Our Blog
Bringing Back What Was Once Lost
Sustainable Conservation is dedicated to making it easier to restore California. Working to balance the needs of humans and habitat is a key priority to ensure resource resiliency for a bright future. One way we can help is by easing the time and cost of restoration permitting while maintaining strict environmental standards. We’re working with state…
C. Jeff Thomson, International Named 2017 Recipient of the California Leopold Conservation Award
Co-sponsored by Sand County Foundation, the California Farm Bureau Federation and Sustainable Conservation, the Leopold Conservation Award honors extraordinary landowner achievement in the voluntary stewardship and management of natural resources. We’re proud to announce C. Jeff Thomson International as the 2017 recipient of the prestigious California Leopold Conservation Award®. The award was presented posthumously to Mr. Thomson’s family…
San Francisco Chronicle Letter to Editor
Salmon photo courtesy of the National Marine Fisheries Service/Southwest Fisheries Science Center. Sustainable Conservation recently submitted a San Francisco Chronicle letter to the editor in response to its story, “Lion in San Francisco a Testament to Big Spike in Wildlife.” We wanted to educate readers about the population and habitat struggles many of the state’s hundreds…
Sustainable Conservation, CA Dairy Industry Clean-Water Partnership Grows
Since we announced last year that we’re scaling our manure-drip-irrigation project thanks to a competitive USDA grant, Sustainable Conservation and our industry partners have been working hard to launch three additional sites to help dairy farmers manage their manure and water use in ways that protect the groundwater they and their communities depend on. Working…
2017 Leopold Conservation Award Finalist: C. Jeff Thomson International
When Jeff Thomson thinks about conservation, he doesn’t just think about his individual fields. From the people you work with to the practices you implement, stewarding the land and its resources for the future takes constant care and balance. C. Jeff Thomson International’s diversified operations and wetland management make them a fantastic candidate for the…
2017 Leopold Conservation Award Finalist: Rollin Valley Farms
What does a sustainable dairy look like? Brothers Donny and Andy Rollin have been farming their entire lives with that question in mind. Sweet Haven Dairy’s commitment to animal, crop and environmental health make them an ideal candidate for the 2017 Leopold Conservation Award. The Rollin brothers are third-generation dairy farmers who came to…
2017 Leopold Conservation Award Finalist: Lundberg Family Farms
When we think of organic rice in California, there’s a reason why the first name that comes to mind is Lundberg. Lundberg Family Farms’ model of sustainability, from their fields to our tables, makes them a perfect candidate for the 2017 Leopold Conservation Award. A multi-generational farming operation begun in 1937, brothers Eldon, Wendell, Harlan…
Meet the 2017 Leopold Conservation Award Finalists
When it comes to keeping California leading in conservation, you may be surprised to learn that landowners are key front-line defenders of the environment. Over 50% of all land in California is privately owned, and how people manage this land has a dramatic effect on our environment, from combatting climate change, to boosting clean…
Transforming Dairy Waste into a Valuable Resource
California is the nation’s top milk-producing state. The Golden State’s more than 1.5 million cows produce as much waste as California’s entire human population. If not managed correctly, dairy waste presents a threat to clean water and air, as well as a healthy climate. California’s San Joaquin Valley is home to more than a million…
Sustainable Conservation Is More Committed than Ever to Helping California Lead on Climate Action
More committed than ever. That’s Sustainable Conservation’s response to June’s news that the U.S. is pulling out of the historic Paris climate accord. Our bedrock belief is that we’ve got to work together to save the planet, or together we’ll lose it. We’ve proven over nearly 25 years that a healthy economy and vibrant communities can go…
Making it Easier to Restore California
Be it our coastlines, our desert vistas or our redwood forests, California lands are known and loved for their wide variety of natural wonders. We’re also a hot spot for biodiversity, with many plant and animal species flourishing here that you can’t find anywhere else in the world. Unfortunately, many of these landscapes, and the…
Gardening Where You Are: Making Your California Yard Drought-Tolerant
Photo credit: FarOutFlora.com What makes a yard “drought-tolerant”? Despite the windfall of precipitation California has received so far this winter, it’s still a great idea to plan a garden that uses as little water as possible to thrive in the state’s dry summers and frequent droughts. A drought-tolerant yard or garden isn’t about simply reducing…