The future of conservation is now! Land trusts are embracing new partnerships, collaborations and collective visions that are catalyzing a significant increase in the pace and scale of land conservation and ensuring that land conservation provides equitable community benefits alongside lasting conservation results.
Join us at the Saturday plenary where we will celebrate the Scholars for Conservation Leadership Program, a career and leadership development program launched by the Land Trust Alliance and the USDA, Forest Service, State & Private Forestry, Cooperative Forestry, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. We will also hear from Terry Cross, senior advisor at the National Indian Child Welfare Association and Aja DeCoteau, executive director of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.
We will also celebrate the Oregon Advancing Conservation Excellence Program, an organizational capacity program that is also being replicated in Texas and Colorado. Through strategic investments, the program is helping land trusts throughout the region raise money, add staff, implement best practices, embrace new technology and become more inclusive. It is helping land trusts find meaningful ways to address the concerns of groups who have not traditionally been involved in land conservation. With new and diverse partners, land trusts are growing and sharing fresh produce, restoring salmon streams, bringing back native oysters, hosting outdoor community events and so much more. They are improving public health, connecting people to land and bringing diverse groups together in common cause. As they conserve natural resources, they are weaving strength into our social fabric.