Please Note: After 25 years of grantmaking, we have closed our doors. Learn more here.

There is a powerful connection between people and the critical landscapes that nourish the Northwest’s ecosystems and communities. Our investments in this program served the larger goal of engaging citizens and communicating their conservation interests to decision-makers.

Priorities for funding were grounded in the science of conservation biology, as well as the social and political sciences. These grants addressed the pressing challenge of maintaining the ecological viability of our regional landscapes.

Tracks of adult grizzly and cub, Greenhorn Range, Montana, the northern and western-most confirmed grizzly family in Greater Yellowstone. by Nathan Korb

Focus areas Our three priority landscapes

Central Oregon

Central Oregon

Resting at the crossroads between the Rockies and the Cascades, connecting forested and shrub-steppe ecosystems, this fast-growing region is home to a diverse and active population with increasing influence on statewide policies.

Crown of the Continent

Crown of the Continent

A key north-south wildlife corridor stretching from the Canadian Central Rockies to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, this landscape ranges from rolling prairies to steep mountain walls to wide glaciated valleys.

The High Divide

The High Divide

A rare east-west linkage zone between the Yellowstone and Salmon-Selway ecoregions, spanning low elevation wetlands and high alpine terrain, this region is tremendously important to the continued viability of many species and faces increasing pressures from irresponsible development.

Measures of success

By the time we closed our doors in 2020, we aimed to see:

  • Conservation groups with improved credibility among community and policy leaders.
  • An increased diversity of voices within the conservation advocacy community.
  • Effective engagement of community stakeholders.
  • Protection of key landscapes guided by a lens of conservation biology.
  • Concrete steps toward development, adoption, implementation, enforcement, and defense of conservation policies at the local, state, or federal level.

Photo via Lemhi Regional Land Trust

Meet some of the organizations we funded through our place-based conservation program

Meet more of our grantees »