This year’s conference theme, “Elevating Conservation to New Heights,” embraces the mountainous region of the location while emphasizing the shared vision held by conservationists around the world to scale our work, repair ecosystems, and create resilient working lands.

This year’s event is situated on the Front Range, where the plains meet the Rocky Mountains and where one can see the vast impacts of a changing climate and increased populations on our natural resources. A central concern for much of this semiarid to arid region is water, most often the lack of water. The west depends upon irrigation for crop production, which depletes both surface water and groundwater supplies. Additionally, competition between urban and agricultural land and water uses has increased as populations and cities grow. Other challenges pressing to the region include wind erosion, high soil salinity, rangeland soil health, brush control, and wildfire impacts. Here, the possibilities for partnerships to elevate soil health and water conservation are not only endless, but necessary. Regional sessions and tours will provide a space to share the latest projects and tools addressing impacts of a changing climate and increased populations on the natural resources of the area.