Sustainable Community Development - The Conservation Fund

At The Conservation Fund, we know conservation starts with communities. Our efforts to conserve land and combat climate change are complemented by strategic initiatives that boost community prosperity and help build vibrant communities.

Vibrant communities are found in both urban and rural areas, fostering the health of community members and visitors. Vibrant communities are nourished by resilient working forests and working farms that support food and fiber systems upon which we depend. Vibrant communities have clean and abundant water resources and natural green spaces. Vibrant communities honor their cultural and historical assets and share their unique stories as part of their sustainable economic development strategies. Vibrant communities generate economic opportunities from the value chains of outdoor recreation, small town entrepreneurs, artisans and conserved landscapes.

The Fund builds vibrant communities and supports community prosperity through:

Inspiring resilient and equitable development in urban communities
Supporting rural investment and natural resource-based economies
Promoting healthy and sustainable, local food and farming

RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Kendall Forest: Supporting Rural Economies and Traditions in New York’s Tug Hill Region

Protecting the abundant and often remote forests and waters of Central New York’s Tug Hill region is...

Faith and Food

Resourceful Communities provides rural churches with training to strengthen skills, small grants to ...

Zion Regional Recreation Management Plan

The Plan will foster coordination and collaboration for recreation-related projects and initiatives ...

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UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES

Food and Farm Initiative

North Carolina’s Coastal Plains and Sandhills regions are home to half of the state’s “food deserts,...

Urban Food Forest at Browns Mill

Atlanta’s Food Forest is the first of its kind, providing fresh produce in a community that has limi...

Expanding Green Space and Improving Social Resilience in South Cook County, IL.

The goal of the Strategic Land Acquisition Plan for Southeast Cook County was to develop a model tha...

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BALANCING NATURE & COMMERCE

Appalachian Gateway Communities Initiative

Our regional workshops provide the skills to achieve sustainable economic development, cultural heri...

Balancing Nature and Commerce in the Pennsylvania Wilds

The PA Wilds has grown to be one of the largest and most successful rural regional branding efforts ...

Madison/Boone Resource & Recreation Action Plan

Advancing placemaking to enhance natural and cultural assets, recreation options, community health, ...

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CLIMATE RESILIENCY & WATER MANAGEMENT

Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network

The largest watershed in Michigan, Saginaw Bay includes more than 7,000 miles of rivers and streams,...

Sustaining Urban Waters in the Southeast

Thanks to the generous support of the Pisces Foundation, we are pioneering a new approach to how two...

Adapting to Climate Change at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

If no action is taken, virtually all of today’s tidal wetlands in the Chesapeake Bay will erode to o...

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AQUACULTURE

Get to Know the Freshwater Institute’s West Virginia-Raised Salmon

Our Atlantic salmon is raised at The Conservation Fund’s Freshwater Institute facility in Shepherdst...

Researching and Restoring West Virginia’s Declining Brook Trout Population

A collaboration between the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources and The Conservation Fund’s ...

Supporting the Viability and Expansion of Land-Based Aquaculture

A five-year plan to support the research and sustainable growth of land-based, closed-containment fi...

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PHOTO CREDIT: OLIVIA JACKSON

Build Vibrant Communities

RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Kendall Forest: Supporting Rural Economies and Traditions in New York’s Tug Hill Region

Faith and Food

Zion Regional Recreation Management Plan

UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES

Food and Farm Initiative

Urban Food Forest at Browns Mill

Expanding Green Space and Improving Social Resilience in South Cook County, IL.

BALANCING NATURE & COMMERCE

Appalachian Gateway Communities Initiative

Balancing Nature and Commerce in the Pennsylvania Wilds

Madison/Boone Resource & Recreation Action Plan

CLIMATE RESILIENCY & WATER MANAGEMENT

Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network

Sustaining Urban Waters in the Southeast

Adapting to Climate Change at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

AQUACULTURE

Get to Know the Freshwater Institute’s West Virginia-Raised Salmon

Researching and Restoring West Virginia’s Declining Brook Trout Population

Supporting the Viability and Expansion of Land-Based Aquaculture

WORKING FARMS FUND

Love is Love Cooperative Farm

Garlic eScape

Atlanta Harvest