American Land Conservancy - History

History

The genesis of American Land Conservancy can be traced to founder Harriet Burgess' first trip down the Grand Canyon. The trip guide was the legendary Martin Litton, founder of Grand Canyon Dories, editor for Sunset Magazine, and as described by David Brower, "conscience of the Sierra Club." Martin inspired her to see the natural world as never before.

Many years and many trips later, Harriet started ALC in order to pursue the protection of another canyon – Topanga Canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. She founded ALC with the contents of a modest retirement fund, and proceeded to option the 1,655-acre (6.70 km2) Topanga Canyon property from the owners -- for $1. Ten years later, the project was successfully completed.

Under Harriet, ALC’s mission was to fill a niche in the land preservation movement, taking on projects too large for purchase by local land trusts and too complicated and high-risk for larger, national land trusts. Some of ALC’s signature projects over the years have included the acquisition of tens of thousands of acres for the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in California and Nevada, large-scale wetlands restoration along the Mississippi River, and most recently, conservation of the 82,000-acre (330 km2) Hearst Ranch on the California Central Coast.

Since the beginning, Martin Litton played a vital role as co-founder, connecting Harriet and her cause to such conservation legends as Bruce Babbitt, David Brower, Pete McCloskey, Margaret Owings, Galen Rowell, Wallace Stegner, Stuart Udall, Ardis Walker, and more. By staying the course and never backing down from a challenge, ALC’s small staff was able to conserve hundreds of thousands of acres across fourteen states during Harriet’s era.