Vol 45, No. 1

Summer 2026

At its best, the American conservation tradition aligns the interests of private landowners, ranchers, hunters, and locals generally with the lands, waters, and wildlife they depend on. This issue, published as the nation marks its 250th year, traces that tradition across two centuries and a continent: from its philosophical roots in the founding era, through the recovery of species that have come to symbolize the country, to the market innovations that have quietly conserved millions of acres. What links these stories is a distinctly American approach: not preservation through prohibition, but conservation through private ownership, voluntary participation, and aligned incentives.