For Landowners and the Public

For Private Landowners

Most land in America is private, managed by farmers, ranchers, and private forest owners. Voluntary private land conservation, and the good stewardship of these lands by their owners, is essential to conserving America’s natural heritage. 

For landowners, decisions about whether and how to conserve your land permanently are complicated and highly personal. The role of the website is not to suggest a right or wrong decision, but rather to help inform your decision-making process by providing useful resources. Here are a few examples of how landowners could make use of our web resources:

• LandScope America can provide information about the conservation value of your land and how it might fit into local and regional contexts. For example, the importance of your land as habitat for wildlife can increase if it is part of a system of connected open spaces.
• We’ll provide ready resources that describe options for conserving your land, sources of funds for habitat improvement, and relevant agencies in your area. You can learn about the financial benefits of land conservation as well (there are many!). 
• Ready to talk to your local land trust or an organization like The Nature Conservancy? We’ll make it easy to find the right group. Just enter your zip code or click on your location on a map, and the website will provide a list or organizations working in your area, with their contact information and website link. 

For the Public

Of course, not all of us own significant natural lands or open space ourselves.  Most Americans live in urban and suburban areas in houses that sit on small lots. For those of us in that category, access to natural lands and open spaces is vitally important.  LandScope America will let you explore, understand, and help conserve the places you love.

Consider a website that gives you the power to:

• Find special natural places anywhere in America by zooming through an interactive map. 
• Explore these natural places through maps, stories, photos, audio and video.
• Easily access useful information about these places and their wildlife and habitats.

Here are some ways you might want to use LandScope America:

• Zoom into a highly detailed and interactive local map that places your area of interest in the full context of its surroundings—typical habitats, nearby protected or high-priority lands, recreational opportunities, even the best birding spots.
• Choose a specific place via the map viewer or from a list. Find its location, driving directions to it, recreational opportunities such as hiking and wildlife watching, and the habitats and species you might find there. 
• Contribute content and connect with others by uploading and sharing your own photos, success stories, and comments about places.
• Create customized map views of interest to you, link to them, and share them with your friends or neighbors (perhaps a mashup showing all the places you hiked this year, or possible spots for next summer’s group camping trip?)
• View conservation calendars listing upcoming events for your state. 
• Receive conservation updates and land-protection news alerts provided via RSS feeds.
• Join discussion forums, organized around places or issues, to share information and learn from others.