Welcome to the new RLF News and Insights page, featuring project updates and perspectives from our team.
News & Insights
News & Insights
RLF Statement on Events of January 5-6, 2021
January 6, 2021
Today has been an extraordinary and scary day in American history, its developments generating feelings across an unimaginably broad emotional spectrum. We have been riveted, watching unprecedented violence in the nation’s...
Tomorrow’s Solutions Will be Found Where Issues Intersect
December 14, 2020
The lessons of 2020 are harsh and profound: science and leadership matter, resilient natural systems are essential to our health and security, and we have a long way to go on racial equity. As much as we all wish for 2021 to...
Partnership and Vision Restoring Abundance to Tomorrow’s Rivers
December 3, 2020
In the last few years, we’ve witnessed what is becoming a profound change across the American West. Obsolete dams are coming down. Streams are being restored. Tribes are reconnecting with the fish runs of their ancestors. Irrigation...
Environmental Progress Tied to Healthy Democracy
November 24, 2020
The world is changing. Not only is our climate changing—introducing new challenges to our environment and communities—but our technology, politics, society, and economies are changing. These changes are happening more rapidly...
Governor Announces Ambitious Biodiversity Targets for California
October 7, 2020
Today, Governor Newsom signed an executive order to protect 30 percent of California’s land and ocean by 2030 (30x30). This announcement makes California the first state in the United States to commit to the global 30x30 effort...
Pandemic Spotlights Importance of Local Farms to Food Security
August 31, 2020
COVID-19 has hit our economy like a wrecking ball. While news headlines have been filled with stories about bars re-closing and shuttered hair salons, even the most fundamentally essential of industries, farming, has been hard...
Recovery with Resilience: Public Investments for a Sustainable, Equitable Future
August 21, 2020
Image: Montana Conservation Corps crews, made up of high school and college students from the Wind River Indian Reservation, helping Chicago Botanic Garden interns collect seeds for the Seeds of Success program in the BLM Lander...
RLF Statement on the Appointment of Armando Quintero as Director of California State Parks
August 19, 2020
Resources Legacy Fund (RLF) was pleased to learn of Governor Newsom’s appointment of Armando Quintero as the new director of California’s Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks). Quintero’s appointment resonates...
Even a Child Can See: Parks Access is More Important than Ever
June 30, 2020
The other day, my daughter asked if it was safe for us to have a family beach day again. She immediately frowned when I reminded her that even if a nearby beach were open, we would have nowhere to park because the lots are closed....
RLF Statement about Death of George Floyd and Other Recent Racist Acts
June 1, 2020
The death of another unarmed African American man—George Floyd—at the hands of police is outrageous and horrifying. The origins and history of the United States are steeped in racism, colonialism, and violence. We have...
Strong and Resilient: Supporting Western Conservation Communications
May 13, 2020
In early March, seemingly a lifetime ago, Alastair Lee Bitsói and I were excitedly preparing for Utah Diné Bikéyah to host the Advisory Board meeting of the Western Communications Hub (the Hub)* in Salt Lake City, Utah. The...
Conservation Leadership More Important Than Ever
April 22, 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic ravages lives and economies around the globe, all other issues, including conservation, have taken a distant backseat. On this 50th anniversary of Earth Day it’s worth remembering that adversity can...
A Message on the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 16, 2020
Dear Friends, COVID-19 has presented us all with unprecedented challenges as we juggle new responsibilities in quarantined life amid the steady drumbeat of despair in the news. I find hope and inspiration in our collective work,...
Equity is at the Heart of Innovation in California
April 9, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a heavy physical, emotional, and economic toll across the globe. As devastating as it is in the moment, we must brace ourselves for the enduring impacts of this crisis, which will last...
Finding Hope in the Moment
April 1, 2020
When I sat down to write this blog, I began by reflecting on the first 20 years of RLF’s work and what the next 20 years will bring. Coronavirus had yet to upend the lives of many outside the Asian continent. Just a few weeks...
