Sustainable Development

We are pursuing local opportunities to protect critical habitat from insensitive subdivision and development by providing landowners with alternatives and incentives for conservation through creative use of market dynamics.

Description: MSRF uses free-market dynamics of land values to promote protection of the most environmentally sensitive portions of otherwise developable land. It is a concept that many main-stream environmentalists are increasingly embracing. Robert Redford, a leading celebrity in conservation, recognized that development, and the revenue it can generate, can be used to protect the most environmentally sensitive portions of private lands. He applies this concept on his Sundance Ranch:

“To learn that it is far easier to develop than to preserve was like a shock to me. But I was committed. We can do it in a different way...and because development is a fact of life, what if you tried to create a model that showed, in the interest of what we develop and what we preserve, that you can have it both ways.”
Robert Redford on Sundance
Excerpts from 60 Minutes II- 12/12/01

Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation is pursuing local opportunities to protect critical habitat from insensitive subdivision and development by providing landowners with alternatives and incentives for conservation through creative use of market dynamics.

The result will be land improvements and structures that exist in harmony with the landscape and enhance native wildlife opportunities.

Proceeds from these activities will be used to support additional salmon recovery efforts in the region.