Building Conservation Legacies

While no two programs of Resources Legacy Fund or Resources Legacy Fund Foundation are the same, there are important similarities. All of the programs we implement, focus on the long-term protection of natural resources. All of them rely heavily on a commitment to meaningful collaboration. And all are recognizable for their quality and effectiveness.

The following links offer details of some of the programs we’ve been fortunate to help design and implement:

Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Loan Fund. Providing bridge financing to acquire properties promoting the rich diversity and iconic landscapes of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the Crown of the Continent.

Marine Protected Areas. Supporting state, nonprofit, and private sector efforts to ensure marine biodiversity in the waters off California’s coast.

Preserving Wild California. A five-year, $150 million effort to protect wild lands and rivers across the state.

Sustainable Fisheries Fund. Promoting sustainable fisheries, primarily through participation of fishing, conservation, and other organizations in the eco-certification program of the Marine Stewardship Council.

Additional Programs, Studies, and Projects (back to top)

This list of additional programs, studies, and projects gives a sense of the broad scope of our work.

Western Conservation. In March 2008, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation (www.packard.org) approved a $200 million, five-year Western Conservation subprogram within its Conservation and Science Program aimed at:

Permanently protecting ecologically and culturally important public and private lands in California’s Sierra Nevada and Central Valley; the Colorado Plateau including Southern Utah, Colorado, Northern Arizona and New Mexico; and Northwest Mexico with a focus on fragile coastal landscapes.
Restoring degraded river and water systems and reconnecting these natural corridors to local communities through new public and private partnerships with a focus on California’s Bay-Delta and the Colorado River Basin.
Transforming land and water management systems to address the impact of climate change; strengthen the role of emerging constituencies to ensure the long-term relevance, durability, and effectiveness of conservation efforts; and expand the capacity and effectiveness of the land trust movement and tools.

Working closely with the Packard Foundation, RLF will administer portions of this subprogram. RLF is accepting letters of inquiry for projects focused on these areas and issues:

Protecting the Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, and Northwest Mexico landscapes;
Restoring the California Bay-Delta; and
Expanding the capacity and effectiveness of the land trust movement.

California Coastal and Marine Initiative. A multi-year program begun on behalf of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation (www.packard.org) in 2003 dedicated to improving the coastal and marine health of California’s Central Coast and generating more effective statewide policies and programs to enhance the protection of coasts and oceans for future generations. The program currently accepts letters of inquiry for grants.

Conservation Opportunity Fund. A limited fund providing select grants and contracts, between $15,000 and $40,000, to support projects that closely align with one of our major program areas but are not eligible for funding under these programs. Projects that will be considered under the Conservation Opportunity Fund include:

Coastal and marine conservation and constituency building projects;
Western lands acquisition, restoration, and/or related policy, capacity, or constituency development projects;
Projects addressing emerging environmental issues including climate change mitigation and adaptation; and
Environmental policy related projects.

Priority will be given to those projects that are focused on California and leverage additional funds from other private or public sources. The fund is currently accepting letters of inquiry for contracts and grants.

San Francisco Bay Wetlands. (www.southbayrestoration.org) In 2003, with funding from the Goldman Fund, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, we helped federal and state agencies purchase more than 16,000 acres of commercial salt ponds and property ringing South San Francisco Bay and in Napa County. Since that time, we have been managing philanthropic funds supporting initial stewardship and restoration planning.

Los Angeles River Revitalization. A three-year program begun in 2006 to engage the Latino and broader community interests in programs and projects to revitalize the 51-mile Los Angeles River and surrounding communities. All proposals for this program are by invitation.

Conserving California Landscapes Initiative (closed). A five-year, $175 million initiative of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation that served as a magnet for $764 million in leveraged funds, leading to the protection of more than 420,000 acres of beautiful, productive, and richly diverse lands in the Sierra Nevada, Central Valley, and Central Coast of California.

Land Trust and Conservation Policy Project. A project to improve land trust and conservation policy practices for private land conservation to ensure they are adequately designed, implemented, monitored, and enforced to best protect conservation values, as well as to explore new approaches to land conservation and land trust practices.

Massachusetts Ocean Protection Partnership Fund. An effort to build the framework and foundation for a comprehensive, cooperative ocean management plan with the State of Massachusetts.

Planning for California's Future (closed). A collaborative effort to ensure that California’s fiscal and governance structures meet the needs of its growing and increasingly diverse population, promote fundamental improvements in the health status of its population, support children as its future, effectively compete in the global economy, protect its landscapes and environmental quality, and advance social and economic equity.

Sierra Nevada Conservancy. A technical assistance and grantmaking program to assist in the start-up of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy.

Donor-Initiated Conservation Projects. Several independent funds devoted to conservation opportunities based on the requirements and wishes of donors.

Photograph by Mark Bittner