What Compatible Lands Foundation does

Compatible Lands Foundation (CLF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit land trust founded in 2009 and headquartered in Claremore, Oklahoma. The organization operates as the designated land trust partner for 19 Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps installations across 10 states under the Department of Defense's Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) program. CLF's core function is negotiating and stewarding voluntary conservation easements between willing private landowners and the U.S. military, permanently restricting land use to prevent encroachment that could interfere with military training, testing, and operations. The organization holds 126+ REPI easements protecting nearly 26,200 acres, with cumulative 2024 program activity involving $19M+ in REPI funding leveraged against $10.39M in partner cost-share contributions.

CLF's product surface includes conservation easements, REPI program partnership services, landowner tax and documentation resources, and a Water Resilience Program offering natural infrastructure such as berms, bioswales, bioretention systems, and Zuni bowls. The organization previously operated the FEAT Farm (2019-2023), a veterans' agricultural training initiative with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, now concluded. Underlying capabilities are legal, regulatory, and relationship-driven rather than technology-driven: easement drafting, federal and state grant administration, USDA NRCS program coordination, and direct landowner engagement via field-based program managers assigned to individual installations.

CLF's revenue model is a hybrid of federal REPI grants (which are largely pass-through to landowners for easement purchases), state grants (Florida, Washington, Utah, Texas), USDA-NRCS cooperative agreements, partner cost-share from municipalities and NGOs, and individual/corporate donations. CLF pays landowners for accepting easements rather than charging them, and landowners may realize tax benefits. The go-to-market is direct field engagement with military installation commanders and willing landowners, supplemented by digital content marketing, newsletters, and conference participation. No AI/ML technology is present; the organization is a people-intensive, geographically distributed nonprofit operation.

Name

Compatible Lands Foundation

Legal name

Compatible Lands Foundation, Inc.

Website

https://compatiblelands.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Compatible Lands Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit land trust that places voluntary conservation easements on private land near U.S. military installations under the DoD REPI program, serving 19 installations across 10 states and protecting nearly 26,200 acres.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Land Conservation Services

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Support Activities for Forestry (1153)

SIC

Forestry (800), Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Land Trusts & Protected Areas (BPAGAGAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

ROW Reforestation, Revegetation & Erosion Control (Environmental Mitigation) (EUADAOAJ), Conservation & Protected Land Brokerage (Easements, Land Trust Sales) (BPAJADAH), Agroforestry & Shelterbelt/Windbreak Establishment (AFAMACAJ)

Keywords

• Land conservation services
• REPI program partnership
• Conservation easement management
• Military buffer protection
• Natural resource preservation

Headquarters

HQ city

Tulsa

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations: Individual and corporate donations from supporters of conservation and military readiness missions.
2. REPI Program Funding: Department of Defense Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) program funds for purchasing conservation easements from willing landowners near military installations.
3. State Grants: Grants from state governments including Florida ($3M), Washington ($2.5M), and Utah ($500K) to support REPI work at specific military installations.
4. REPI Challenge Grants: Competitive funding from the Department of Defense REPI Challenge program for innovative conservation projects. Examples include $5.1 million for Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape and $149,000 for Weber Water Basin at Hill AFB.
5. Partner Cost-Share: Contributions from partner organizations and agencies including USDA NRCS, state governments, and local municipalities that match REPI funding for conservation projects.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Compatible Lands Foundation is a nonprofit land trust that negotiates and holds voluntary conservation easements on private working lands adjacent to U.S. military installations, acting as a partner in the Department of Defense's REPI program to prevent encroachment while preserving compatible agricultural and natural resource uses. The foundation pays landowners for perpetual restrictions limiting development that would interfere with military testing and training, and supplements these easements with water resilience infrastructure such as ponds and wetlands on protected properties.

Product overview

Compatible Lands Foundation operates as a nonprofit land trust offering a portfolio of conservation programs and services centered on the Department of Defense's Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) program. The organization's core offerings include Conservation Easements (voluntary legal agreements that permanently preserve compatible land use near military installations), REPI Program Partnership services (acting as on-the-ground partner for military bases), and Landowner Resources (tax guidance and documentation support). The FEAT Farm program, a Veterans' farming education and training initiative operated from 2019-2023 in partnership with Texas A&M AgriLife, has concluded but its impact continues. These programs work together to protect military readiness while preserving working farms, wildlife habitat, water resources, and open space.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• REPI Program Conservation Easements Perpetual voluntary conservation easements placed on private working lands adjacent to U.S. military installations, holding the restriction against incompatible development in trust for the partner installation and the public. Available through CLF's designation as a REPI partner for 19 military installations across 10 states.
• Landowner Compensation and Tax Benefits Package Financial compensation paid to willing private landowners and access to federal tax benefits in exchange for granting a perpetual conservation easement to Compatible Lands Foundation.
• Water Resilience Infrastructure on Protected Lands Construction of ponds, wetlands, and other water resilience features on easement-protected lands to support conservation, habitat, and military land use compatibility.

Quantifiable outcome

• 126 easements protecting nearly 26,200 acres
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• Hill Country AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partnership coordinating the Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape and supporting land protection efforts around military installations in Texas.
• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Technical expertise and collaborative frameworks helping landowners steward working lands. CLF holds easements through NRCS programs including ACEP-ALE.
• Partnership for the National Trails System (PNTS)secondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Collaboration connecting CLF's efforts to national trail corridors, ensuring protected lands remain accessible, linked, and ecologically strong.
• Weber Basin Water Conservancy DistrictsecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partner in Weber Water Basin preservation project at Hill AFB, focused on long-term aquifer recharge and drought resilience.
• Columbus Air Force BasecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024New REPI partnership to acquire land through restrictive use easements to reduce incompatible development near the base.
• Laughlin Air Force BasecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024New REPI partnership to address water quality and incompatible development concerns at one of the largest pilot training bases in the US Air Force.
• City of San AntoniocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Partnership to protect the Edwards Aquifer through land conservation over sensitive recharge and contributing zones. City contributed $3.1 million matching funds for Camp Bullis REPI Challenge project.
• Great Springs ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Partnership to increase conservation outcomes within Camp Bullis Sentinel Landscape, protect the Edwards Aquifer, and enhance military readiness.
• Texas A&M AgriLife Extension ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Partnership to operate the Veterans' Farming Education and Training (FEAT) Farm, providing hands-on agricultural training for veterans through the BattleGround to Breaking Ground program.
• Farmer Veteran CoalitionsecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Additional support partner for the FEAT Farm program providing agricultural training to veterans transitioning from military service.
• Department of Defense (DoD) - REPI ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009CLF serves as the designated land trust partner for military installations under the Department of Defense's Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) program. The REPI program combats encroachment that can limit military training, testing, and operations by helping remove or avoid land-use conflicts near installations.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Trust for Public Land: Trust for Public Land is one of the original and largest national land trusts actively placing REPI conservation easements near military installations. Like CLF, it negotiates with private landowners and partners with DoD, and CLF's own Director of Military Partnerships (Dan Chapin) previously served as TPL's national REPI coordinator, making TPL CLF's most direct competitor for new installation partnerships.

Emerging players

• American Farmland Trust: American Farmland Trust is a national nonprofit focused on protecting agricultural lands from development, partially overlapping with CLF's working-lands conservation easement mission near military installations. It is not a direct REPI partner but pursues related federal funding streams (USDA ACEP-ALE, RCPP) and competes for donor mindshare in the farmland-conservation space.

Broad incumbents

• The Conservation Fund: The Conservation Fund is a national nonprofit focused on land and water conservation with deep federal partnership work, including DoD-adjacent properties. It competes with CLF in REPI-relevant geographies and offers similar federal grant execution and easement stewardship capabilities, though with broader scope than CLF's military-readiness niche.
• The Nature Conservancy: The Nature Conservancy is the largest global conservation nonprofit and a major holder of conservation easements, including land near DoD installations through REPI and Sentinel Landscape initiatives. While TNC operates across many conservation verticals rather than specializing in REPI, it competes for installation-level land trust designations and easement transactions, especially in Florida and the Southeast.
• Ducks Unlimited: Ducks Unlimited is a large conservation nonprofit with easement, wetland restoration, and habitat programs that frequently intersect with military base buffers (especially in Mississippi, Florida, and Texas). While not a REPI-designated partner in the same way as CLF, it competes for similar USDA-NRCS and state habitat grants and works with landowners in several of CLF's same geographies.

Regional players

• Black Hills Area Land Trust: Black Hills Area Land Trust is a South Dakota-based accredited land trust working on voluntary easements and habitat conservation, relevant as a regional comparator for the Plains/Mountain West geographies where CLF is expanding (e.g., Ellsworth AFB-adjacent South Dakota and Wyoming work is a logical extension of CLF's footprint).
• Colorado River Land Trust: Colorado River Land Trust serves as Executive Director Jeff Crosby (now CLF Vice Chairman)'s home organization and works on water-focused conservation easements in the Colorado River watershed. Its water-resilience mission parallels CLF's Water Resilience Program and provides regional bench strength in southwestern geographies.
• Land Legacy: Land Legacy is an Oklahoma-based land trust historically active in REPI work around Fort Sill, where CLF Director of Business & Finance Lorre Kay West previously worked before joining CLF. It is a credible regional peer given its direct overlap in Sooner State easement work and Oklahoma landowner networks, although smaller in geographic scope than CLF.
• Maine Coast Heritage Trust: Maine Coast Heritage Trust is one of the largest state-level land trusts in the country and a useful peer benchmark for the operational scale and revenue mix (~30-40 staff, multi-million easement programs) at which CLF currently operates, although MCHT's geographic focus is far removed from CLF's military-readiness mission.

Others

• Land Trust Alliance: The Land Trust Alliance is the national trade association supporting accredited land trusts across the U.S., including CLF (which lists the LTA among its landowner resources). It is not a direct peer but functions as an enabler and convener for the sector in which CLF operates, providing accreditation standards and policy advocacy relevant to easement transactions.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/compatiblelands
• Xx.com/CompatibleLands
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/compatible-lands-foundation-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Compatible Lands Foundation