Acres Across America

  • Nature, Animals & Parks
  • 2005

In an example of what is called “cooperative conservation,” Walmart made a ten-year, $35 million commitment, in partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, to conserve at least one acre of wildlife habitat for every acre the company developed as a store site. The first grant bought more than 300,000 acres in Maine. Thousands of acres of rare blue oak in the Sierra foothills, tallgrass prairie in Colorado, land adjoining the Appalachian Trail, and a redwood forest in California have also been preserved. In 2011 and 2012 the program branched into urban conservation as well, funding fish ladders, wetland restorations, and other projects in Bridgeport, Chicago, San Diego, and other cities. By 2015, the program had helped conserve more than 900,000 acres in 31 states.