national conservation

landsUPdate

fall 2014

sePtember 15, 2014

The Conservation Lands Foundation has had an exciting and impactful year thus far. Thanks to the generous support of our donors we are poised for even greater success as we close out the year, which I will share with you in this update.

Our mission is straightforward – we work to protect, restore and expand the National Conservation Lands through advocacy, education and partnerships and our talented staff and conservation partners advance these efforts every day.

Our focus allows us to remain nimble and effective at advancing our vision for the National Conservation Lands and we have built tremendous momentum that will propel us to achieve even bolder conservation victories in the remaining two and a half years of the Obama Administration.

Sincerely,

welcomebrian o’donnell, executive director

Conservation Lands Foundation staff at the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, NM. Photo by CLF Staff

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The National Conservation Lands comprise 28 million acres of some of the most premier lands, rivers and trails managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). There are two ways to add lands to the National Conservation Lands—Congress can pass legislation or the President can use his authority under the Antiquities Act to protect new lands and waterways. Embroiled by partisan gridlock, Congress has passed just one conservation bill in the past five years, making this route a dead end for new conservation designations.

To overcome this barrier, we have focused our efforts on encouraging the President to use the Antiquities Act to expand the National Conservation Lands and thus far, our strategy is proving successful. To date, President Obama has designated 10 new national monuments (and expanded another) protecting nearly 775,000 acres of America’s outstanding natural, historical and cultural heritage. He has gotten bolder and more excited about using the Antiquities Act, even stating in his 2014 State of the Union Address:

“i will Use my aUthority to Protect more of oUr Pristine federal lands for fUtUre generations.”

-President barack obama

We helped define landscapes where the President could focus his attention and brought together diverse constituencies including local residents, tribal leaders, the business community, elected officials and sportsmen to build the support needed to champion new designations.

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As a result, the President has taken action in two places this year:

On March 11, 2014, President Obama established the first on-land expansion to the California Coastal National Monument with the addition of the Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands. This designation safeguards the estuary of the Garcia River, which provides critical habitat for migratory waterfowl, coho and Chinook salmon, and endangered and threatened species. These 12 miles of undeveloped coastline offer diverse enjoyment from wildlife viewing, photography and hiking to bird watching, fishing and picnicking.

President Obama designated the nearly 500,000-acre Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, on May 21, 2014, permanently protecting an incredible region known for its biodiversity, cultural and historic sites and recreational opportunities. The Monument is loved for natural wonders like the peaks of the Organ Needles, and contains one of the last relatively undisturbed expanses of the Chihuahuan Desert. It contains thousands of cultural and historic sites, from the petroglyph-lined canyons of the Sierra de las Uvas

expandthe national conservation lands

Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, at the Point Arena- Stornetta Public Lands dedication. Photo by Bob Wick

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Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands, California Coastal National Monument. Photo by D. Smith

Mountains to well-known western historical figures and events including Billy the Kid, Geronimo and the Butterfield Stagecoach Route. The National Monument even served as training grounds for the Apollo Space Program and World War II bomber pilots and crews.

The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument marked the President’s biggest and boldest designation yet - big in its size and bold because while the monument campaign was backed by a broad and diverse coalition of local supporters, it lacked the unanimous congressional support of earlier designations. It is evident the President is becoming more comfortable exercising his authority, even in the face of opposition, adding at the declaration signing for the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks monument:

“i am not finished… i’m searching for more oPPortUnities to Preserve federal lands where commUnities are sPeaking UP. wherever i see an oPening to get things done for the american PeoPle, i’m going to take it.”

-President barack obama

With 28 months remaining in the Obama Administration, we are focused on advancing local, place-based campaigns for an ambitious agenda of new near-term monument designation opportunities. From the San Gabriel Mountains outside of Los Angeles and Berryessa Snow Mountain in Northern California to Browns Canyon in Colorado and the Boulder-White Clouds of Idaho, we are investing in local community campaigns while organizing and empowering diverse constituencies to build the support and advocacy needed to influence the Administration to take action.

We are also laying the groundwork for even bolder national monument designations at the end of the Administration, focusing on landscapes that encompass some of our nation’s most significant ecological, cultural and scientific sites. As we work to add treasured places to the National Conservation Lands, we also continue to defend the Antiquities Act, our greatest conservation tool, in the face of congressional attack.

Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. Photo by Wayne Suggs

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As our nation’s newest collection of protected public lands, the National Conservation Lands are also the most vulnerable to threats, including vandalism, looting and damage from off-road vehicles. We are ensuring the BLM has strong management policies backed by adequate funding and proper enforcement for the long-term conservation of cultural resources and wildlife habitat.

Since our founding, we’ve worked to define a vision for how the National Conservation Lands should be managed and have achieved significant national policy successes along the way. As a result of our partnerships with local groups in the Friends Grassroots Network and the BLM, the Secretarial Order and subsequent 15-year Strategic Plan that outline management standards for the National Conservation Lands have been followed by system-wide policy manual revisions that clearly outline which activities are permitted—and which are no t—for each protected landscape.

This is a huge step forward to ensuring that conservation of habitat, wildlife and cultural resources is a top priority for the BLM. We are holding the agency accountable to these policies, making sure that management decisions do not counteract their conservation mandate and that policies for new national monuments are implemented effectively.

We continue to push for clarity on ambiguous policies and advocate for conservation-focused management of the National Conservation Lands. Our Friends Grassroots Network is actively exercising their collective power and influence on important policy issues, from maintaining BLM staff capacity for conservation positions in the midst of consolidation to engaging in BLM management plans on key proposals, including a potential transmission line through Snake River-Birds of Prey National Conservation Area

and carbon dioxide development in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument.

Recognizing that creating allies in the sportsmen community is critical for building a broad and diverse constituency for the National Conservation Lands, we added a Sportsmen Outreach Program early this year. Jeremy Vesbach directs this program, bringing new capacity and focus to the Conservation Lands Foundation as he engages hunters, anglers and the outdoor community to build partnerships that will ensure access and opportunity on prized sporting grounds in the National Conservation Lands.

Currently, only 15% of lands managed by the BLM have any catalog of rock art, ancient ruins and other cultural resources. It’s hard to protect something you don’t know exists, so we are advocating for a system-wide inventory of cultural resources so BLM can better preserve them for the future. Looking ahead, there will be a high rate of turnover at the BLM due to transfers and retirement. Our goal is to ensure that management of the National Conservation Lands maintains continuity and consistency in the face of these changes.

protect alaska’s western arcticAt 23 million acres, the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (Reserve) is our nation’s largest piece of public land, providing critical habitat for the 400,000-member Western Arctic caribou herd, the Arctic’s largest density of grizzly bears, millions of migratory birds and vast populations of other wildlife species.

It is mandated that the Reserve’s management must balance conservation with oil and gas development and last year, the Department of Interior administratively

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Pretending to be caribou in Alaska’s Western Arctic.Photo by CLF Staff

“i’ve been to a lot of Places in the world, bUt withoUt excePtion, this is the most incredible wilderness exPerience i have ever had. sPectacUlarly rich in wildlife — cariboU, birds, grizzly bears — this is worth Protecting.”

-ed norton, conservation lands foUndation board chairman

We are working to bring national attention to the unique characteristics, ecological importance and conservation values of the Reserve and its five Special Areas so they are better known and understood by the public. A producer for the PBS series This American Land joined the Etivluk expedition and we’re looking forward to sharing the result of his work in the near future.

There are tremendous conservation challenges in the Western Arctic, making it even more important that we ensure that protections for the five Special Areas are upheld and strengthened, with the ultimate goal of achieving permanent protections for the region’s most critically important habitat and subsistence values.

At the helm of these efforts is our new Anchorage-based Alaska Program Director, Lindsey Hajduk, who spent her very first week on the job immersed in the Reserve’s incredible scenery and wildlife – what an introduction!

protected five Special Areas with high conservation values—Teshekpuk Lake, Peard Bay, Utukok Uplands, Kasegaluk Lagoon and Colville River— making them off-limits to oil and gas drilling. However, these protections are not permanent and could be easily dismantled or discarded by congressional action. We are working to ensure permanent protections for the Reserve’s Special Areas while also advocating that any oil and gas development within the region be conducted in the least invasive way using the best available technology for minimum impact on wildlife, habitat and subsistence values.

This year, the BLM began the permitting process for the Reserve’s first, and therefore precedent-setting, oil and gas development, in the Greater Mooses Tooth region. Along with a coalition of conservation partners, we’ve advocated for seasonal drilling that builds no permanent roads using technology that has the least impact on the environment, wildlife habitat and subsistence values of this spectacular region.

A final Environmental Impact Statement will be released in the near future and we will continue to organize and mobilize the coalition around our conservation vision for the Reserve. Our board chariman, Ed Norton, recently returned from a 10-day trip down the Reserve’s Etivluk River, reporting:

Even on a cloudy day, the rolling tunrds of Alaska’s Western Arctic is an incredible sight. Photo by CLF Staff8

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The lands that we are working to protect still face substantial challenges on the ground. Abuse from old mining impacts, invasive species choking out native plants along river corridors and off-road use that damages cultural sites are all affecting these treasured places. We are working with veterans and youth corps to “put boots on the ground” to restore these treasured lands, rivers and trails.

What little federal funding exists for restoration is typically allocated for wildfire mitigation or “random acts of restoration” with no comprehensive restoration vision for the system as a whole. Restoration is our newest program area and we have partnered with private corporations to raise private money to fund this work.

In February, we completed a successful trail restoration project in the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains outside of Palm Springs, CA, bringing together 21 community volunteers and 13 Iraq war veterans to work side by side to repair almost 10 miles of trail. The results of these efforts have been widely celebrated for getting people out on the land, raising awareness about

restore the national conservation lands

the National Conservation Lands, calling attention to the lack of federal funding for proper management and most importantly, helping these lands live up to their true ecological and recreational potential.

Looking ahead, we are advancing our restoration program with a system-wide approach, including:

Ensuring the money BLM spends on restoration goes to the most important places.

Helping BLM develop a science-based strategy that identifies high-priority restoration areas and the best techniques for protecting and improving the lands.

Engaging Friends Grassroots Network partners on restoration projects that connect to each other, so that their individual impacts combine for even greater cumulative benefit across larger landscapes.

Continuing to partner with private corporations to work with veterans and youth corps to complete service projects on the ground.

Restoration work in the San Jacinto Mountains, CA. Photo by CLF Staff

Youth celebrate National Public Lands Day at the Fort Ord National Monument. Photo by FORT Friends

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Behind every protected landscape, policy advancement and restoration project is a committed local constituency that makes our on-the-ground work possible. At a time when the greater conservation community has moved away from grassroots organizing, we are reinvesting in our Friends Grassroots Network and remain focused on building the strength and resiliency of our local partners. Today, our Friends Grassroots Network is stronger than ever with 58 groups across 11 states in the West and Florida. Individually, each group’s voice goes only so far, but together, we have the power and influence to achieve great things for the National Conservation Lands.

Our challenge moving forward is ensuring that Network groups have the tools and resources necessary to remain strong and viable for the long-term. We provide this support through direct grants, training, coaching and networking opportunities that foster organizational development, strengthen advocacy, amplify communications and build a stable base of future leaders. Every day, our field team works with

Network partners to advance strong conservation policies, advocate for new designations and defend the National Conservation Lands from attack.

This year, we implemented monthly Friends Grassroots Network conference calls, where groups have an opportunity to share successes, challenges and unite around our common conservation vision. These monthly calls have connected groups in new and deeper ways and we realize that moving forward, fostering more interaction among partners is key to building long-term strength and resiliency within the Network.

We are well into the planning process for our 6th Friends Rendezvous, which will be held in Las Cruces, New Mexico on March 13-15, 2015. We’re looking forward to gathering hundreds of conservation allies and Network partners together to celebrate the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument designation, learn from each other in a peer-to-peer environment and build momentum and support for emerging conservation opportunities.

friends ofthe national conservation lands

Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, host to the 2015 Friends Rendezvous! Photo by Mike Groves

Just over a decade old, most Americans do not know about the National Conservation Lands. We’re working hard to rectify that, starting with bringing consistency, continuity and clarity to how the BLM, our partners and even how we communicate about the National Conservation Lands.

Last year, we successfully worked with BLM to roll out a wordmark (above) for the National Conservation Lands. Building on the wordmark, the agency recently moved to finalize a “look and feel” project that will ensure all National Conservation Lands will use the same design for their signage, website, information kiosks and brochures. When people visit a national

building awareness of the national conservation lands

monument, wilderness area or national conservation area, they will know that it is part of a larger system—the National Conservation Lands.

To better assist BLM in implementing the brand and fostering consistent communications about the National Conservation Lands, we hired Dave Welz as our Communications Director this past spring. We are developing a messaging platform so that all of our partners—including the Friends Grassroots Network, national conservation groups, the Administration and BLM—can build awareness by using the same messaging when talking about the National Conservation Lands.

Looking ahead, we are increasing our efforts to share news and information about the National Conservation Lands through our website, blog and social media outlets and are reaching out to editorial boards, reporters and publications to encourage consistent and accurate writing about the National Conservation Lands.

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Many organizations in the nonprofit sector go through cycles of feast and famine depending on funding, forcing them to cancel programs or lay off staff. We have remained consistent and conservative in our finances, which has allowed us to achieve a level of financial support that enables us to maintain our talented staff and re-grant funds to our Network partners.

In order to ensure that our programs, and the people who drive them, are sustainable for the long haul, we launched a 4-year, $20 million Campaign for the National Conservation Lands in 2013. Thanks to our generous donors, we secured $4.73 million in contributions and pledges in Year 1 of the campaign and added $500,000 to our reserve fund, putting us on track to achieve our ambitious goals.

With 18 staff members, 22 dedicated board members, 58 Friends Grassroots Network partners and our generous donors, we’re working at full capacity and our programs are as effective as they have ever been.

We are in the best position possible to take advantage of the remaining months of the current Administration to secure new monuments, maintain strong conservation policies and promote good management practices on the National Conservation Lands.

Thank you for your support – we are looking forward to many shared conservation victories ahead!

Cover: Cedar Mesa, UT. Photo by Bob Wick Back: Conservation Lands Foundation staff

members celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act on September 3, 2014 by taking a

hike in the Bisti/De Na Zin Wilderness, NM. Photo by CLF Staff

835 East 2nd Ave., Suite 314 | Durango, CO 81301 | 970-247-0807 | info@ConservationLands.org | www.ConservationLands.org

Our mission is to protect, restore and expand the National Conservation Lands through education, advocacy and partnerships. We are the only organization focused solely on protecting this premier collection of lands, rivers and trails—now and for generations.