Our 2026 policy priorities focus on delivering big results for nature and people in California, because when our lands and waters can support natural abundance, the benefits to people are innumerable.
Our 2026 Priorities
Implementing Proposition 4
Effective and timely implementation of Prop 4 is essential to maximize benefits for communities and ecosystems statewide. Our priorities are to:
- Establish an Administrative Procedure Act exemption for Proposition 4 to ensure the timely deployment of funds.
- Create a new Wildlife Conservation Board program to protect the San Andreas Wildlife Corridor and secure $25 million in FY 2026–27.
- Secure funding for climate-ready marine fisheries through the Ocean Protection Council and for island resilience through the Wildlife Conservation Board.
Quote: Liz Forsburg Pardi
We were inspired to see California voters back the largest climate and natural resources bond in state history with Prop 4. Now it’s time to ensure the bold vision of Prop 4 becomes reality.
Helping the Cap-and-Invest Program Advance Nature-Based Climate Solutions
TNC helped establish California’s Nature-Based Solutions Climate Targets and extend the Cap-and-Invest Program, California’s foundational climate program. We are now focused on ensuring the newly reauthorized Cap-and-Invest Program delivers meaningful investments in nature—advancing climate resilience and biodiversity benefits statewide. Our priorities are to:
- Secure $250 million from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund for the California Natural Resources Agency to support implementation of the Nature-Based Solutions Climate Targets.
- Restore the full $200 million continuous appropriation for wildfire resilience and forest health.
Increasing Wildlife Corridors Across California
TNC is leading efforts to establish a statewide network of resilient, connected landscapes, including wildlife crossings over and under major highways. This year our priorities are to:
- Increase Caltrans’ ability to deliver wildlife crossing projects and strengthen partnerships with NGOs and public agencies to accelerate implementation.
- Advance Senate Bill 1250 (Cortese) to improve interagency coordination and support transportation long-range planning that includes wildlife connectivity as a goal.
Supporting Sustainable, Climate-Ready Fisheries
TNC is partnering with fishermen, community leaders, and scientists to advance adaptive, cooperative management and build climate-ready fishery solutions. These efforts support healthy fish populations, resilient fishing communities, and thriving ocean ecosystems. This year, TNC’s top priority is to:
- Advance legislation to strengthen sustainable management of the Dungeness crab fishery, reduces entanglement risk to marine mammals, and secures long-term funding to increase the fishery’s climate readiness.
Quote: Charlton “Chuck” Bonham
Over my career in conservation, I’ve seen that diverse groups of motivated people can achieve incredible things through creative problem-solving, respect and civility. Through deep partnerships, we can create meaningful change.
Reducing Megafires and Protecting Communities
California continues to face record-breaking megafires that have cost lives, damaged ecosystems, and imposed hundreds of billions of dollars in economic losses. TNC is advancing proven solutions to improve forest health, boost wildfire resilience, and better protect communities. This year, TNC’s priorities are to:
- Make the Prescribed Fire Liability Claims Fund permanent to expand the safe use of beneficial fire across California.
- Advance Senate Bill 899 (Grove) requiring state agencies to assess the health impacts of wildfire smoke, improving alignment between public health and wildfire resilience efforts.
Water Resilience
Implementing California’s Salmon Strategy
As a founding member of the California Salmon and Steelhead Coalition, TNC strongly supports the California Salmon Strategy for a Hotter, Drier Future. The Strategy outlines practical, science-based actions to help recover California’s native salmon populations. These steps will strengthen drought resilience for rural communities while protecting salmon and steelhead from the growing threat of climate-driven extinction. TNC’s Salmon Priorities:
- Advance Assembly Bill 2260 (Connolly) to accelerate permitting for small restoration projects that store water in the wet season, protecting water resources for fish and wildlife in the dry-season.
- Establish scientifically defensible instream flow criteria to guide water management in times of water shortage.
- Secure funding for water data tools in coastal watersheds to support drought resilience and further salmon recovery efforts.
Ensuring a Resilient California Delta
Since its creation, the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta Conservancy (Delta Conservancy) has invested more than $130 million in state and federal funding to support over 140 projects that improve climate resilience and bolster agriculture in the Delta. Expanding the Conservancy’s boundary to include counties within the Delta watershed would help strengthen regional climate resilience and unlock critical public funding for these communities. TNC’s Delta Priorities:
- Advance Assembly Bill 2216 (Aguiar-Curry) to expand the Delta Conservancy’s boundary to increase the resilience of the Delta watershed to the effects of climate change, and add regionally supported projects such as wildlife-friendly farming and wetland restoration.
Our Plan for California
TNC’s vision for California is a future where nature is abundant and resilient in a rapidly changing world. TNC’s California policy agenda is driven by our four conservation programs.
Our Plan for California
Learn more about our programs and the key strategies we’re using to protect our future.
Land
When native plants and wildlife don’t have the resources they need to survive, our whole state suffers. Here’s how we create a network of wildlands across California:
1. Protect and connect wildlands.
2. Rewild landscapes.
3. Establish living laboratories.
Water
Millions of families depend on California’s rivers for drinking water. Here’s how we revive freshwater flows:
1. Secure water for wetlands.
2. Make rivers flow again.
3. Rebalance water use.
Oceans
Oceans produce half our air and provide food for over three billion people. Here’s how we restore abundance in our oceans:
1. Recover ocean health.
2. Change the way we fish.
3. Fight ocean plastic.
Climate
Nature can help us achieve one-third of the global greenhouse gas reductions needed to make our planet safer. Here’s how we protect nature to combat climate change:
1. Reimagine land use.
2. Make communities resilient for people and wildlife.
3. Make energy clean and green.
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Paid for by The Nature Conservancy in California.
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