Western Landowners Alliance

What Western Landowners Alliance does

Western Landowners Alliance (WLA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization founded in 2013 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado, that advances policies and practices sustaining working lands, connected landscapes, and native species across the American West. It serves private landowners, ranch managers, next-generation heirs, federal and state agencies, and conservation organizations through a portfolio of programs rather than a single product. Core offerings include the Habitat Lease Program (a market-based, multi-year conservation finance mechanism that compensates landowners for wildlife habitat), the Working Wild Challenge (landowner-led wildlife-livestock conflict reduction grounded in the proprietary 4 C's framework: Compensation, Conflict prevention, Control, Collaboration), the Ranch Managers Guild professional network, the Land as a Lever for Good succession planning retreat, Women in Ranching, and editorial properties including the On Land magazine and podcast, the award-winning Working Wild University documentary podcast, and films such as Three Creeks and The Fish & the Flame. Technical publications cover conservation finance, range riding, non-lethal carnivore management, grizzly bear conflicts, and wildlife-friendly fencing.

WLA's go-to-market is community-led: free membership provides the broad funnel while specialized guilds, retreats, and publications deepen engagement. Revenue is diversified across individual donations (including the Headwaters monthly giving program), the Heritage Club planned giving program, foundation grants (notably NFWF awards of $295,823 in 2022 and $491,500 in 2023), USDA NRCS partnership funding, corporate partnerships, and On Land magazine subscriptions recommended at $30 per year. The organization's flagship strategic position is its role as originator of the Habitat Lease model, which has been adopted into the USDA NRCS Working Lands for Wildlife program (a $500 million federal investment announced in June 2023), scaled from Wyoming to Idaho and Montana, and codified in the bipartisan Habitat Connectivity on Working Lands Act introduced in May 2024.

Name

Western Landowners Alliance

Legal name

Western Landowners Alliance

Website

https://westernlandowners.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Western Landowners Alliance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2013 that serves private landowners, ranch managers, and conservation partners across 11+ Western U.S. states through free membership, the Habitat Lease conservation finance program, the Ranch Managers Guild, and editorial properties including On Land magazine and the Working Wild University podcast.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Conservation Advocacy Services

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Support Activities for Animal Production (115210), Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting (11)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Land Use, Indigenous & Community Engagement Policy (EUAMANAL)

Keywords

• Land conservation policy
• Working lands stewardship
• Wildlife conflict management
• Conservation finance programs
• Landowner advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Denver

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Free membership program offering landowners access to collective voice, peer network, knowledge base, publications, and member benefits. This forms the organizational membership base.
2. Donations and Contributions: Individual donations, monthly giving programs (The Headwaters), stock gifts, and donor-advised fund contributions from supporters. The organization maintains Platinum Transparency seal on Guidestar/Candid profile.
3. Planned Giving and Legacy Gifts: Heritage Club planned giving program including bequests, charitable gift annuities, retirement plan assets, stocks/bonds, life insurance, real estate gifts, and charitable remainder trusts.
4. Magazine Subscriptions and Publications: On Land magazine subscription (recommended minimum $30/year) along with purchase of additional print issues to share with others.
5. Grant Funding and Partnerships: Federal grants from USDA NRCS, foundation funding, and corporate partnerships to support conservation programs like habitat leasing, wildlife conflict reduction, and working lands initiatives.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Western Landowners Alliance (WLA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that advances policies and practices sustaining working lands, connected landscapes, and native species across the American West. It delivers a collective voice, peer network, and shared knowledge base to private landowners through programs such as the Habitat Lease Program, Working Wild Challenge, Ranch Managers Guild, Women in Ranching, and Land as a Lever for Good succession retreats, supported by publications (On Land magazine, technical guides) and media (On Land podcast, Working Wild University documentary podcast, Three Creeks and The Fish & the Flame films).

Product overview

Western Landowners Alliance is a non-profit conservation organization that provides a collective voice, peer network, and shared knowledge base for landowners. The organization operates as a platform of programs, publications, and media rather than a single software product. Its core offerings include the On Land Magazine and podcast for storytelling, the Working Wild University documentary podcast, documentary films (Three Creeks, The Fish & the Flame), the Ranch Managers Guild professional network, the Habitat Lease Program for wildlife compensation, the Land as a Lever for Good succession planning retreats, the Working Wild Challenge wildlife conflict reduction program, the Women in Ranching community program, The Heritage Club planned giving program, and numerous technical publications and guides covering conservation finance, range riding, carnivore-livestock conflict reduction, and wildlife management.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• On Land: The Voice of Stewardship in the American West - WLA's magazine and podcast publication
• Working Wild University
• Working Wild Challenge
• Ranch Managers Guild
• Land as a Lever for Good
• Heritage Club
• The Headwaters

Products and services

• On Land Magazine A flagship print and digital magazine publishing landowner voices and stories of stewardship, conservation, and land management in the American West, delivered to members and subscribers.
• On Land Podcast Audio storytelling companion to the On Land magazine, featuring landowner perspectives and conversations about land stewardship and conservation.
• Working Wild University Podcast Award-winning documentary podcast that explores issues at the heart of sustaining resilient landscapes and communities, including coverage of wolves in the West and the Endangered Species Act on working lands.
• Three Creeks Documentary Film Documentary film about a Utah ranching community in Randolph that joined forces with agencies and conservation partners to reimagine grazing management and restore the range, produced with Working Lands Conservation.
• The Fish & the Flame Documentary Film Award-winning short film documenting how Banded Peak Ranch and Colorado Parks and Wildlife collaborated to save San Juan cutthroat trout during a wildfire.
• Habitat Lease Program Market-based, multi-year habitat leases that provide annual payments to landowners for publicly beneficial ecological values and services, especially wildlife habitat, that meet threshold requirements for ecological site condition.
• Ranch Managers Guild Professional peer network exclusively for Western ranch managers, providing peer connection, shared knowledge, and resources for managing complex ranch responsibilities including land stewardship, business planning, labor management, and conservation programs.
• Land as a Lever for Good A 3-day retreat on the California coast, run in partnership with TomKat Ranch, that brings together next generation landowners from across the West to address succession planning challenges.
• Working Wild Challenge Landowner-led initiative to reduce conflicts between wildlife and livestock through practical on-the-ground solutions, stronger partnerships, and more resilient ranching operations, supported by the Conflict Reduction Consortium.
• Women in Ranching Program supporting women landowners and ranchers through community building, peer connection, and education across the American West.
• The Heritage Club Legacy giving program allowing supporters to leave a lasting impact on Western lands through planned gift options including bequests, charitable gift annuities, retirement plan assets, stocks and bonds, life insurance, real estate gifts, and charitable remainder trusts.
• Free Membership Program Free membership offering landowners access to WLA's collective voice, peer network, knowledge base, publications, member discounts, and critical policy updates.
• Paying for Stewardship: A Western Landowners' Guide to Conservation Finance Comprehensive guide presenting conservation finance strategies including payments for ecosystem services, ecosystem services markets, and conservation finance mechanisms to help landowners earn compensation for stewardship.
• Range Riding Producer Tool Kit Practical guidance for implementing range riding programs to reduce predator-livestock conflicts, drawing on experience of producers and range riders from across the West.
• Reducing Risk on the Range: Non-lethal Practices for Managing Carnivore-Livestock Conflicts Technical guide on non-lethal predation risk management practices including range riding, carcass management, electric fencing, and fladry for livestock production systems.
• Expanding Human-Grizzly Bear Conflicts: The Situation, Challenges and Solutions Analysis document from the Conflict Reduction Consortium examining grizzly bear expansion onto private working lands and the urban-wildland interface, with associated challenges and solutions.
• Wyoming Fences & Wildlife Handbook Third edition guide published with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department on building effective yet wildlife-friendly fencing for landowners.
• Building Trust Guide Guide for agencies working with producers to reduce wildlife conflicts, fostering trust between livestock producers and wildlife agencies.

Quantifiable outcome

• Western landowners invested more than $400 million in conservation in 2024 alone, surpassing many federal conservation funding programs
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• USDA NRCS ColoradocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 January 2025Partnership offering $2.5 million in funding opportunities for agricultural producers in Colorado counties to use tools protecting livestock from wolves and other large carnivores.
• Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Congressmen Ryan Zinke (R-Mont) and Gabriel Vasquez (D-N.M.)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 May 2024Bipartisan legislative partnership introducing the Habitat Connectivity on Working Lands Act to support and expand voluntary efforts to improve wildlife habitat, including big game habitat, on private and working lands. WLA helped initiate the pilot this legislation builds upon.
• USDA NRCS - Regional Conservation Partnership ProgramflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 December 2023$22 million in USDA funds distributed across five Western states to help livestock producers remain economically viable while stewarding habitat in predator-rich environments through WLA-facilitated programs.
• U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 June 2023USDA announced $500 million investment through NRCS Working Lands for Wildlife program to support and expand the WLA-led pilot in Wyoming, expanding to Idaho and Montana. Partnership to conserve big game migrations and wildlife habitat on private working lands.
• State of WyomingflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 October 2022Partnership to Support Big Game Working Lands Conservation in Wyoming commits USDA and state to habitat leasing pilot, $16 million in FY23 for restoration, and innovative conservation approaches for working ranches.
• TomKat RanchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to create 'Land as a Lever for Good,' a 3-day retreat bringing together next generation landowners from across the West to address succession planning challenges. WLA partnered with TomKat Ranch to create this program.
• WYldlife Fund - Wyoming Game and Fish DepartmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWLA is recipient of grant funding from WYldlife Fund's Pooled Migration Fund to support habitat leasing in Wyoming. Fund intended to enhance voluntary conservation of private and Tribal lands within big game migration corridors.
• Working Lands ConservationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey monitoring and production partner for WLA films including Three Creeks documentary. Non-profit pursuing research that improves management of working landscapes through science-based solutions and collaborative stakeholder relationships.
• Chama Peak Land AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-presenter of The Fish & the Flame documentary film. Collaborative partner in New Mexico conservation efforts and EPLUS defense coalition.
• Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Grazing Lands Conservation InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUSDA GLCI funding supporting grazing management education, Three Creeks film production, and conservation practices on working lands across the West.
• Multipliers - Working Lands ConservationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorking Lands Conservation is a fiscally sponsored project of Multiplier, a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization supporting their conservation work.
• Quivira CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWLA teams with Quivira Coalition and NM State Lands to offer drought resources webinars for agricultural producers. Coalition building for sustainable land management.
• Rice University's Baker Institute for Public PolicycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWLA participates in working group initiated by Baker Institute to develop U.S. protocol for paying ranchers and farmers to store carbon in their soil. Part of broader carbon credit platform development.
• Save EPLUS Coalition - Multiple OrganizationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition led by WLA, NM Council of Outfitters and Guides, Chama Peak Land Alliance, NM Farm and Livestock Bureau, NM Stockgrowers Association, and Dallas Safari Club of NM to defend New Mexico's Elk Private Lands Use System.
• Conflict Reduction Consortium (CRC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWLA-convened network of ranchers, conservation organizations, state and federal wildlife management agencies, and research scientists working on human-wildlife conflict reduction using the 4 C's framework.
• Colorado State University San Luis ValleyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-host of Ag Business Workshop covering custom rates, enterprise budgets, ag tax updates, and market outlook for regional agricultural producers.
• Colorado Cattlemen's Agricultural Land TrustminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership hosting Succession Planning Workshop for landowners at Colorado Cattlemen's Association Annual Convention.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Quivira Coalition: New Mexico-based nonprofit advancing working lands, regenerative ranching, and land stewardship in the American West — the closest comparable organization to WLA, with overlapping programs in rancher education, public lands grazing, and drought resources (explicit partner on WLA webinars).
• American Farmland Trust: National nonprofit focused on protecting farmland, promoting sound farming practices, and keeping farmers on the land — directly comparable to WLA in its private-lands conservation advocacy, landowner education, and policy work on agricultural easements.
• Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership: Coalition-based conservation org that works with hunters, anglers, and landowners on wildlife habitat and public lands policy — closely comparable to WLA's coalition model, federal policy advocacy, and bridging of sporting-conservation and ranching communities.
• Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation: Habitat-focused nonprofit dedicated to elk and other wildlife conservation on private and public lands — comparable to WLA in its wildlife-habitat-on-working-lands mission, hunting-economy framing (~$692M in NM), and partnerships with state wildlife agencies.

Broad incumbents

• Trust for Public Land: National land conservation nonprofit that protects land through acquisition and easements — comparable to WLA in conservation finance and private-lands protection but operates at a larger, national scale with broader portfolio beyond ranching and wildlife.
• The Nature Conservancy: Largest global conservation organization with major Western U.S. working-lands programs — overlaps with WLA in private-lands stewardship, conservation finance, and policy advocacy but at vastly greater scale and broader geographic remit.
• Defenders of Wildlife: National wildlife advocacy organization focused on imperiled species and habitat — overlaps with WLA on wildlife-conflict issues (wolves, grizzlies, ESA) and policy advocacy but does not center working-lands ranchers as primary constituents.
• National Wildlife Federation: National conservation advocacy organization with wildlife habitat, public lands, and ranching programs — comparable to WLA in policy advocacy and landowner engagement but at much larger scale and broader portfolio beyond Western working lands.

Regional players

• TomKat Ranch: California-based ranching foundation focused on regenerative ranching and sustainable food systems — explicitly WLA's partner on the Land as a Lever for Good succession-planning retreat, comparable in landowner succession focus but concentrated in California rather than the broader West.
• Chama Peak Land Alliance: Northern New Mexico land alliance working on forest and watershed health with private landowners — co-presenter with WLA on The Fish & the Flame film and EPLUS coalition partner, comparable in landowner-led conservation but regionally focused on NM headwaters.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/VoiceofWLA
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@westernlandownersalliance
• Facebookfacebook.com/westernlandownersalliance
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/western-landowners-alliance
• Instagraminstagram.com/westernlandownersalliance

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Western Landowners Alliance