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.

Northwest Mexico Land Conservation. The Gulf of California and surrounding states—Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Sinaloa, and Nayarit—are world renowned for the diversity and importance of their coastal habitats. The Northwest Mexico Land Conservation program is dedicated to maintaining landscape integrity in this region through the long-term protection of important coastal areas. In response to requests from leading Mexican conservation organizations, and made possible by the collaboration and leadership of the Marisla, Packard, and Sandler foundations, this multi-year program is guided by the ongoing strategic advice of a Mexican advisory board, the Grupo de Trabajo, and facilitated by Resources Legacy Fund. RLF provides support for communications, organizational capacity and effectiveness, conservation science, and other strategies that complement the land protection priorities.

Para información en español, oprima aquí.

Northern Sierra Partnership. (www.northernsierrapartnership.org) Under the leadership of the Morgan Family Foundation and with support from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, five organizations have come together in a unique alliance to protect watersheds, recreational lands open to the public, working ranches and forests, and other natural resources in Sierra Valley, Genesee Valley, Upper Little Truckee River, Sierra Crest, Martis Valley, Donner Summit, and other iconic landscapes. The Northern Sierra Partnership will link these goals and public policy initiatives to reduce the risk of wildfire, build sustainable local economies, and contribute to an enduring relationship between people, land and prosperity. Partners include the Feather River Land Trust, Sierra Business Council, The Nature Conservancy, Truckee Donner Land Trust, and The Trust for Public Land.

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. See a summary of the revised CCMI program strategy for a more detailed description. The program currently accepts letters of inquiry for 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