A companion letter to the Resources Legacy Fund's policy recommendations to California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Wildfire. Drought. Flooding. Species extinction. Climate change. California faces grave threats that require bold, immediate action. An essential part of any solution is to restore and proactively manage California’s lands and natural resources at a scale and pace sufficient to result in meaningful benefits.

The purpose of this paper is to help catalyze new conversations and strategies to reduce persistent barriers to environmental stewardship, conservation and restoration of California’s lands that are unintended consequences of essential environmental regulations. It summarizes and assesses key advances in addressing these barriers—including legislative and policy approaches as well as approaches based on coordination, collaboration, and trust building—and includes recommended next steps.

This white paper includes a problem statement, key findings (p. 3), assessment of recent efforts (p.3), models outside the field of conservation (p.17), and conclusions and recommended next steps (p.19).

How many times have you heard someone say "we can't fundraise for stewardship?" If that's how we think about stewardship, that's how it will be. As Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can't - you're right.”

The goal of this Kit is to enable anyone who wants to prioritize, value, and fund the work of taking care of the land to change the narrative about stewardship. To move away from "it can't be funded" to "it is essential that we fund and prioritize it" while staying grounded in our values, impacts, and stories.

The CA Landscape Stewardship Network envisions a California where everyone sees and embraces their role in caring for and sustaining the landscapes that are vital to our collective well-being; where we seek deep understanding and bold collaboration; and where we think, plan, and act beyond our individual boundaries to work at a pace and scale that meets and even exceeds our most pressing challenges. Join us to learn more about this new and inspiring network!

Comments and recommendations submitted by the California Landscape Stewardship Network to the California Wildlife Conservation Board regarding their 2014 Strategic Plan update.