Maintaining Perspective

A message from our Board President

2025 has been a turbulent and unpredictable year for Bear River Land Conservancy and many of our non-profit and government partners. Our work has been impacted by funding uncertainty due to shifting administrative priorities at the federal level. Funding for projects and staff has been frozen and unfrozen. Staffing vacancies at many of our federal partner agencies have created delays and left gaps where we used to have long-standing relationships, which will slow our progress on projects. The pace and scale of land development continues to rapidly transform our local landscapes, and we find ourselves asking what our future looks like amidst these challenges and how we can best adapt to our changing environment.

In early April, we met with dozens of our constituents, including elected officials, agency representatives, partner organizations, and landowners at an Advisory Conference to address these concerns.

One thing is certain, we are here to stay!

We were humbled to see how many passionate and dedicated people showed up to lend their voices to our cause: support for land conservation has never been stronger here in Northern Utah. This work is a community effort and we were so fortunate to meet with so many passionate and dedicated people who make our work possible:

• Landowners, who continue to show incredible vision, patience, and dedication to conserving land for future generations, even as landowners are offered increasingly large amounts of money for their land.

• Funders, who work with us through the complicated and painstaking process of funding our projects.

• Local and state government officials and representatives who continue to advocate and provide matching funding.

• Our staff, who remain professional and grounded even during these difficult times.

We are especially grateful to our former and current Board members who have stewarded this organization and gathered the human and financial resources to weather this storm with prudence and determination.

The pace and scale that we must adopt as stewards of our landscape cannot be measured in days, weeks, or even years. Despite the current difficulties, the land we protect will provide food and fiber, preserve water quality, and protect habitat for the enjoyment of future generations in perpetuity. We must remember this time scale and our long term goals as we weather difficult months and years.

We currently have three active conservation easement projects in progress and are dedicated to continuing our work and maintaining the long-term, visionary perspective which has brought us this far.

• Glen Busch, Board Chair