Stronger Together
In the Arena
Public policy shapes almost everything about the ownership and management of our working landscapes. From local land-use codes and state wildlife management to federal regulatory agendas and international trade, policymaking ultimately defines our options and our opportunities. As primary stakeholders with deep personal and financial investments in the land, we founded Western Landowners Alliance to ensure that landowners have a direct voice in the policy matters that impact us. We work to ensure that public policies support sustainable stewardship and conservation of the lands and the natural resources in our care.
Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund established and fully-funded
The Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund became law in New Mexico in March. The fund is a bipartisan product of WLA's leadership over five years of negotiations among a broad coalition of legislators, state agencies, community stakeholders and non-governmental organizations. The historic bill, funded with an initial $100 million appropriation in 2023 and then fully-funded with $300 million in 2024, creates the state’s first dedicated and long-term funding stream for land and water conservation.
Keys to Successful Wildlife Policies
From the 3 S's to the 4 Cs
Across the western US, iconic wildlife like elk, deer, grizzly bears, and wolves share lands with humans and their livestock. This comes with inevitable conflicts – elk damage fences and eat hay; grizzly bears and wolves depredate and stress livestock – and responding to these conflicts requires additional time from land stewards. We envision landscapes where people, livestock, and wildlife all thrive, where effective and practical management practices work in concert with constructive state and federal policy to reduce conflicts, and where economic solutions support resilient, biodiverse working lands. The clearest path to this vision is the 4C’s framework.
Ensuring federal agriculture policy supports healthy Western landscapes
The Farm Bill shapes the West, for better or worse
We are at a pivotal point in deciding how we move conservation policies, water management strategies, the economy and our food systems forward. The right mix of pro-active investments and policies can ensure that the scales tip toward a more sustainable future for both agriculture and conservation. It is critical that the 2023 Farm Bill convey meaningful economic and technical support for ongoing land stewardship, address barriers to enrollment and accessibility, boost collaborative capacity for community-based conservation, and foster holistic, ecosystem-level conservation approaches
Critical Issues
Habitat Leasing
Critical habitat for wildlife in the West is disappearing at an alarming rate.
We've got a Big Idea to stop it.
OUR SOLUTION
The Habitat Lease
Market-based, multi-year "habitat leases" that provide annual payments for publicly beneficial ecological values and services, especially wildlife habitat, provided by landowners.
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Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund
No time to leave money on the table
We can’t let another year go by without action - from wildfire, flooding and drought, the extreme weather conditions we’re experiencing are threatening the Land of Enchantment as we know it.
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Policy Position
Responsible Approaches to Public Access
Start with mutual respect
Just like public and private lands are intermingled and interdependent, so too are public and private interests. Successful solutions will start with mutual respect, a desire to achieve win-win outcomes and the recognition that the conservation of land, wildlife and natural resources must be the first priority.
Key Issue
Wildlife need whole and healthy working lands
2/3 of imperiled species
Two-thirds of federally listed species have at least some habitat on private land. To stave off the biodiversity crisis, and the economic collapse of rural America, will require smart policies that reward private stewardship while keeping working lands working.
Landowner Opportunity
Grasslands CRP
A wise investment
Working lands are the future of conservation, providing benefit to the human communities and ecosystems we all depend on. An investment in CRP is an investment in the continued viability of working landscapes.
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Grazing Regulations that Work
An opportunity for a win-win
BLM grazing regulations that work well provide flexibility and resources to meet those goals across large landscapes of matrixed ownership including private, state and federal lands, while valuing economic stability of permittees and rural communities.
Policy Position
Promoting proactive wildland fire management
Comprehensive and collaborative wildfire strategies
The West is a complex patchwork of public and private lands, ecosystems and habitat types. Resource management authority may stop at a fence line, but resource destruction knows no bounds, highlighting the need for comprehensive and collaborative wildfire risk mitigation strategies.
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THE FIRST 1000 DAYS
The Biden administration has the opportunity to redefine conservation. They must take it.
Conservation-as-usual isn’t working. We are losing ground and natural resources every day. We can’t afford to waste any more time with top-down solutions that don’t work. It’s time for an entirely new approach to conservation: one that works for rural America, working lands and wildlife. We have a plan to make it happen.
Join WLA to stay up to date on the most important news and policy for land stewards.
Become a member for free today and we will send you the news and policy developments critical to the economic and ecological health of working lands.
WLA works on behalf of landowners and practitioners throughout the West. We will never share your contact information with anyone.