May 2025

Dear Network Friends,

In this month’s Bulletin we highlight the Pathways Guide to Ecological Connected Transborder Landscape, summarizing the findings and conversations of the first-ever Northeastern North America/Turtle Island Landscape Connectivity Summit.

As co-chair of the host committee for the Summit, I remember how uncertain I felt last year heading into this transboundary event. Would conservation and Indigenous partners, federal, state and provincial representatives attend from both Canada and the US? Had the practice of collaborative ecological connectivity conservation come of age such that people wanted to work across jurisdictions to find solutions for this biologically diverse region?

Across two days last June my concerns were quickly put to rest. The Summit brought together over 175 people from across the vast region, and has built goodwill and increased commitment to not just ecological connectivity but also cross-cultural and multi-jurisdictional conservation and stewardship. The New England Governors & Eastern Canadian Premiers’ Ecological Connectivity Resolution and subsequent working group are a great example of countries, states, and provinces looking beyond their own borders to share resources and best practices to scale up landscape conservation.

As I flip through the Pathways Guide, I am reminded that gatherings like the Connectivity Summit have never been more important. At this time of division across party lines, country borders, and communities we all have a role in reaching out to colleagues outside of our usual comfort zones, beyond our home territories, and across the aisle. Landscape conservation has long taught us that the ecological, climate, and social challenges we are facing are better tackled at scale and with cooperation rather than division—Let’s continue to hold this as our guide as we work towards better futures for the places and people that we care about.

Restoring Relationships

Collaborative practice

Pathways Guide

Deb Davidson

Member, NLC Coordinating Committee

Chief Strategy Officer, Center for Large Landscape Conservation

Cover photo: Zion National Park. Photo on Unsplash.

Ensuring that Tribal leadership is part of environmental stewardship, policy-making, and land management is crucial in responding to landscape conservation and stewardship needs and climate change. Two new resources underscore this reality.

First, in an update to its initial 2021 report, the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals released a second volume of its Status of Tribes and Climate Change report last month. The report underscores how Indigenous Peoples continue to endure disproportionate impacts of climate change on their communities, cultures, economies, worldviews, languages, ecological relationships, and knowledge systems–and how Indigenous-led initiatives are advancing critical solutions. Featuring case studies, narratives, stories, and scholarly work, the report highlights cross-cutting key messages and recommendations on the critical role of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Indigenous leadership in ensuring that all people can live in harmony with our relations, in sustainable ways, for generations to come. 

Elsewhere, earlier this month the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators and Native Americans in Philanthropy released a toolkit to provide a basic foundation for working with Tribal Nations. Geared towards state legislators but broadly relevant to all practitioners, Restoring Relationships: A State/Tribal Environmental Policy Toolkit is comprised of short case studies, policy options, and examples of good relationship building, and is intended to provide an introductory policy overview to working alongside Tribal Nations. The toolkit covers a breadth of topics, including returning land, protecting coastal ecosystems and waters, co-management/stewardship, good governance models, and restoring relationships. 

The practice of landscape conservation and stewardship is predicated in collaboration, as we strive to work across jurisdictions, sectors, and issues to advance a better future for the places (and people) that we care about. In doing this work, we are continually called upon to advance our collaborative practice so that we can more effectively deliver just, equitable, and impactful outcomes. A suite of new resources are aimed at deepening our capacity to be effective collaborators. 

First, our colleagues at the Institute for Conservation Leadership have penned a “how to” chapter on collaboration in the recently released book, Tools to Save Our Home Planet: A Changemaker’s Guidebook. The chapter aims to share insight on effective collaboration methods for leading change and accelerating environmental progress, and distills out seven foundational tips for building and stewarding collaboration. Over the course of the last month, ICL has been spotlighting the seven tips at the heart of the chapter via its blog. As ICL acknowledges in the chapter, collaboratives don’t magically make conflict disappear but rather offer a space for working through conflict. A recent blogpost from the Environmental Dispute Resolution program at the University of Utah offers added depth here, reflecting on how a focus on interests rather than positions can be critical in navigating conflict and allowing us to avoid polarization and divisiveness to instead find effective paths forward. Elsewhere, a recent podcast hosted by the Collective Impact Forum featured an in-depth conversation on the unique role that backbone coordinators play in leading collaboratives—exploring how these practitioners, despite lacking formal authority or decision-making power, often wield influence and build alignment in driving progress towards its shared goals. The discussion surfaces core competencies that enable backbone coordinators to activate multiple layers of influence towards advancing shared vision.

Finally, a recent article in The Revelator acknowledges the propensity for environmental advocates to experience burnout. The work of advancing collaborative landscape conservation and stewardship is complex and challenging work, and can be draining. In the current context, such work is getting even more challenging—even as it has never been more important; a practice of self-care is critical to navigating this space effectively, and the article points to some suggestions and insights in this space.  

In June 2024, nearly 200 Tribal leaders, representatives from provincial, state, and federal agencies, and conservation practitioners convened at the first-ever Northeastern North America / Turtle Island Landscape Connectivity Summit in Montreal. The Summit focused on landscape conservation & stewardship efforts in the vast transboundary geography that spans the five eastern-most Canadian provinces, the seven northeastern-most US states, and many Indigenous territories. Last month, the Staying Connected Initiative and partners released a new publication that provides a distillation of the key learnings, strategies, and actions that emerged from the Summit. Pathways to an Ecologically Connected Transborder Landscape offers a call to action to approach conservation and stewardship from an eco-regional perspective that transcends arbitrary political boundaries. In highlighting the need for a multi-scaled, holistic, integrated approach to conserving and restoring landscape connectivity for wildlife and people across this globally significant region, the key takeaways of the report offer inspiration and relevant and applicable insights for other transboundary landscapes as well.   

New report highlights the critical importance of ecological restoration, outlining a strategic roadmap for philanthropy, the government, and the conservation community to confront today's most urgent land and water challenges by advancing restoration activities that deliver lasting ecological, economic, and community benefits. 

Read the report

Conservation partners and a timber company are coming together to conserve a critical 78,000-acre parcel in Maine’s Magalloway River ecosystem, a project that will connect half a million acres of contiguous conserved lands once completed.

Read an article from Inside Climate News or learn more

Conservation Corridor highlights new research that assesses the extent and connectivity of protected areas in the US at various administrative levels–finding that less than 3% of the US is both connected and protected. 

Read more

A new day in Dawnland: Article from ICT highlights a deepening collaboration amongst Wabanaki Tribes and the conservation community in Maine that aims to return land to Native stewardship–including through the purchase and return to Penobscot Nation of a 31,000-acre parcel near Mount Katahdin. 

Read the article

On the 10th anniversary of the Appalachian Trail Landscape Partnership, a blogpost from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy highlights the collaboration, innovation, and trust that is foundational to landscape conservation at the scale of the Appalachian Mountains.

Read the blog

In an interview with Orion Magazine, three writers–Merlin Sheldrake, Kaitlin Smith, and Jeff Vandermeer–reflect on fungi and mycorrhizal models for the future, pointing towards a ‘new naturalism’ that transcends the problems that emerge when we conceive of people as separate and distinct from nature.

Learn more

Article from Civil Eats highlights how the ‘acequia’–an ancient irrigation system common in the southwest–offers a model for managing water use in a way that is local, democratic, and resilient to climate change-driven heat and drought.

Read the article

Mountain Journal article reports on the planned repeal of the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule–also known as the Public Lands Rule–and how this would swing the balance towards extraction of timber, grazing, fossil fuels, and other resources at the expense of conservation. 

Learn more

Article from Inside Climate News highlights the impacts on nearby rural communities and economies caused by layoffs of federal employees working in national parks and forests. 

Read the article

In a new documentary from FRONTLINE, Alaska’s Vanishing Native Villages explores the existential threat facing rural Native communities in the Hooper Bay region of Alaska in the face of accelerating climate change, and how it is forcing communities to consider what relocation might look like. 

Learn more

In an interview with Emergence Magazine, author Robert Macfarlane reflects on how rivers invite us to imagine water not just as a mere resource but instead as something alive and entwined in our existence. 

Read the interview

New report highlights how Canada’s Biosphere Regions are playing an essential role in advancing national and global biodiversity goals across Canada. 

Read the report

Undark Magazine article explores how recreation researchers are studying ways to minimize human impact on public lands while maximizing accessibility. 

Read more

Yale e360 article highlights how artificial intelligence is showing up in conservation science spaces, reflecting on the trade-offs between collecting conservation data remotely versus more conventional field data collection. 

Explore the article

Article from Mountain Journal discusses how the proposed removal of the word ‘harm’ from the Environmental Species Act regulations may impact biodiversity conservation, accelerating development in critical habitat areas. 

Learn more

The real work is in listening: Conservation International’s lead scientist reflects on her career and on the experiences that taught her conservation is about people as much as it is science.

Read the interview

Upcoming Conferences & Events

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June 2-6, 2025 — Conservation Finance Boot Camp

New Haven, CT

June 5, 2025 — Resilience through Relationship: Midwest Beaver Summit

Des Plains, IL

June 23-25, 2025 — Western Governor’s Association Annual Meeting

Santa Fe, NM

June 24- 26, 2025 — Children of the Sky Summit: the world's first global Indigenous led migratory bird conference

Anchorage, AK

POSTPONED

June 30-July 02, 2025 — Geospatial Technology Innovations for Conservation: 28th Annual Society for Conservation GIS International Conference

Shepherdstown, WV

July 15-18, 2025 — Healthy Forests, Thriving Communities: 9th American Forest Congress

Washington, D.C.

September 3-6, 2025 — LTA Rally: The National Land Conservation Conference

Cleveland, OH

October 1-2, 2025 — Managing Wildlife in Large Landscapes: Reciprocal learnings for the world's most iconic ecosystems

Jackson Hole, WY

October 15-17, 2025 — National Habitat Conservation Plan Coalition Annual Meeting

Shepherdstown, WV

October 20-23, 2025 — George Wright Society ParkForum 2025: A Conservation Solutions Workshop

Missoula, MT

November 6, 2025 — 2025 Regional Conservation Partnership Network Gathering

Amherst, MA

Landscape Conservation Job Board

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Senior Director, Conservation Programs, Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative

Learn More

US Program Policy Specialist, Center for Large Landscape Conservation

Learn More

Director, Energy and Biodiversity Program, Defenders of Wildlife

Learn More

Senior Energy and Biodiversity Policy Specialist, Defenders of Wildlife

Learn More

Energy and Biodiversity Policy Specialist, Defenders of Wildlife

Learn More

Senior Policy and Planning Specialist, Defenders of Wildlife

Learn More

Writer and Content Specialist, Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative

Learn More

Conservation Finance Director, Western Landowners Alliance

Learn More

This section of the Landscape Conservation Bulletin is intended to be a space to share job postings that will be specifically relevant to landscape conservation practitioners. We welcome submissions: if your organization would like to widely distribute a posting please be in touch.

Webinars & Additional Resources

The Land Trust Alliance and Open Space Institute's Land and Climate Grant Program is currently accepting proposals from land trusts that are working to integrate climate science into strategic land protection, forest stewardship, communications, or renewable energy siting plans. Applications due June 16, 2025.

The National Forest Foundation's Matching Awards Program is currently accepting proposals to support in-person community engagement and completion of appropriate stewardship activities on National Forest System lands or adjacent public lands. Applications due June 27, 2025

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Community Engagement in Collective Impact

Collective Impact Forum

June 5, 2025

How do we lead and strategize in a time of shift and upheaval? A Panel Conversation

A webinar from Together Rising as an Environmental Community (TREC)

June 12, 2025

Leading in Uncertain Times

A virtual workshop from Institute for Conservation Leadership

June 26, 2025

Legislative and Executive Threats to your Nonprofit

A webinar from the National Council of Nonprofits

July 31, 2025

Building Blocks of Trust Training Series

A self-directed training series from the River Network and Water Now Alliance

NatureConnect 

NatureConnect is a diverse suite of services, tools, and workshops offered by the Center for Large Landscape Conservation to help partners achieve connectivity and landscape conservation goals. 

Connectivity 101

A free, online course developed by the Center for Large Landscape Conservation and partners in the Wildlife Connect Initiative with technical support from UNDP Learning for Nature. Conservation professionals and other interested parties can now register for the course to learn about conserving and restoring ecological connectivity to support a healthy planet. 

Conservation Finance Boot Camp Short Course

Following cancellation of the 2020 Conservation Finance Boot Camp, the Conservation Finance Network compiled a 4-part video short course, which is available via the above link.



America Adapts: The Climate Change Podcast

A weekly podcast that explores the challenges presented by adapting to climate change and the approaches the field's best minds believe are already working.

The Green Mind

A podcast that explores the intersection of social and environmental advocacy, and seeks to uncover the actions people are taking around the world to showcase the symbiotic, yet sometimes tumultuous, relationship between people and nature.

Recordings of past webinars of the Connected Conservation webinar series are available on the National Park Service Connected Conservation website.

Recordings of past NLC Landscape Conservation in Action webinars are available on the Network's Landscape Conservation in Action Webinar Series page.