face in advancing climate adaptation.

Read more

Blogpost from the Environmental Dispute Resolution program at the University of Utah explores the importance of working towards co-creation over compromise. 

Read the blog

Feasibility study from the Environmental Policy Innovation Center explores how a revolving loan fund could help protect watersheds, biodiversity and public access in America’s National Forests.

Read the study

Ecowatch covers one of the biggest dam removals in the world–and how salmon are now free to run the Klamath River for the first time in more than a century.

Learn more

A new report from the Environmental Policy Innovation Center highlights how the Regional Conservation Partnership Program and its performance-based payments could herald a transformative shift in the US Department of Agriculture’s approach to conservation funding. 

Read the report

Last month the Bureau of Land Management affirmed protection of 28 million acres of public lands in Alaska, which are vital to protecting important natural, cultural and subsistence resources. 

Read more

Article from Politico examines what’s at stake for forests in the upcoming November elections. 

Read more

The Open Space Institute and the Land Trust Alliance announce the 2024 Land and Climate Grant Program grant awards, with 18 grants helping communities better plan for and mitigate the impacts of climate change in the landscapes in which they live. 

Read more



In the autumn issue of From the Ground Up, a reader response to last spring's report, "Beyond the Illusion of Preservation," is shared.

Read the response

Emergence Magazine presents "Shifting Landscapes," a documentary series exploring the power of art and story to orient us amid the darkness of our time. 

See the films

Upcoming Conferences & Events

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October 1-3, 2024 — New Era, New Leaders: 5 Years to 30x30 Inaugural Conference

San Juan, Puerto Rico

October 7-9, 2024 — Private Lands Partners Day 2024

Redmond, Oregon

October 16-18, 2024 — Rural Voices for Community Coalition Annual Meeting

South Lake Tahoe, California 

October 16-18, 2024 — Global Congress of the International Land Conservation Network: Relationships for a Resilient World

Quebec, Canada 

November 14, 2024 — Regional Conservation Partnership Network Gathering: Collaborating for Healthier Communities

Amherst, Massachusetts 

January 7-9, 2025 — Drought + Aquatic Ecosystems in the Southeast: Informing drought response and resilience to future low-flow events

Raleigh, North Carolina 

May 5-7, 2025 — The 6th Salazar Center International Symposium on Conservation Impact

Vancouver, British Columbia

Landscape Conservation & Stewardship Job Board

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Communications & Development Coordinator, Center for Large Landscape Conservation

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Senior Policy Analyst, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

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Coordinator, Kittatinny Ridge Sentinel Landscape

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Partnership Coordinator, Eastern New Mexico Sentinel Landscape Partnership

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Coordinator, Santa Cruz Watershed Collaborative

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Executive Director, Algonquin to Adirondacks Collaborative

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Program Coordinator, Altar Valley Conservation Alliance

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Executive Director, Friends of Plumas Wilderness 

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Indigenous Partnerships Coordinator, Blue Forest

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Deputy Executive Director of Science and Conservation, Duke Farms

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Policy Director, Tulyome 

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Various positions, The Nature Conservancy

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Chief Executive Officer, Conservation Lands Foundation

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Director of Forest Programs, Northern Forest Center Policy

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Climate Program Associate, UMass Amherst

Learn More

This section of the Landscape Conservation Bulletin is intended to be a space to share job postings that will be specifically relevant to landscape conservation and stewardship practitioners. We welcome submissions: if your organization would like to widely distribute a posting please be in touch.

Webinars & Additional Resources

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Coalitions & Collaboratives (COCO) works to deliver Community Navigator services to support frontline communities in accessing federal funding opportunities to build capacity in climate resiliency. COCO is currently conducting a survey to better understand how climate information and related services are accessed by various communities. Take the survey here.

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Masterclass: Going Beyond Land Acknowledgements

Redbud Resource Group webinar

November 5th, 2024

Virtual + Interactive Facilitation Skills Program

Institute for Conservation Leadership

2024 Fall + Winter sessions

Facilitator Trainings

Southwest Decision Resources

NatureConnect 

NatureConnect is a diverse suite of services, tools, and workshops offered by the Center for Large Landscape Conservation to help partners achieve connectivity and landscape conservation goals. 

Connectivity 101

A free, online course developed by the Center for Large Landscape Conservation and partners in the Wildlife Connect Initiative with technical support from UNDP Learning for Nature. Conservation professionals and other interested parties can now register for the course to learn about conserving and restoring ecological connectivity to support a healthy planet. 

Designing Nature's Half: The Landscape Conservation Podcast

Every two weeks, your hosts sit down with thought leaders, innovators, conservationists, and scientists to raise awareness, inspire dialogue, and encourage engagement in designing sustainable and resilient landscapes before it’s too late. Large landscape conservation is complex, but Designing Nature’s Half breaks the conversation into manageable pieces for novices and experts alike.

Conservation Finance Boot Camp Short Course

Following cancellation of the 2020 Conservation Finance Boot Camp, the Conservation Finance Network compiled a 4-part video short course, which is available via the above link.



America Adapts: The Climate Change Podcast

A weekly podcast that explores the challenges presented by adapting to climate change and the approaches the field's best minds believe are already working.

Recordings of past webinars of the Connected Conservation webinar series are available on the National Park Service Connected Conservation website.

Recordings of past NLC Landscape Conservation in Action webinars are available on the Network's Landscape Conservation in Action Webinar Series page.