Russ Schnitzer
Senior Program Officer
2019 marked a year of continued evolution within the Gates Family Foundation’s Natural Resources program. Most notably, we welcomed Whitney Johnson as a new program officer. Whitney’s role is shared between Community Development and Natural Resources, which will help these programs further define complementary priorities, such as rural economic development and sustainable and regenerative agriculture.
The program awarded a total of more than $1.3 million in strategic grants to 15 organizations and $255,000 in responsive grants from our capital program went to five organizations in 2019. In addition, we made several significant new natural resources impact investments, including $3 million in an industrial impact fund focused on resource efficiencies in energy, transportation, and the built environment and $1 million in a fund focused on mitigation banking and carbon sequestration.
Our Focus Landscapes initiative, a key element of our Natural Resources program, underwent a comprehensive review, revision, and re-launch in 2019. This initiative was launched in 2011 to help Colorado achieve landscape-scale conservation through the protection of private lands in specific geographies. A great deal of progress was made in North Park, southeast Colorado, and the San Luis Valley, resulting in more than 200,000 acres of farm and ranch lands conserved, along with their associated ecological values. The strategic review process was done in close partnership with the land trust organizations representing those geographies, providing lessons-learned and an exploration of emerging opportunities. The revised Focus Landscapes initiative will first focus on two geographies: southeast Colorado and the San Luis Valley. Our five-year commitment to these landscapes is also more ambitious in scope, working with the partner organizations, Palmer Land Trust and Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust, to implement a more comprehensive conservation strategy with outcomes that emphasize organizational sustainability, collaboration, community, and innovation that extends well beyond traditional private land conservation easements.
2019 also highlighted the significance of other Natural Resources program priorities, to address challenges exacerbated by a changing climate and continued population growth – trends very likely to persist well into the future. Such variables also continue to shape how the Foundation invests in strategic priorities. Increasingly, Natural Resources investments are being made collaboratively with other foundations and public funding partners. The scale of these challenges is staggering, but the opportunities for private philanthropy to work together toward common objectives are increasingly evident.
Continuing to leverage the entrepreneurial and collaborative approach that has come to define the Natural Resources program, significant achievements made in 2019 include:
The development and successful launch of the RESTORE Colorado Fund in partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Great Outdoors Colorado, the Colorado Water Conservation Board, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The fund’s first round of awards totaled approximately $2.7 million to eleven different large-scale habitat restoration and enhancement projects across the state.
The launch of the Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative (RMRI), led by Gates grantee the National Wild Turkey Federation and in close partnership with the United States Forest Service. The RMRI is focused on large-scale implementation of forest health and watershed restoration beginning in southwest Colorado, helping to break down jurisdictional barriers to forest health treatments and creating a 10-year collaborative watershed restoration strategy.
Continued work to advance key water sustainability objectives, including the identification of new durable sources of funding for the full implementation of Colorado’s Water Plan.
The conservation of Trinidad’s iconic Fisher’s Peak, formerly known as Crazy French Ranch, which in June 2020 become Colorado’s newest and second-largest state park with more than 19,000 acres of wilderness to explore, which is also expected to drive economic growth in southern Colorado.
Finally, the Foundation’s commitment to Colorado’s land trusts remains steadfast. 2019 was the first full year for Keep It Colorado, the hub organization co-launched by Gates and Great Outdoors Colorado to serve the state’s diverse land trust community. In the past year, Keep It Colorado has hired additional staff, implemented policy, communications, and fundraising strategies, and engaged land trust leaders statewide with learning and organizational development opportunities. While much work remains to ensure the long-term sustainability of Colorado’s land trust community, Keep It Colorado continues to serve as a shining example of conservation leadership and collaboration, even in trying times.
Supporting the conservation and stewardship of Colorado’s natural resources is an exercise in continual learning and adaptation. It is also a humbling privilege to contribute to the Foundation’s long-standing conservation legacy. Our work is only as strong as our grantees and funding partners, and that strength is growing. As we look ahead, I am confident that the relationships we continue to build at every level will result in great progress and keep us on the leading edge of conservation in Colorado.
2019 Grants and Impact Investments Awarded: Natural Resources
| Grantee |
Amount Awarded |
Type |
Strategy |
Area Served |
|
Adams State University
|
$40,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Water |
Alamosa |
|
Audubon Rockies
|
$100,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Water |
* Statewide |
|
Aurora Rotary Foundation, Inc.
|
$15,000 |
Capital Grant |
Natural Resources >
Parks and Recreation |
Arapahoe >
Aurora |
|
Blackhorn Ventures – Industrial Impact Fund
|
$3,000,000 |
Mission-Related Investment |
Natural Resources |
Colorado and beyond |
|
Central Colorado Conservancy
|
$50,000 |
Capital Grant |
Natural Resources >
Land Conservation |
Chaffee |
|
City of La Junta
|
$25,000 |
Capital Grant |
Natural Resources >
Parks and Recreation |
Otero >
La Junta |
|
Coalitions & Collaboratives, Inc.
|
$75,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Ecosystem Services |
* Statewide |
|
Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust
|
$75,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Land Trust Capacity Building |
Routt >
Steamboat Springs |
|
Colorado Cattlemen’s Association
|
$120,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Stewardship at Scale |
* Statewide |
|
Colorado Headwaters Land Trust
|
$40,000 |
Capital Grant |
Natural Resources >
Land Conservation |
Grand >
Granby |
|
Colorado National Monument Association
|
$20,000 |
Capital Grant |
Natural Resources >
Parks and Recreation |
Mesa |
|
Colorado Open Lands
|
$35,000 |
Capital Grant |
Natural Resources >
Land Conservation |
Delta |
|
Colorado State University
|
$75,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Stewardship at Scale |
* Statewide |
|
Colorado Water Trust
|
$140,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Water |
* Statewide |
|
Conservation Fund
|
$75,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Water |
|
|
Crested Butte Land Trust
|
$70,000 |
Capital Grant |
Natural Resources >
Land Conservation |
Gunnison >
Crested Butte |
|
Crested Butte Land Trust
|
$120,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Land Trust Capacity Building |
Gunnison >
Crested Butte |
|
Environmental Defense Fund
|
$100,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Water |
* Statewide |
|
Hinsdale County School District
|
$20,000 |
Capital Grant |
Natural Resources >
Parks and Recreation |
Hinsdale >
Lake City |
|
Keep it Colorado
|
$375,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Land Trust Capacity Building |
* Statewide |
|
Keystone Center
|
$75,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Water |
* Statewide |
|
Lake County Public Health Agency
|
$40,000 |
Capital Grant |
Natural Resources >
Parks and Recreation |
Lake >
Leadville |
|
Land Trust Alliance
|
$50,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Land Trust Capacity Building |
* Statewide |
|
Lyme Timber Company LP – Opportunities Fund
|
$1,000,000 |
Mission-Related Investment |
Natural Resources |
Colorado and beyond |
|
Montezuma Land Conservancy
|
$113,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Land Trust Capacity Building |
Montezuma >
Cortez |
|
Montrose Recreation District
|
$25,000 |
Capital Grant |
Natural Resources >
Parks and Recreation |
Montrose >
Montrose |
|
Mountain Area Land Trust
|
$16,900 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Land Trust Capacity Building |
Park |
|
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
|
$250,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Stewardship at Scale |
* Statewide |
|
National Wild Turkey Federation
|
$200,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Stewardship at Scale |
* Statewide |
|
New Venture Fund
|
$150,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Water |
* Statewide |
|
North London Mill Preservation, Inc.
|
$25,000 |
Capital Grant |
Natural Resources >
Parks and Recreation |
Park >
Alma |
|
Palmer Land Trust
|
$3,000,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Land Conservation |
Otero |
|
Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust
|
$2,000,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Land Conservation |
Alamosa >
Alamosa |
|
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
|
$50,000 |
Capital Grant |
Natural Resources >
Land Conservation |
Rio Blanco >
Meeker |
|
San Luis Valley Great Outdoors Coalition
|
$10,000 |
Capital Grant |
Natural Resources >
Parks and Recreation |
Saguache >
Crestone |
|
Sedgwick County Organized Recreation
|
$40,000 |
Capital Grant |
Natural Resources >
Parks and Recreation |
Sedgwick >
Julesburg |
|
The Nature Conservancy
|
$300,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Land Conservation |
Las Animas >
Trinidad |
|
Town of Oak Creek
|
$60,000 |
Capital Grant |
Natural Resources >
Parks and Recreation |
Routt >
Oak Creek |
|
Trust For Public Land
|
$85,000 |
Capital Grant |
Natural Resources >
Parks and Recreation |
El Paso >
Colorado Springs |
|
Windward Fund – Water Funders Initiative
|
$275,000 |
Strategic Grant |
Natural Resources >
Water |
* Statewide |
|
Wright Stuff Community Foundation
|
$10,000 |
Capital Grant |
Natural Resources >
Parks and Recreation |
San Miguel >
Norwood |
In 2019, the Community Development program committed $932,500 in strategic grants to 13 organizations and $465,000 in responsive capital grants to 12 organizations. New impact investments supporting vibrant communities in 2019 included a $500,000 MRI to