2026 Natural Areas Conference
Asheville, NC, Oct 5–9, 2026

NAC26 is where practitioners gather to share emerging research and evidence-based practice, and gain access to new relationships, knowledge, and collaboration that can advance plans, practices, and methodologies to address a wide variety of challenges in the management of natural areas.

While a national conference offering content on a wide variety of regional topics, the 2026 Natural Areas Conference (NAC26): Where Science Meets Stewardship will also shine a spotlight on the ongoing recovery from Hurricane Helene, the region’s long-standing commitment to conservation and natural areas stewardship, and many other important land and water management topics from across North America.

This event is a national forum for information exchange among natural areas practitioners. Participants have shared countless stories about how information gained from their participation in this conference had a direct impact on the land they steward.

2026 Vermont Forest Innovation Summit

Nonprofits are significant forestland owners in the United States and are increasingly turning to their forests as sources of revenue. This session will look at how a range of nonprofits, operating at different scales of capacity, utilize their forests for both revenue and community engagement. How nonprofit organizations approach forest management, how they interact with the logging community, forest products sector and local mills will be explored. We will examine issues that NGOs share with the forest products industry, such as workforce development.

We will present a series of mini-case studies featuring land trusts, one type of nonprofit, across the country actively pursuing revenue streams in their forest management to capture the national scale of this trend. Next, the work of both Smokey House Center and Merck Forest & Farmland Center, which both a different types NGOs than land trusts, will be presented to demonstrate the balancing act of forest management, revenue generation and connection with their communities within Vermont. Time will be left to have a facilitated discussion of how the nonprofit sector can play a complementary role with industry in managing forests and where that role of nonprofits may differ in a constructive way as well.

This session will be moderated by Ole Amundsen.

WeConservePA

With the reduction in federal funding and the resulting increase in competition for private grant funding and donor support, having diverse revenue streams has never been more important. Entrepreneurial approaches to revenue may also deepen land trusts’ relationships with their communities and bring the conservation message to new audiences. Ole Amundsen, an experienced professional in fundraising, finance and strategic planning, will examine case studies from land trusts of varying capacity and staffing from across the state and country that use an entrepreneurial approach to generate revenue. Staff and board members are encouraged to attend. As an added benefit,participating organizations will be offered a free, one-hour brainstorming session focused on entrepreneurial approaches and assessing earned revenue opportunities.

$25.00 Virtual Seminar Fee (free for WeConservePA members)

Connecticut Land Conservation Council

Shrinking federal funding and rising competition for grants are forcing land trusts to rethink how they fund their work — and many are turning to entrepreneurial strategies to stay resilient. In this session, Ole Amundsen explores real-world examples of land trusts of different capacities and their successful generation of new revenue streams while strengthening community connections.

This webinar is for land trust board members and staff. Participants will gain practical ideas for broadening the financial support for their organization.

Participants are invited to attend a follow-up session on Wednesday, September 30 at 12pm, to collectively brainstorm on new revenue strategies, consider what changes are needed to bring in this new revenue, and how to reflect these goals in their strategic plan.