We’re the only national organization dedicated to building capacity among community leaders and groups committed to the valuable and vulnerable public landscapes administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

We support these groups where they already exist, help start new organizations where they are needed and provide the training, resources, and coordination necessary to unify and amplify the voices of these local advocates to become a powerful and lasting force for the preservation of National Conservation Lands.

“We created this organization because we know enduring protection of nature requires people who care.”

— Ed Norton, Founding Chair, Conservation Lands Foundation

Our work today

Since 2007, the Conservation Lands Foundation has added its sophisticated national strategy to this local grassroots power to permanently protect 10 million acres of iconic lands as National Conservation Lands and grow our Friends Grassroots Network from 10 local organizations to 80 – along with the local constituencies they represent – throughout the West.

Today, National Conservation Lands comprise 35 million acres of public lands, including 28 National Monuments, 25 National Conservation Areas, 21 million acres of Wilderness and Wilderness Study Areas, 2,700 miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers, and 6,000 miles of Scenic and Historic Trails.

This represents only 15 percent of the approximately 250 million acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management and we’re committed to strengthening our network of community advocates, working alongside Tribal nations, and evolving our strategies to best protect and conserve more of these essential public lands that all of us depend on.