The Conservation Fund 2021 Annual Report

Our future depends on the land. It’s a fact we cannot overlook or take for granted. The urgency with which we must protect and conserve the places that matter most has only intensified amid climate change. Each year we watch as stronger storms and warmer temperatures change habitats and reshape communities.

As America’s leader in land protection, we’ve remained focused on tackling today’s conservation challenges while also providing economic benefits to people and communities. At the core of what we do is our ability to purchase priority natural lands; essential cultural and historic sites; and working landscapes like forests, farms and ranches and provide time for permanent conservation to be realized. Since 1985, we have conserved over 8.5 million acres of land valued at upwards of $7.2 billion for less than $5.5 billion, saving Americans more than $1.7 billion while supporting local green jobs and strengthening communities.

How we care for our land now will directly impact our future prosperity, and our mission matters more than ever. To realize our vision for stronger communities and the preservation of America’s magnificent land legacy, The Conservation Fund is focused on two strategic priorities:

Increase our capacity to be the interim buyer of critical conservation lands. The opportunity for permanent land conservation has grown dramatically with the recent Great American Outdoors Act, which doubled the amount of federal funding for land protection. But there is a real risk that public agencies will struggle to deploy this funding if they can’t depend on us to pre-acquire their most important projects. Our value proposition is also reinforced by the rapid increase in land values and transaction activity. As a result, we aim to raise $50 million more for our Revolving Fund to maximize conservation opportunities with our federal partners as we work toward the goal of buying and securing a million more acres over the next five years.
Stem the loss of working forests in the U.S. and safeguard the essential roles they play for carbon dioxide storage, local jobs, water quality, wildlife habitat and recreation. Over the past decade we’ve demonstrated how to make conservation a viable outcome for large working forests, but we need more ready capital and partners to save five million acres of the highest conservation value forests before they are further fragmented or developed.

While our vision for the future is clear, an annual report is a retrospective on the success, innovation and positive impacts achieved over the short span of 12 months. Most of the conservation efforts featured here are not confined to a year, with some projects demonstrating the latest outcomes from decades of hard work and persistence.

As we celebrate our 2021 accomplishments, we know there’s still more work to be done. The time is now to ensure a future that is land rich for people and nature.

Join us.

Jay Winthrop, Chair
Lawrence A. Selzer, President

2021Highlights

138

New Projects in
34 States

188K+

Acres Protected
Valued at $403M+

6,328

Donors Supported
Projects Accross the U.S.

127K*

Acres of High
Conservation Value
Forestland Acquired by
Our Working Forest Fund*

$50M+

Recieved in Private
Contributions from
Individuals, Foundations,
& Corporations

*of the 188K acres protected

Expanding Conservation
for America

Our ability to purchase priority lands with capital from our Revolving Fund is at the core of what we do. We move quickly to secure properties and then convey them to our public agency partners when they have funding available. We permanently conserve land for wildlife, recreation and cultural and historical interpretation, and when we are repaid, that capital revolves into the next conservation project.

The passage of the Great American Outdoors Act in 2020 changed the game. Even though the annual funding available for priority land conservation efforts doubled to $900 million through the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), public agencies rarely have capital ready when landowners want to sell.

To truly increase land protection coast to coast, we must significantly grow our bridge financing so we can be ready to acquire more priority properties and ultimately fulfill the expanding need to preserve iconic and pristine landscapes, protect water quality, enhance critical habitat protection for endangered and at-risk species, ensure recreational access, and support the economic vitality and cultural heritage of communities.

Protecting Unique Landscape and Habitat in Texas
Learn More

Preserving the Appalachian Trail Experience in Virginia and Vermont
LEARN MORE

A Once-in-a-Lifetime Conservation Opportunity in California
LEARN MORE

Securing Native Nanticoke Land in Delaware
LEARN MORE

Protecting Our Working Forests

We live in a changing environment. The past seven years have been the warmest on record. Sea level is expected to rise a foot along U.S. coastlines by 2050. Climate change is shaping our future. We must rapidly reduce our carbon footprint and harness the power of nature to absorb more carbon emissions.

One way we can take immediate and meaningful action is to protect America’s working forests. U.S. forests sequester over a half-billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year while providing other essential benefits like enhanced water quality, essential wildlife habitat, timber resources, jobs and recreation.

Over the past decade, The Conservation Fund has become the leader in acquiring and protecting threatened working forests across America. Through innovative partnerships and creative conservation financing—including our first-of-its-kind green bond dedicated to land conservation—we are creating outcomes that balance environmental, community and climate benefits with economic sustainability.

Forestry Jobs and Wildlife Habitat Maintained in Oregon and Washington
LEARN MORE

Protecting Climate Resiliency and Critical Habitat in Georgia
LEARN MORE

Forests Fighting Climate Change in Wisconsin
LEARN MORE

Looking Ahead

While we remain focused on growing our Revolving Fund and permanently protecting working forestland, we are always ready to take on exceptional challenges. The Fund is often the catalyst to accomplish these crucial once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, like an ongoing effort to protect globally important wildlife habitat in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region.

This area is home to the largest wild salmon fishery in the world and supports over 15,000 jobs. The most significant watersheds for salmon are in the heart of Bristol Bay, especially in the northeastern end of Iliamna Lake. It’s here that the Pedro Bay Corporation, an Alaska Native village corporation, has remained a longstanding steward of the critical fish and wildlife habitat and traditional cultural resources now threatened by the proposed Pebble Mine project. We are working to raise $20 million by the end of 2022 to conserve 44,170 acres of vital habitat that will restrict development and ensure the watersheds of the Pile River, Iliamna River and Knutson Creek are able to support the extraordinary returns of sockeye salmon year after year.

Projects like Pedro Bay Rivers, Lone Pine Ranch and Columbia Gorge Forest do not come along every year or even every decade. Frankly, many organizations would view them as too ambitious, but we choose to look at them as exciting opportunities for our entrepreneurial staff—together with amazing partners and supporters—to embrace challenges, take risks and find solutions to problems facing natural lands, wildlife and communities.

At The Conservation Fund, we have pioneered new ideas and implemented innovative conservation solutions over the past 36 years to protect our most cherished natural, cultural and historic places from coast to coast. With your support, we can continue to seize these opportunities and create a brighter future for our land and for communities nationwide.
Learn More

8.5 million acres protected

We remain focused on doing what we do best: bringing passion, expertise and capital to enable conservation of the lands that matter most. And I am humbled to say that The Conservation Fund’s incredible staff members have once again exceeded themselves and set another record for value of real estate activity completed during the year. There continue to be significant challenges ahead, but the volume of mission impact and the ability to achieve this impact on a financially sustainable basis demonstrate the viability of our business model and the value we bring to our partners.

Moreover, we continue to innovate by using new partnership structures to grow our forestry conservation and climate resiliency and expand our sustainable agriculture programs to protect local food systems in new geographies.

We are also audacious. We think big and proved this past year that conservation can partner, compete and win when very large forest assets, like the former SDS Lumber Company lands in Washington and Oregon, are sold at auction and the fate of entire landscapes and regional economies are in the balance.

For all these reasons, we are the right people in the right place to help our country deliver the full benefits of land conservation for climate, nature and communities. No other organization can match our expertise, relationships and track record. I am enthusiastic about the opportunity we have to attract funding partners that can help us fully realize this vision.

Thank you all for your trust and support, and I hope you will join us in the coming year as we strive to accelerate critical land conservation across America. We have no time to waste.

jg sig

John Gilbert, Executive Vice President, CFO

Combined Statement of Activities
And Change In Net Assets

For the year ended December 31, 2021.

Real estate activities	2021 Total
Sales of conservation land to others	142,308
Contributions and grants	56,045
Investment and other program income	13,604
Contract income	10,976
Land contributed for conservation	10,033
Total real estate activities	$232,966

Non-real estate activities	2021 Total
Contributions and grants	26,905
Investment and other program income	14,725
Contract income	4,206
Total non-real estate activities	$45,836

Total support and revenue

$278,802

Expenses	2021 Total
Real estate program expense	234,001
Non-real estate program expense	19,041
Management and general	5,342
Fundraising	3,173

Total Expenses

$261,557

Change in Net Assets	$17,245
Net Assets, End of Year	$524,683

Sources of Funds - 2021

(In Thousands)

Land sales	142,396
Foundation contributions	29,601
Other Contributions and income	24,524
Individual contributions	19,207
Corporate contributions and mitigation	17,799
Carbon/Timber/Contract	16,521
Federal grants	15,822
Land gifts	10,033
State grants	2,898

Uses of Funds - 2021

(In Thousands)

Real estate program expense	234,001
Non-real estate program expense	19,041
Management and general	5,342
Fundraising	3,173

Leadership

Board of Directors

Board Chair

Jay Winthrop
Connecticut

Board Vice Chair

Jay F. Wagley
Texas

President and CEO

Lawrence A. Selzer
Virginia

Julie G. Barker
Massachusetts

Gregory A. Beard
New York

David P. Bozeman
Washington

Dr. Ingrid C. Burke
Connecticut

Todd J. Carter
California

J. Storey Charbonnet
Louisiana

Charles R. Cherington
Massachusetts

Kimberlee R. Cornett
Maryland

Luis de la Garza
Texas

Paul E. Hagen
District of Columbia

Jennifer L. Hernandez
California

G. Wilson Hughes
Alaska

Dr. Jill L. Long Thompson
Indiana

Thrus Morton
North Carolina

Kevyn D. Orr
District of Columbia

C. Porter Schutt III
Delaware

Daniel R. Tishman
New York

James M. Whitehurst
North Carolina

Chair Emeritus

Patrick F. Noonan
Maryland