The Conservation Lands Foundation (CLF) is a left-of-center environmental activist organization that seeks to expand the United States’ National Conservation Lands ¹ and operates the Stop Willow Campaign, which opposes the development of the National Petroleum Reserve. ^{2 3}

CLF supports the far-left Black Lives Matter movement and is guided by the critical race theory-influenced concepts of equity, inclusion, and justice. ⁴ CLF has argued that “racial inequity is intertwined with the climate crisis” ⁵ and claimed that the conservation movement has a “history of racism and white supremacy” in a statement the group made following the death of George Floyd. ⁶

Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss helped co-found CLF and has been a major supporter of the organization. He gave CLF $4.5 million from 2011 to 2013 ⁷ and his philanthropic organization, the Wyss Foundation, donated $1 million or more to CLF each year from 2010 to 2014. ⁸ CLF has received additional funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the New Venture Fund. ^{9 10 11}

History and Leadership

The Conservation Lands Foundation (CLF) was founded in 2007 by former Arizona Governor and Clinton administration Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt (D) and Ed Norton, Sr. ¹²  Swiss billionaire and left-of-center philanthropist Hansjorg Wyss is a founding member of CLF and was one of CLF’s directors until 2012. ^{13 14 15 16}

As of January 2024, Brian Sybert is the executive director of CLF. Previously, he worked at the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, the Montana Wilderness Association, and the environmentalist Sierra Club. ^{17 18}

Members of CLF’s board of trustees include Wyss Foundation vice president Chris Killingsworth; Wyss Foundation senior program officer Heath Nero; and representatives from apparel company Patagonia, the Resources Legacy Fund, the Catena Foundation, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the Parks Conservancy, Hogan Lovells, and various Native American tribes. ¹⁹

CLF’s emeritus board of trustees includes Wyss Foundation chairman Hansjorg Wyss, Wyss Foundation president Molly McUsic, Clinton administration Secretary of the Interior and former Governor of Arizona Bruce Babbitt (D), former U.S. Senator Jeff Bingham (D-NM), and other representatives affiliated with the Wilderness Society, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Rewiring America, The Nature Conservancy, Landis Foundation, and the National Trust Community Investment Corporation. ²⁰

CLF’s leadership circle also includes representatives from the Brookings Institution, the left-of-center Tides Foundation, and the Parks Foundation. ²¹

Activities and Funding

The Conservation Lands Foundation is a left-of-center environmental activist organization that seeks to expand the United States’ National Conservation Lands, which consist of 37 million acres of public lands, rivers, and trails as of February 2024. ²² CLF classifies National Monuments, National Conservation Areas, Wilderness Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, and National Scenic and Historic Trails as conservation lands. ²³ On its website, CLF has published a “land acknowledgment” in which it claims that its offices are on “stolen land” and that National Conservation Lands are actually “Indigenous land.” ²⁴

In a statement following the death of George Floyd, CLF said that the United States has a 400-year plus history of “violence against Black lives,” the conservation movement has a “history of racism and white supremacy” in its culture, and that CLF is working to dismantle what it considers to be systemic racism. CLF also recommended its supporters visit left-of-center We the Protestors’ Campaign Zero website and donate money to the left-of-center NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund to support critical race theory-influenced racial justice policies. ²⁵

CLF operates the Stop Willow Campaign, which uses social media platforms to advocate against the development of the National Petroleum Reserve. Many of its activists are active on TikTok ²⁶ and linked to the Biden administration. ^{27 28 29 30} CLF is a member of Patagonia Action Works ³¹ and produces a Climate Atlas with Audubon Alaska, the Campion Foundation, and Conservation Science Partners. ³²

CLF supported the appointment of former U.S. Representative Deb Haaland (D) as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior ³³ and has partnered with the Biden administration on parks-related issues. ³⁴ The group has organized more than 36,000 letters to lawmakers in support of its efforts to support the Biden administration’s proposed Public Lands Rule, ³⁵ which would put conservation lands on the same level as other lands managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. ³⁶ CLF also lobbied the Obama administration to expand the purview of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. ³⁷

Grantmaking

The Conservation Lands Foundation makes grants to other environmentalist groups as a part of its Friends Grassroots Network, which includes 80 organizations. ³⁸ Since 2017, CLF has awarded more than $16 million of grants through the Friends Grassroots Network, which prioritizes grants to minority groups. ³⁹

In 2022, CLF made $1,970,000 of grants to 92 different organizations in 12 different states in the American West. ^{40 41} CLF awarded $1,650,000 of grants to 71 Friends Grassroots Network organizations and allied partners in 12 states in 2021. ⁴²

Funding

The Conservation Lands Foundation receives funding from individual donations and grants. ⁴³ CLF reported revenue of $8,075,903 and expenses of $8,502,697 in 2022. In 2021, CLF reported revenue of $7,535,879 and expenses of $6,120,261. ^{44 45}

Swiss billionaire and CLF co-founder Hansjorg Wyss is a major supporter of CLF. He gave CLF $4.5 million from 2011 to 2013 ⁴⁶  and his philanthropic organization, the Wyss Foundation, donated $1 million or more to CLF each year from 2010 to 2014. ⁴⁷

In 2022, CLF received $600,000 from My Good Fund, $500,000 from the left-of-center William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and $450,000 from the New Venture Fund. ⁴⁸ CLF also received $1,000,000 from the Hewlett Foundation in 2020 ⁴⁹ and $1,950,000 from the Hewlett Foundation in 2015. ⁵⁰ CLF has received additional funding from the Gates Family Foundation, ⁵¹ Pew Charitable Trusts, ^{52 53} the Jewish Communal Fund, ⁵⁴ The Nature Conservancy, ⁵⁵ the Resources Legacy Fund, the left-of-center Conservation Alliance, ⁵⁶ and others. ⁵⁷

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