In its Environment and Sustainability grantmaking, the Compton Foundation seeks a balanced and healthy relationship between humans, other life, and the planet. The Foundation believes it is possible to pursue a holistic and sustainable vision that blends concern for environmental conservation and economic viability, links urban and rural priorities, and views humans as one part of the natural world. The Foundation has chosen three focus areas in which we feel we can make a meaningful contribution to realizing this vision in the United States.

Advancing ecologically healthy, economically sustainable, and socially just visions for the management and use of fresh water in the western U.S.

Freshwater ecosystems are among the most threatened habitats on earth. The rate of loss of fresh water species exceeds that for species in habitats that typically get more attention, like temperate and tropical forests and ocean waters. Yet fresh water is not solely an environmental issue. As sufficient clean water grows as a problem for freshwater species, it is also a mounting problem for communities that do not have clean or affordable water for drinking and recreation, and who are increasingly affected by water-borne toxic chemicals. Water scarcity also stands as a major impediment to economic development; water is a fundamental input for many industrial sectors, and sustains the ecological services necessary to support resource economies. Nevertheless, most political systems fail to manage freshwater resources to ensure environmental quality, access to safe drinking water, and sustainable economic development. The Compton Foundation supports efforts to: (1) build strategic alliances for water across sectors, constituencies, and regions; (2) research water policy across jurisdictional lines to identify political leverage points; and (3) develop fair and sustainable water management plans.

Reducing the U.S. contribution to the global climate crisis

The U.S. produces an estimated 1,900 million metric tons of carbon equivalent every year, or 25% of worldwide emissions, making it the largest national contributor to global climate change. The U.S. not only plays a major role in global warming because of the size of its annual emissions, but also because U.S. decisions alter the context for any international action. The Compton Foundation supports efforts to: (1) reduce greenhouse gas emissions from both public and private sources; (2) develop, advocate, and implement state and regional policy initiatives to decrease greenhouse gas emissions; and (3) analyze and communicate the regional effects of climate change.

Promoting community-based strategies to support healthy ecosystems and thriving rural communities

Many people believe that communities must choose between economic and environmental health. The Compton Foundation believes, instead, that the challenge is to build a society committed to both. We support efforts to build on a model of community-based conservation that expects communities to have the creativity to develop solutions to complex social, environmental, and economic challenges, and attempts to provide those communities with the resources to make informed decisions. We believe that collaborations between diverse stakeholders are integral to local and regional sustainability. The Compton Foundation supports efforts to: (1) work with communities to conserve and restore western ecosystems and to support strong local and regional economies; and (2) develop and implement land use laws and public lands policies that balance environmental conservation and economic viability.

Grants in the field of Environment and Sustainability will be made to organizations based in the United States for domestic programs. The Foundation prioritizes projects in the following order:
(1) Regional or statewide projects in the three Pacific Coast states: California, Oregon, Washington
(2) Regional or statewide projects in the eleven western states: California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Wyoming
(3) Projects of national significance in the United States.

The Compton Foundation does not generally fund work in Alaska or Hawai`i, or outside the boundaries of the United States.

The Compton Foundation seeks to build and expand broad constituencies committed to taking action that will help foster a healthy environment. Over the short term we will support efforts to inform and motivate personal choices and to develop innovative political alliances. Over the long term, we hope to promote changes in public opinion and policy.

The Compton Foundation is particularly interested in projects that:

• Promote values that affirm sustainable relationships with land and water
• Defuse conflict and create spaces for people to find common ground
• Share best practices and lessons learned
• Encourage a diversity of experience, interest, and organizational scale in defining and addressing environmental issues
• Offer creative new approaches
• Foster environmentally informed, responsible citizens

The Compton Foundation does not fund conferences or marine projects. We do not usually fund land, water, or easement acquisitions, or place-based conservation or restoration projects unless they represent a new model of resource ownership or management and offer a plan for replication.

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