Reflections on our 2026 Boot Camp
This past June, CFN hosted our 21st annual Boot Camp. With 45 attendees hailing from 20 states and two countries beyond the US, this was our largest class of participants yet. As in years past, the Boot Camp covered a comprehensive range of public funding sources, private funding sources, and blended finance structures that support land conservation and restoration. This year's Boot Camp featured two brand-new sessions focused on indigenous-led conservation and strategies for funding it. Chris Stainbrook from the Indian Land Capital Company described this work and shared this summary of recent land return transactions, and Toli Tate from First Nations Development Institute described their Reimagining Conservation Finance Program. The full Boot Camp agenda is available here.
Drawing on a Boot Camp tradition, we were glad to host another lively Dolphin Tank session. In the Dolphin Tank, participants present projects they are working on to a panel of expert “dolphins” who offer suggestions on potential funding or financing strategies and program design (think Shark Tank, but friendlier). The dolphins included Peter Stein of Lyme Timber; Walker Holmes with the Trust for Public Land; and Peter Howell with the Conservation Finance Network. Two of our Dolphin Tank projects are summarized below:
Tatia Bauer described Maine Coast Heritage Trust’s efforts to conserve and restore salt marshes. Currently, 50% of salt marshes in Maine are unprotected. Despite their high conservation value, the small size and low property values of many salt marsh areas means traditional conservation tools are challenging to use. Tatia used the dolphin tank to explore other strategies, such as estuary-scale options, which could be used to incentivize landowners in a specific region to protect these important habitats at scale. She said, “It is rare to share a room with people who bring such a depth of experience, thoughtfulness, and insight into the ways finance tools can support conservation and restoration. Having the opportunity for the group to focus specifically on my project and its unique challenges was invaluable, and I've already incorporated several of the ideas into our organization's 2027 work plan!” Following the Dolphin Tank, she is in touch with one funder who is interested in some of these innovative strategies. More information about the project is available here.
Eric Isenhart, with Coalitions and Collaboratives, Inc. (COCO) based in Colorado, presented on a revolving loan fund that COCO has developed to provide upfront bridge financing for wildfire and watershed health projects. While such projects often have federal or state funding secured, implementing organizations need up-front bridge capital to do the work before public grants – most of which are reimbursement-based - are disbursed. COCO is actively fundraising for this effort and presented on some of their strategies to raise funds. Dolphins presented feedback on how (and when) best to approach funders. Eric said, “At our current stage of sourcing catalytic capital, the technical guidance I received from the panel during the Dolphin Tank has focused our approach. It was a great opportunity to think through difficult ideas with such thoughtful leaders in conservation finance." For more information on COCO’s work, see here.
As always, CFN staff loved connecting with this year's Boot Camp participants and learning about the diverse conservation finance challenges they are tackling. We are especially excited to track the results of the Dolphin Tank projects as they develop. We look forward to keeping in touch with all of our Boot Camp participants, and are grateful that participant Brad Grams has volunteered to serve as the 2026 Boot Camp Alumni Coordinator. Prior year Boot Camp participants are now joining us as presenters, and we also look forward to seeing that evolution in this year’s camp cohort.