Landsward
The Name
The name, Landsward, derives from the vision and mission of the Foundation to support the Land-Use Ethic and comprehensive land stewardship. Steward originates from the historic terms stig (manor) and ward (guard). In this sense, the compound term Landsward names the keeper of the land itself. Landsward also draws from the sailing term landward, for toward the land, a meaning echoed in the Foundation's mission to provide vision and guidance toward the future of land stewardship. Finally, the word sward denotes the earth or open land covered by grass such as the high grasslands of the Coconino Plateau region that inspired the creation of Landsward.
The Colors
The colors green, yellow, blue and white represent the life, energy, water and air of Earth’s ecological processes.
The Leaf
The leaf represents healthy ecological processes, which the Land-Use Ethic requires us to respect and maintain.
The Globe
The globe, with poles and an equator, references the worldwide importance of thoughtful, science-based land stewardship and the Foundation’s goal to disseminate knowledge and lessons learned from practical research conducted within a complex landscape.
The Compass
The compass combines all elements into a tool that symbolizes our efforts to participate in the natural world. In the same way, the Landsward Foundation aims to acquire and provide knowledge to help direct society’s continuing relationship with nature and the landscape.
Vision
The Landsward Foundation advances the understanding of natural, social and economic factors affecting the stewardship of working landscapes, focusing on the Coconino Plateau region and Little Colorado River Valley as areas of study.
Mission
The Landsward Foundation develops and promotes ecological, technological and social science research so other landowners and managers will have the latest science-based information and tools to guide and support decisions and conservation practices.
Purpose
The Landsward Foundation strives to:
• Collaboratively develop and publish a Land-Use Ethic Lexicon so that people with diverse interests and backgrounds can use a common language for communicating about land stewardship.
• Conduct scientific research and analysis and develop analytical, predictive tools using rapidly evolving technologies that will empower other managers to make comprehensive decisions regarding land use and conservation.
• Facilitate and advance land-use management that incorporates at all decision levels a Land-Use Ethic, which places the long-term ecological health of the land as the primary objective, while honoring the critical relationships that exist between people and the rest of the natural world.
Goals and Objectives
• Assess and monitor ecological processes, social dynamics and land-use trends of the Coconino Plateau region and Little Colorado River Valley.
• Integrate Landsward research, education and outreach with efforts from other organizations.
• Develop and maintain a living archive for comprehensive data on the natural resources of the Coconino Plateau region and Little Colorado River Valley.
• Develop and implement education and outreach strategies to position Landsward as an example of Land-Use Ethics-based research, education and stewardship practices both locally and internationally.
• Develop state-of-the-art tools to guide land managers in a manner that is firmly bound to a Land-Use Ethic.
• Create and foster a common lexicon for landscape-scale conservation.
Overview
The Landsward Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that operates solely for charitable, educational and scientific endeavors. It provides scientific data about the biology, habitats, wildlife populations and general environmental conditions and qualities of the lands of the Coconino Plateau and Little Colorado River Valley. That information is archived with access and collaboration in mind. It is also provided to private and public landowners, national, state and local agencies, global green energy developers and the scientific community to assist in understanding and maintaining the short-term and long-term integrity and biodiversity of this landscape.
Landsward brings together land managers and researchers who share a common interest in understanding and sustaining the lands of the Coconino Plateau region and Little Colorado River Valley. This integration promotes innovation and understanding of how environmental stewardship can thrive in conjunction with agricultural production, renewable energy development, recreation and other land uses. Activities include identifying, developing and assessing scientific data relative to the environment, monitoring changes to the land, distributing information to land managers while educating, creating a common lexicon and inspiring a new kind of land management.
Landsward develops state-of-the-art technological tools and models that assist in land-use planning while ensuring that the key principles of a Land-Use Ethic are embedded in all decisions.
Landsward facilitates meaningful relationships among diverse stakeholders, such as public and private land managers, green energy developers, environmental stewards, scientists and key federal, state and local agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona Game and Fish Department, Arizona
State Land Department and Coconino County. The Foundation often uses a Statement of Awareness to acknowledge and support the ways in which diverse stakeholders can work together in an open fashion and with mutual respect for the differing missions, purposes and activities of each party. Under
a Landsward Statement of Awareness, the parties operate with the utmost consideration for each other when making decisions and taking actions. The Statement recognizes a responsibility and obligation to the broad regional perspective, appreciating that quality regional planning begins by honoring relationships through behavior and decisions, recognizing that we are separate, yet connected.
History
The Landsward story began in 1997, when Babbitt Ranches created the Ecological Monitoring & Assessment Foundation (EMA), now known as the Landsward Foundation, to integrate and maintain science and research in one location.
In the year 2000, Babbitt family interests donated a Conservation Easement to The Nature Conservancy and Coconino County totaling 45,000 acres south of the Grand Canyon in an effort to preserve open space for the enjoyment of future generations and provide an opportunity for landscape-scale conservation. With this donation, EMA was assigned the responsibility of assessing and monitoring the conserved lands.
In spring 2002, EMA was gifted to Northern Arizona University, where university research conducted across the Coconino Plateau could be housed. With the vision for the Foundation's expansion in 2009, EMA's board of directors changed the name to Landsward and returned the organization to Babbitt Ranches for oversight.
In 2024, Babbitt Ranches, with support from international renewable energy developers, restructured the Landsward Foundation. Today, it operates as a private, independent, non-profit organization, continuing to develop a Land-Use Ethic and pioneering a future of landscape-scale conservation.
