Dec. 9, 2025
Grants support conservation projects in central and southeast Missouri
L-A-D Foundation has granted $55,000 to 10 nonprofits that support the conservation of natural and cultural resources in its 12-county service area. Based in St. Louis, L-A-D Foundation manages the Pioneer Forest and holds land with natural, geologic, cultural or historic interest in Carter, Crawford, Dent, Madison, Maries, Oregon, Perry, Reynolds, Ripley, Ste. Genevieve, Shannon and Texas counties.
The recipients of L-A-D Foundation’s autumn 2025 grant program, administered by the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, are:
- Earth’s Classroom: $5,000 to support the tuition-free Field Science Career Experience program that provides hands-on, field-based science education opportunities to junior and senior high school students in Crawford, Phelps, Maries and Dent counties.
- Friends of Hawn Association: $3,000 to replace fire rings at Hawn State Park’s backcountry camp sites in Ste. Genevieve.
- Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation: $5,000 to support the production of the Missouri Forestry for the Birds Silviculture Guide, a comprehensive resource for understanding the effects of science-based silviculture practices on forest and woodland songbirds within the Missouri Central Hardwoods Bird Conservation Region.
- Missouri Environmental Education Association: $7,000 to enhance the Evelyn Marie Dieckhaus Creative Center at the Texas County Library in Houston, a nature-themed children’s area funded by Houston residents who lost their granddaughter in a 2023 school shooting, and to provide programming that cultivates environmental education in Houston schools.
- Missouri Prairie Foundation: $1,300 to support the Callery Pear Buyback event in Doniphan, an initiative to reduce invasive Callery pear trees and raise awareness about invasive plant control.
- Ozark Riverways Foundation: $5,000 to support the purchase and installation of picnic tables and fire rings at campgrounds and day-use areas within the Ozark National Scenic Riverways that were destroyed during flooding.
- Ozark Trail Association: $4,700 to support the expansion of trail stewardship capacity, strengthening the association’s ability to care for the 400-plus miles of the Ozark Trail.
- Ozarks Resource Center: $6,500 to support a documentary focusing on the Devil’s Well and Cave Spring, showcasing the scientific work of Jerry Vineyard and educating viewers about Missouri’s largest underground lake.
- Partnership for Youth Inc./AmeriCorps St. Louis: $9,500 to support the cultivation of fire crew members in Shannon, Reynolds, Crawford, Dent and Texas counties by providing career pathways, preparing future leaders and expanding partner capacity to achieve environmental objectives through a three-day training program focusing on emergency response and conservation.
- Salem Area Community Betterment Association: $8,000 to support the continued renovation and renewal of the Ozark Natural & Cultural Resource Center building and exhibits.
“These grants represent the power of collaboration in the Ozarks,” said Jennifer Battson Warren, executive director of the L-A-D Foundation. “By working with the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, L-A-D Foundation can support local organizations that make a real difference — whether it’s restoring trails, protecting wildlife, or creating educational opportunities. Together, we’re investing in the health and vitality of our Ozark communities and landscapes.”
About L-A-D Foundation: Incorporated in 1962, the L-A-D Foundation is a Missouri private operating foundation dedicated to the responsible management of Pioneer Forest as a working demonstration of renewable resource use compatible with the long-term carrying capacity and health of the land and water. The Foundation also acquires and preserves in the public interest outstanding areas of natural, geologic, cultural or historic interest. In addition, the Foundation provides support to various projects consistent with its conservation goals, with a particular focus on the Missouri Ozarks region.
