Central to the mission and methods of Sand County Foundation is our conviction that conservation undertaken by private citizens connected to the land by ownership will provide more ecological benefits, at lower cost, with more lasting results, than conservation by regulation or government directive.

The focus of Sand County Foundation’s Landholder Leaders Program is to provide recognition, assistance, and support to individual landowners who are voluntarily enhancing the conservation value of their land. The vast majority of our wildlife, water, and other natural resources are within private lands, yet support for landowner conservation is among the most underserved areas of conservation funding. Under this program, Landholder Leaders, we will be delivering services and support to private individuals through two different projects: