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:

• Ensure the adequate protection, restoration and management of lands and waters of conservation importance for people, wildlife, and ecosystems.
• Support preservation 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, reconnecting them to nature through firsthand experiences.
• Provide technical skills, research, and education to ensure proper stewardship of our environment.
• Protect Northern Sierra Nevada’s most valuable natural, cultural, and recreational resources, through partnerships that develop and fund strategic approaches that result in long lasting benefits.

Featured Grant:

The Northern Sierra Partnership | www.northernsierrapartnership.org

The Northern Sierra Partnership (NSP) is a collaborative initiative to conserve, restore, and enhance the magnificent natural landscape of the northern Sierra Nevada, and build the foundation for sustainable rural prosperity. We work with private landowners, public agencies, nonprofit groups, and local communities to:

CONSERVE the sweeping natural landscapes that define us as a region;

RESTORE the ecological vitality of our forests, meadows and rivers, and the landscape’s resilience to natural disturbance like fire and flood;

EXPAND opportunities to enjoy the region’s extraordinary natural assets through recreation, sustainable tourism, and environmental education;

SUPPORT the growth of vibrant rural communities that sustain - and are sustained by - the healthy natural landscapes that surround them.

Why the northern Sierra Nevada?
Many Californians and Nevadans share a common misunderstanding about the Sierra Nevada - namely that it is already protected. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Notwithstanding the beauty and ecological importance of the northern Sierra’s expansive forests, glaciated peaks, deep river canyons, and mountain meadows, only 50% of the land in the northern Sierra above 3,000 feet elevation is in public ownership, compared to over 90% in the rest of the Sierra Nevada.

History of Partnership
Initially convened by the Morgan Family Foundation, the partners - the Feather River Land Trust, Truckee Donner Land Trust, Sierra Business Council, Trust for Public Land, and The Nature Conservancy - have agreed on a cutting-edge, strategic approach to conserving the northern Sierra's most valuable lands and waters. Now, together, they have a coordinated approach to work with private landowners, government agencies, other collaborating organizations, and local communities to provide public benefits such as a high-quality water supply, world-class outdoor recreation, carbon sequestration, habitat for native fish and wildlife species, and a critical mass of working ranches and forests

By acting promptly and working together, we can ensure that this region's remarkable natural, cultural, and recreational resources - and their vital role in ensuring California's future - will be protected for future generations.

To find out how you can help, please email info@northernsierrapartnership.org.

Educating for Depth and Equity –
Mountain View Nature Based Science Education Collaborative

Silicon Valley, a diverse region known for innovation and world-class universities and companies, must do a better job educating our young people in science and about the environment. To meet this end, a consortium of non-profit organizations, educators and local philanthropists have developed a cutting-edge approach to deliver science and environmental education to every student in the Mountain View Whisman School District.

At a time when school budgets are being adversely impacted by severe cuts from the State, educating California’s youth in science and the environment requires a strategic approach by a community of stakeholders. This unique consortium brings school district leadership, science and environmental education organizations and local funders together to offer a comprehensive achievable solution to fill the gap in science education in a strategic, collaborative manner that will have lasting impact on school performance and student achievement.

In the pilot stage, this project will provide over 1,000 elementary school students from all over Mountain View the opportunity to learn more deeply about science and the environment this year. With collaborative leadership from the Environmental Volunteers, Hidden Villa, Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, Youth Science Institute, Marine Science Institute, and Walden West, all 4th and 5th graders at the district’s seven elementary schools will investigate scientific principles and natural processes through experiential learning that engages them in the classroom and in the field with trained science mentors and guides. This pilot is scheduled to expand to all grades over time, giving every child a continuum of learning from Kindergarten through 8th grade.

Integrated, standards-based science activities will inspire students to observe and experiment, think critically and creatively, develop teamwork and communications skills, and simultaneously deepen their understanding of complex natural systems while considering their role as citizens and stewards of the environment.

This project is the pilot for an innovative, replicable K-8 whole district approach to nature-based science education. The strategy and coordination behind the collaboration does away with the random methodology of offerings based on teacher interest and parent capacity. This consortium ensures that every student receives programs, and that students’ experiences build from one year to the next, so a continuum of learning culminates in a thorough nature-based science education throughout the course of a child’s elementary education.

As a founding donor, the Morgan Family Foundation is pleased to see the collaborative spirit that is making this project successful. Together with other funders, local NGOs and an engaged school district, we are investing in our future scientists, our future inventors and our future leaders. The work of this multi-stakeholder effort is not only impacting kids today, it is also building a larger pioneering movement to transform science education locally – a movement that aims to serve as a model for delivering deeper and more equitable science education across California.