The Stewardship Economy
Healthy lands.
Strong communities. Economies built to last.
A Stewardship Economy is an economy shaped by the responsibility to sustain both land and communities — creating livelihoods, strengthening local businesses, restoring landscapes, and building resilience for generations to come.
A Stewardship Economy aligns economic activity with long-term ecological health, local prosperity, and shared benefit.
Not a single program. Not a one-size-fits-all solution
The Big Idea
Across rural America, communities are restoring forests and watersheds, producing food and fiber, reducing wildfire risk, building local businesses, training workers, and investing in the future.
A Stewardship Economy connects these efforts — treating healthy landscapes, meaningful livelihoods, strong local institutions, and resilient economies as parts of the same system.
BUILDING A STEWARDSHIP ECONOMY
Five cornerstones help turn stewardship into lasting economic and community value.
Land & Water Restoration
Sustained care, restoration, and management of landscapes and watersheds.
Value-Added Businesses
Local producers, contractors, and businesses that turn stewardship into jobs and economic value.
Education, Training, & R&D
Workforce development, youth programs, applied research, and skill-building that prepare the next generation of stewards.
Access to Capital
Flexible, right-sized public, philanthropic, and private investment that supports local capacity, innovation, and long-term stewardship work.
Legislative & Policy Frameworks
State and federal policies, programs, and authorities that enable collaborative, multi-year, place-based work at meaningful scale.
Stewardship Economies in Action
For over 30 years, Wallowa Resources, other community based organizations, and their partners have worked alongside landowners, agencies, and community leaders, to build Stewardship Economies rooted in place across the country.
Salmon River, ID
STEWARDSHIP ACTIVITIES:
Restoration Economy & Jobs
Renewable Energy Development
Forest Health & Wildfire Risk Reduction
Youth Employment & Training
Collaborative Governance
Klickitat County, WA
STEWARDSHIP ACTIVITIES:
Jobs for Youth
Dam Removal
Community Forest
Yakama Nations Fisheries
Funded Partnerships
Trinity County, CA
STEWARDSHIP ACTIVITIES:
Stewardship Employment
Community Forest Creation
Federal & Nonprofit Partnerships
Youth & Education Programs
Regional & National Leadership
Community
Resources
COMMUNITY GUIDE
Building a
Stewardship Economy
A Community
Guide
A practical guide and framework for regional development professionals ready to build durable, place-based economies rooted in the health of the natural resources and the rural communities that steward them.
The Community Guide is designed as a toolkit to help community leaders, practitioners, partners, and funders build shared understanding, identify their role, and take meaningful first steps toward a Stewardship Economy in their own place.
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People who may already be doing the work, or are just getting started and need a clearer path forward.
This includes community leaders, landowners, practitioners, funders, and policymakers who are navigating change and trying to build something that last.
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The Toolkit is designed to help you:
Understand the Stewardship Economy clearly — without jargon or oversimplification.
Create shared understanding across people with different roles and perspectives
Ground conversations in long-term thinking, not just short-term projects
Show how land stewardship, economy, and community fit together
Move discussions from “why” to “what’s next”
It’s a starting point for your community — not a prescription. It helps you align people around a common direction.
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A clear foundation for understanding the Stewardship Economy and its core values
The five core pillars a Stewardship Economy needs to function and grow
A Stewardship Economy timeline showing how Wallowa Resources built this approach over time, including key actions, turning points, and realistic time horizons
Tools to help individuals and organizations identify their role (connector, implementer, policymaker, storyteller, funder)
A simple community self-assessment to understand readiness, strengths, and gaps
CASE STORIES
A Guide for
Economic Development Practitioners
Growing
Stewardship Economies
A practical guide and framework for regional development professionals ready to build durable, place-based economies rooted in the health of the natural resources and the rural communities that steward them.
DEVELOPMENT GUIDE
Stewardship
In Action
Stewardship Economy
Case Stories
Real-world examples of communities, organizations, and businesses putting the principles of a Stewardship Economy into practice.
Join the Stewardship Economy Community of Practice
Connect with rural leaders, practitioners, and partners exploring how stewardship can strengthen local economies. Get invitations to monthly calls, resources, and opportunities to learn from communities across the country.
