SAND COUNTY FOUNDATION INC

Greater adoption of conservation-minded land management practices among U.S. farmers, ranchers, forestland owners, and other land managers to improve water quality and quantity, soil health, and wildlife habitat.

• Provide support (information, date, technical assistance, financial incentives) to farmers, ranchers, forestland owners and other private land managers as primary agents of conservation and environmental improvement.

• Recognize responsible land stewards and provide public recognition of them to as a means to inspire other farmers, ranchers, and forestland owners to consider conservation-minded land management as a means to improved water quality, soil health, and wildlife habitat.

• Facilitate the exchange of information between and among private landowners, scientists, funders and policy makers

• Remove regulatory barriers and create meaningful incentives for landowners who enhance the environment.

• Create on the land examples of environmental improvement suitable for replication.

In his famous A Sand County Almanac, renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold wrote, “the future of conservation hinges on what happens on private lands." For nearly 50 years, Sand County Foundation has remained committed to principles guided by Leopold's land ethic.

Over the years we've have many successes involving private land conservation, species population and habitat restoration, and water quality and quantity improvement. Our successes have allowed us to develop outstanding relationships with private landowners and conservation partners across the country.

Sand County Foundation's Leopold Conservation Award® recognizes and celebrates extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation by private landowners. The award program inspires countless other landowners by example and provides a prominent platform by which agricultural community leaders are recognized as conservation ambassadors to citizens outside of agriculture. The award is currently given in ten states and presented thanks to our partners and generous sponsors.

Our Water As A Crop® program empowers landowners with the knowledge and resources to improve the conservation of water where it falls on the land, and to produce clean water as a valuable crop. The program facilitates dialogue between landowners, local partners, and prospective water conservation funders in water-stressed areas.

Our Agricultural Incentives program addresses one of America's most serious environmental problems: pollution of surface waters, particularly by runoff of nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural lands. The program uses financial incentives as a means to get farmers to adopt nutrient management strategies they haven't tried before. The program emphasizes watershed-scale projects, located in Wisconsin and in the Upper Midwest, and generates data and lessons about the relationship between changes in agricultural land management and improvements in water quality.

Sand County Foundation has achieved significant success throughout our history. Highlights include a successful dam removal project on the Baraboo river, allowing the river to run unimpeded for the first time in 150 years, making it safer for its users and improved habitat for fish populations; the Karner blue butterfly restoration, an effort which increased the butterfly's population and expanded its range into two additional Wisconsin counties; and establishing the prestigious Leopold Conservation Award Program. We have also established successful land and water programs focused on agricultural land management practices to improve water quality and quantity.

We are now introducing rare species and pollinator programs. The rare species focus area will seek to improve species habitat and population before a species becomes a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Our pollinator program will focus on partnerships with landowners and right-of-way holders to improve habitat for pollinators such as the imperiled monarch butterfly.

As we look to the future we plan to strategically expand the Leopold Conservation Award Program to other states and form more partnerships to strengthen our land and water programs. We also look forward to growing our rare species and pollinator programs.