The Foundation supports efforts to protect wilderness areas and natural resources, preserve cultural heritage, and prevent irreversible environmental and economic damage. Organizations that combine educational and environmental components take precedence. We are particularly interested in programs that:

• Secure land of conservation importance for wildlife and habitat protection
• Ensure that ecosystems and cultural heritage sites are adequately restored, protected and managed
• Support conservation and protection of endangered cultural heritage sites of significance and ensure the long-term sustainability of these regional efforts
• Expose youth -- future stewards of our environment -- to the wonders of our natural world
• Provide technical skills to organizations and communities to ensure proper stewardship of our environment

Featured Grant:

Global Heritage Fund | www.globalheritagefund.org

The Global Heritage Fund (GHF) is a non-profit, international conservancy established to preserve and protect the world’s most important archaeological and cultural heritage sites in developing countries.

GHF’s timely investments, global network of experts, and advanced Preservation by Design methodology work together to create a “cycle of success” for global heritage sites which have high potential for sustainable preservation, tourism, and economic development. In developing countries, cultural heritage sites offer one of the most compelling engines for national and regional economic growth.

GHF’s work is generating thousands of new jobs and training hundreds of local conservation and community leaders in GHF’s Preservation by Design methodology to preserve their own cultural heritage.

The Truckee Donner Land Trust | www.tdlandtrust.org

The The Truckee Donner Land Trust works to preserve and protect important historic, recreational and scenic open spaces in the greater Truckee region. The Trust was founded in 1990 when the picturesque and historical Coldstream Valley next to Donner Lake was about to be lost to logging. A small group of passionate hikers joined together, raised $150,000, and purchased 160 acres in the Valley.

To date, the Trust has protected over 8,000 acres with plans to protect over 31,000 more acres in the years to come.

The Morgan Family Foundation supports conservation efforts by the Trust, including most recently the launch of an unprecedented conservation effort in the heart of Martis Valley--  the 1,481-acre Waddle Ranch. This stunning property has remained nearly unchanged for hundreds of years.  Its meadows, lush green forests, and the granite peaks in the distance offer its visitors inspiration, renewal, and a sense of place. Truckee Donner Land Trust, with the Trust for Public Land, is collaborating with landowners, developers, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and citizen groups to ensure that this unique property remains undeveloped, linking thousands of acres of adjacent open space where wildlife and people thrive.  

Because it was never developed, Waddle Ranch remains the most ecologically diverse property in the entire Martis Valley.  Plant and animal communities thrive among its creeks, wetlands, and old-growth pine forests.  Protecting the ranch is critical to providing a 10-mile unbroken corridor from the valley to the Mount Rose Wilderness Area, ensuring that hundreds of species of birds and animals can survive and flourish, safe from the area’s residential development and resort expansion.  

The Morgan Family Foundation has also supported the conservation of Schallenberger Ridge, a magnificent ridgeline above Donner Lake, and the development of the Donner Lake Rim Trail.

(Photos courtesy of staff, Truckee Donner Land Trust)