American Nature Strategy - Pillar
Public Lands and Wildlife
A 10-year Strategy for Durable Conservation
The Goal
By 2035, new public lands and wildlife policies and laws are in place that elevate local priorities, accelerate restoration and stewardship at scale, reward communities for conservation successes, and secure long-term funding for land and wildlife conservation, leaving America’s public lands and wildlife better managed, healthier, and broadly supported across the political spectrum.
The Opportunity
In 2025, a broad, bipartisan coalition of industry, conservation groups, sportsmen, and many others successfully held the line against efforts to sell off federal public lands. The outcome was a win, but the crisis exposed serious, long-standing vulnerabilities. Having to defend the fundamental existence of public lands was a wake-up call for anyone who hunts, fishes, hikes, or makes their living from these lands and waters. It also created an opportunity to unify a broad coalition that can resolve entrenched management challenges for our nation’s public lands and wildlife.
To capitalize on this moment, USNI and our partners are investing in and aligning new coalitions behind a forward-looking agenda that adapts public land management to meet today’s challenges and threats. At the core of this strategy is a commitment to effective, locally tailored priorities that balance the goals of ranching, energy, conservation, local governments, and gateway communities. Drawing on feedback from approximately 50 leaders in the field, the strategy is organized around four strategic priorities, built for durability across the political spectrum.
How USNI Works
Place-Based
Start with real local problems and shared landscape priorities.
Bipartisan
Build coalitions and trusted messengers capable of working across ideological lines.
Campaign-Oriented
Pair collaborative capacity with advocacy capable of producing policy wins.
Built to Scale
Use regional successes to generate transferable lessons, national policy reforms, and broader investment.
The Theory of the Case: States First
Durable conservation is rooted in place-based efforts.
Local and regional coalitions set shared priorities and science-based landscape strategies.
States and Tribes convene, support, and scale those efforts.
Federal agencies provide science, legal tools, and better processes to be more effective implementation partners.
Advocacy turns shared priorities into policy and funding.
Visible benefits build trust and political durability.
Outcomes improve for public lands, wildlife, water and communities.
Strategic Priorities for Durable Public Lands Conservation
1
Make Public Lands Good Neighbors and Keep Them Public
Cultivate bipartisan support for keeping public lands public by resisting broad sell-offs and modernizing management tools so they benefit nearby communities, local economies, and wildlife.
2035 Outcome
No new sweeping sell-off proposals have surfaced, new county payment streams are in place, and land managers have stronger tools to support local economic development while improving ecological integrity.
POLICY PATHWAYS
PILT and Secure Rural Schools reform; strategic exchange and disposal of non-functional parcels in return for net-positive conservation benefits; scaling wildlife-conflict reduction models.
2026–27 EARLY PRIORITY CAMPAIGN
Completed: Defeated legislation to sell off millions of acres of federal public lands.
Scoping: Reform PILT and Secure Rural Schools so county payments are reliable and reward counties that invest in conservation and recreation.
2
Accelerate Restoration and Active Management to Protect Communities and Improve Habitat
Modernize policy, practice, and partnerships so restoration that improves habitat health happens faster, at greater scale, and at lower cost.
2035 Outcome
Federal land agencies have measurably increased the scale of restoration while improving habitat quality and reducing the risk of megafires and natural disasters on public lands.
POLICY PATHWAYS
Passage and implementation of the Fix Our Forests Act; permanent Fire Fix reauthorization before its 2027 expiration; permitting incentives for collaborative restoration plans and projects; expanded Good Neighbor Authority and Tribal co-stewardship; a national native seed and seedling strategy.
2026–27 EARLY PRIORITY CAMPAIGN
Scoping: Advance administrative policy models for partnership and forest restoration that speed implementation, improve conservation outcomes, and can shape Fix Our Forests Act implementation if it passes.
Scoping: Pass additional state funding for forest health and wildfire risk reduction on federal land, modeled on Colorado’s Proposition 137 and delivered in partnership with federal land managers.
3
Advance Conservation through Collaborative Landscape Plans
Build conservation around landscape plans that local partners agree on, then align federal, state, Tribal, and private action, policies and funding behind them.
2035 Outcome
At least three new regional conservation initiatives are authorized in critical landscapes, each combining local, state, and federal policy and funding.
POLICY PATHWAYS
New state and federal programs and funding for critical conservation areas, including wildlife migration corridors, headwaters and military training and operations areas; restoration and expansion of refuges and state wildlife management areas; federal program authorizations, legislative designations and appropriations.
2026–27 EARLY PRIORITY CAMPAIGNS
Build support for the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative to restore salmon and the economies that depend on them.
Scoping: Fund and build wildlife corridor programs in the northern Rockies as a model for other states and for federal investment.
Scoping: Invest in state-based efforts that mirror the Idaho and Colorado roadless rules.
4
Secure Durable Investment for Restoration, Management and Infrastructure
Expand and better align public, private, and philanthropic investment for restoration, stewardship, collaboration and long-term conservation success.
2035 Outcome
New legislation and partnerships drive an additional $100 billion annually to public lands restoration and wildlife management through conservation finance, shared stewardship, and ecosystem services markets.
POLICY PATHWAYS
Recovering America’s Wildlife Act; Legacy Restoration Fund reauthorization at $2 billion annually; new state funding mechanisms; codified conservation finance authorities; public land fee retention.
2026–27 EARLY PRIORITY CAMPAIGNS
Advance Colorado’s Proposition 137 to drive additional state funding for land protection, restoration, and wildfire management.
Build a multi-year Wyoming campaign for an endowed state wildlife fund.
Scoping: Strengthen the National Wildlife Refuge System through new authorities, partnerships, and funding.
Today’s public lands conservation challenges require a conservation community, inside and outside government, that is organized to consistently achieve durable and impactful conservation results. In addition to the strategic approach laid out above, this means pursuing state and federal policies in four mutually reinforcing strategic priority areas.
Looking Ahead