Community & Economic Development

From our efforts to protect America's working farms, forests and ranches, to our programs to help communities advance strategic conservation, including land use planning, ecotourism and job development, we are developing sustainable solutions that integrate economic return with environmental quality. Through vision, investment and leadership, The Fund and our partners are helping to revitalize underserved areas, preserve local character, and finance natural resource-based businesses.

Land Use

Population growth, suburban sprawl, and emerging technologies have transformed the American landscape and the practice of land use planning in the 21st century. As pressures increase on undisturbed landscapes, choices about public and private land use have become more complex, requiring new strategies for balancing social, economic, and environmental interests.

As part of our Community and Economic Development Programs, the Fund supports land use planning to demonstrate environmentally-based development strategies. We work with local municipalities, land trusts and other organizations to create exceptional places that meet quality of life goals, protect sensitive resources, build healthy and diverse communities, and address regulatory and fiduciary matters in innovative ways.

Strategic Conservation

Every community is unique, with varying natural resources and needs. The Conservation Fund draws from its strategic conservation toolkit to help city and county planners, regional and watershed organizations, natural resource agencies and nonprofits design comprehensive and customized strategies that balance land protection and development.

Conservation and Development

Through its Conservation and Development programs, the Fund works with private, public, and nonprofit partners to conserve significant natural resources and build better communities, which result in a healthy financial return and collaborative conservation benefits.

Economic Development

Our balanced approach to land conservation and economic development includes creating new economies through ecotourism, providing critical financing for small businesses in rural areas, and assisting underserved communities in developing new economies that protect and restore natural resources.

	Texas Pineywoods Experience The Texas Pineywoods Experience is a Sustainable Tourism Program that combines economic development and tourism. The Pineywoods area offers some of the best birding and wildlife viewing in the United States. www.texaspineywoodsexperience.org
	Natural Capital Investment Fund NCIF provides financial services to small and emerging natural resource-based businesses located in economically distressed urban and rural communities in North Carolina, Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia and West Virginia. www.ncifund.org
	Resourceful Communities The Resourceful Communities program blends innovative techniques, such as the "triple bottom line approach," to help North Carolina's underserved communities create new economies that protect and restore natural resources. www.resourcefulcommunities.org