The PGCLC is a network of 26 local, regional state and national land conservation organizations devoted to advancing land and water conservation in the Gulf of Mexico region. This network of non-profit land trusts was organized in November, 2010 by the Land Trust Alliance (Alliance), and is patterned after other successful land trust coalitions across the country. PGCLC’s mission is to work together across the five Gulf of Mexico states to increase the pace, quality and permanence of voluntary land and water conservation in the coastal region.

Habitat conservation, water quality improvements, protection of coastal resources, and enhanced community resilience have been identified as key strategies in Gulf Coast restoration efforts underway or being planned after the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. Strong, effective nonprofit land conservation organizations are critical to implementing successful restoration efforts in this coastal region where over 80 percent of lands are in private ownership. Land trusts understand local community priorities, values, and norms:

1. They are trusted, local entities;
2. They have long-standing relationships with local property owners;
3. They can implement land transactions in a timely manner;
4. They have proven track records regarding managing land owner agreements and easements and managing fee acquisition properties.

However, capacity is a limiting factor. Half of the land trusts operating in the Gulf Coast region are classified as small – fewer than three full-time employees. One-third are all-volunteer. Additionally, some geographies are not served by any local land trust or conservation organization.

Despite these limitations, over the past six years, the PGCLC has proven to be an effective model of advancing collaborative landscape-level conservation. Together, these 26 organizations have advocated for land conservation as a key restoration method to be employed in the long-term Gulf ecosystem recovery plans being developed by the Gulf states, the RESTORE Council members, NFWF Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund leaders and Gulf Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA) Trustees.

Their report, A Land Conservation Vision for the Gulf of Mexico Region, was released at the National Conference on Large Landscape Conservation in Washington D.C. in November 2014. These science-based recommendations and maps of shared priorities among Gulf coast land trusts serve as the foundation for their collaborative work. With help from LTA’s leadership and training programs and targeted capacity building efforts, the PGCLC has greatly increased the opportunities for land protection organizations and local, state and federal agencies to partner, communicate and collaborate in the Gulf Coast region. PGCLC and a local partner, the Galveston Bay Foundation, also raised funds to provide much-needed match and support for due diligence costs for partners preparing land protection projects for funding consideration. In two years this Project Assistance Fund leveraged $500,000 with $1.7 million in match for the upfront due diligence costs needed to protect over 31,000 acres across the coast.
In 2016 the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation awarded PGCLC a grant to promote and report on best practices and efficiencies among various practitioners to achieve land conservation goals of emerging state and federal conservation plans for the Gulf. This project is underway and will be complete in 2018.

For more information and for a list of all PGCLC members, visit www.gulfpartnership.org or contact Elizabeth Barber.