Join the Heritage Club and leave a lasting legacy for the land you love.
With a planned gift, you can leave a legacy for the American West.
Heritage Club members are people who believe conservation is a responsibility we share across generations—and who want WLA's landowner-led approach to continue shaping the future of the West.
By joining the Heritage Club, you help ensure your commitment to sustaining working lands, connected landscapes, and native species continues into the future.
There are many planned gift options, and together with your tax advisor you can find an approach that aligns with your goals while keeping working lands whole and healthy for future generations.
You can make a gift that costs you nothing during your lifetime through your will or trust. You can create a charitable gift annuity by making a gift to WLA that provides income for you during your lifetime and supports conservation on private and workking lands. You may want to donate an asset you no longer need or want. Explore the gift options below that interest you to find out more.
Ways to plan your giving
Additional resources
Whether you're creating your first will or updating an existing estate plan, these resources can help you get started:
ACTEC
Plain-language articles and videos from trust and estate attorneys on wills, trusts, and other estate planning topics.
Charles Schwab Estate Planning Guides & Resources
Practical guides, checklists, and worksheets to help you organize your information and prepare for estate planning, including an asset inventory and annual estate planning checklist.
FreeWill
A free online tool for creating a simple will and other basic estate planning documents.
Find an Estate Planning Attorney
The American Bar Association's Lawyer Referral Directory can help you connect with state and local bar association referral services to find an attorney in your area.
Securing Your Legacy on the Land
Explore WLA resources developed with Bank of America to help working landowners and their families navigate succession and plan for the future of the land.
Land as a Lever for Good
WLA's workshop for families preparing the next generation to steward private working lands, with a focus on succession, stewardship, and shared values.
These resources are provided for educational purposes and convenience. Western Landowners Alliance does not endorse any particular attorney, financial advisor, or estate planning service.
Join the Heritage Club
You are invited to join others who care about keeping working lands whole and healthy for generations to come by sharing your plans for a planned gift with WLA. Heritage Club members help ensure our conservation work continues into the future.
Members receive a personalized welcome kit, special invitations to virtual and regional events throughout the year, and—most importantly—our sincere gratitude for your commitment to the future of the Western Landowners Alliance.
Please share your plans with us so we may acknowledge your gift.
Common bequest language
We suggest the following language for a bequest to WLA:
"I give to Western Landowners Alliance, a nonprofit organization that is recognized as exempt from tax under Section 501(c)(3) per section 170 of the Internal Revenue Code, with its principate office at PO Box 27798, Denver, CO 80227, all (or ___%) of my residuary estate OR the sum of $ ______ to be used for its general purposes."
Such a bequest is not deductible for purposes of federal estate tax, but can be used most flexibly by WLA, including for legislative lobbying. The tax ID# (EIN) of Western Landowners Alliance is 46-1346488.
This sample language is provided for informational purposes only. You should consult your own qualified financial and legal advisors to learn how the laws regarding estate taxes apply in your particular circumstances.
Still have questions or wish to discuss your desire to leave a legacy for Western Landowners Alliance? Please contact Jan Miller, Senior Philanthropy Officer, at janmiller@westernlandowners.org or 505-466-1495.
Members throw their weight into the most important work in the West
Private ranches, farms and forest properties are an important economic and cultural mainstay for Western rural communities. These working lands provide jobs and a high quality way of life.
They also provide valuable open space, protect crucial habitat and wildlife corridors, harbor the majority of imperiled species and control much of the water, including headwaters critical for healthy watersheds and down-stream users. But we live in a time where they are also under extreme pressure.
Western Landowners Alliance has developed a structured way for working land innovators to protect the intrinsic value of these lands, connect, and share and advocate in ways that protect the land and our way of life - both now and for the
future.
Join with other like-minded people
Find common sense, common ground solutions to the many challenges we face in the West today, including ensuring that working lands support quality livelihoods and human communities while also delivering the values we all care about, like wildlife habitat and clean water.
Promote private stewardship
It's critical that contributions and perspectives from private landowners be communicated and understood both broadly within society and by special interest groups. We tell these stories through media, films, and publications.
Support an active community
WLA helps members share knowledge and best practices that support stewardship including ranch tours, meetings and conference across the West. We also produce Western Digest - a monthly collection of the most relevant land management resources, issues, and events.
©2026 Western Landowners Alliance • PO BOX 27798, Denver, CO 80227 • 505.466.1495
Western Landowners Alliance is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit recognized by the IRS.
Tax ID: 46-1346488