Drink Coffee - Protect Land
What if your morning caffeine fix could fuel something wildly bigger than just ambition? What if it could serve as a high-impact conservation strategy? That is the bold, hopeful reality the Bear River Land Conservancy and Caffe Ibis are brewing together.
A morning mug of Caffe Ibis’s Logan Canyon Blend does more than make you come to life; it turns a daily routine into an active movement to protect land. From the flood-irrigated family pastures of Cache Valley all the way to the coffee forests of Central America, every single sip safeguards working agricultural lands, honors fair livelihoods, and protects migratory waterbirds (like the roaster’s namesake, the White-faced Ibis) across two continents.
Five decades ago, when it was still a small shop called the Straw Ibis, Caffe Ibis set out to flip the status quo and create a business based on economic fairness and environmental stewardship. Founded by visionaries Sally Sears and Randy Wirth, who were not afraid of risk and were inspired by local conservation-minded mentors, the roaster defined success not by dollar signs, but by "protecting people and the planet" - illustrating that a successful business does not have to be all taking and no giving.
This meant paying living wages to local baristas and ensuring small-scale growers abroad earned fair prices to support their families with dignity. These folks are up at dawn tending the land and brewing our coffee. This commitment to sustainability extends to the environment. Caffe Ibis’ bird friendly certified coffee encourages their farm-partners across the globe to grow coffee in diverse canopy forests. This approach supports wildlife, elevates the taste of coffee, and safeguards essential wetlands.
At the center of this global connection flies Caffe Ibis’s namesake: the White-faced Ibis. Long before they became a local institution, its founders were captivated by flocks of these striking birds touching down in local fields and wetlands. During the spring breeding season, these nomadic waterbirds are spectacular, displaying metallic iridescent purple and bronze plumage, bright red eyes with a white feather border, and a soft low “oink” call as they probe muddy fields with long, down curved bills.
More than a mascot, Ibis are the living thread connecting our local land to ecosystems thousands of miles away. Often seen flying overhead in long, undulating lines or messy V-shaped formations, Cache Valley’s resident Ibis migrate south to winter near those very same regions in Mexico and Central America where the beans for the Logan Canyon Blend are grown. While Ibis do not live directly in forests growing coffee, diverse shade-grown coffee farms preserve the overarching watershed, maintaining healthy downstream wetlands ibis depend on.
When the birds return to Utah in the spring, the story comes full circle on our local working farms. Today, Cache Valley farmers and international coffee growers are in the same boat. Both rely on working landscapes for their livelihoods, and both face mounting pressures to sell land. Locally, population growth is projected to double by 2050 and premium land prices are putting a squeeze on open space threatening to replace picturesque working hay fields with asphalt. Abroad, coffee growers contend with shirting climate patterns, clear cutting and an exodus of younger generations leaving for urban careers. As the pressures mount, it can feel like our rural agricultural communities are barely getting by, but conservation offers a resilient path forward.
With natural wetlands facing severe drying trends, 88% of ibis breeding colonies now depend on flood-irrigated agricultural lands as surrogate habitat. Because they are a colonial nesting bird, (meaning they gather by the thousands to nest) they require massive amounts of secure wetland habitat to feed their young. In our valley, these private pastures double as critical avian oases. The water moved across private pastures by local farming families creates the rich foraging grounds these birds require to raise their young before heading toward the Great Salt Lake.
Through voluntary land protection agreements (conservation easements), Bear River Land Conservancy works alongside local agricultural producers so family farms stay farms forever, rather than becoming subdivisions. We are bringing serious boots-on-the-ground power to the landscape to protect open space, restore stream flows, and safeguard our agricultural heritage.
For more than 15 years, Caffe Ibis has been one of Bear River Land Conservancy’s most steadfast champions and largest donors. To mark their ongoing commitment, they recently increased their contribution to $0.40 (up from $0.30) from every bag of their Logan Canyon Blend directly to support land protection in the Bear River Watershed. Today, under the leadership of owner Lesa Wilson and her son Tom Wilson (Director of Coffee), Caffe Ibis remains fiercely independent and deeply committed to the founders’ original ethos. As BRLC and Caffe Ibis look to the future during the roaster's 50th year, this enduring partnership proves what is possible when local businesses and land stewardship unite.
Caffe Ibis brews ethical coffee and donates to the local community, Bear River Land Conservancy protects local soil and water. It is a distinct pairing. And just like the White-Faced Ibis that moves between our worlds, our work covers the same vital ground. Protecting open space is not just about saving land, it is also about supporting the families who work it and the wildlife that depends on it. Every morning cup is a small everyday act that keeps our local landscapes working, resilient, and whole for generations to come.
Where to buy Logan Canyon Blend
You can support BRLC by buying Logan Canyon Blend Caffe Ibis coffee in Logan at the Caffe (52 Federal Ave, Logan, UT). You can also buy Logan Canyon Blend on the Caffe Ibis website, or at any one of these retailers!
Logan:
Island Market (12oz bags)
Lee’s Marketplace (12oz bags, bulk)
Natural Grocers Logan (12oz bags)
Others nearby:
Buzz Bru – Brigham City (12oz bags)
Eden Coffee and Juicery (12oz bags)
Kaffe Merc – Ogden (12oz bags)
Harmons – SLC (2lb, 12oz bags, bulk)
People’s Coffee – SLC (12oz bags)
Whole Foods – SLC (12oz bags)
