Every property exists within a landscape, and every landowner exists within a community. We begin with both — understanding the regional conservation priorities and the human context — and work inward to the site. The design process itself is where knowledge is built and voice is developed.
Applying current ecosystem design principles on the ground, studying what works, and contributing to the ecological knowledge that connects practice to policy. Field research, biodiversity documentation, white papers, and stewardship plans that make on-the-ground conservation legible to land trusts, state agencies, and policymakers — giving landowners a durable framework and a voice in the larger conservation conversation.
State conservation priority frameworks, wildlife action plans, and biodiversity targets provide the scientific and policy framework within which every project is situated.
Conservation landscapes mature into their function over time. We design with succession in mind and build stewardship plans that allow properties to evolve with their ecology — not against it.
Site-specific design that serves both human and ecological needs. Native plant palettes calibrated to site conditions — riparian and wet-soil edges, woodland and woodland-edge transitions, meadow and pollinator habitat. Designed to contribute to landscape-scale connectivity while creating spaces people can love, understand, and be part of.
We evaluate each property's ecological position within the regional landscape — connectivity potential, species-relevant habitat quality, riparian function, and relationship to conservation priority classifications, wildlife action plan priorities, and adjacent conservation lands.
Native species matched to site conditions produce landscapes that are richer, more dynamic, biologically diverse, and more beautiful over time. The goal is a landscape that reveals its function — where the design reflects the ecology of the place.
Conservation at landscape scale requires more than good design — it requires people who understand what's at stake and have a voice in shaping what comes next. Working with landowners, practitioners, and community members to build ecological literacy, shared identity, and the collective voice that moves conservation priorities from aspiration to policy.
Working with landowners on their property isn't just design delivery — it builds their ecological knowledge, investment, and conservation voice. That voice matters for advocacy and policy in ways that expert opinion alone cannot achieve.
Meet the land and the people who steward it. Walk the property, listen to the landowner, and understand the ecological and human context before any assessment begins — what's here, what's possible, and what the land means to the people who live with it.
Evaluate the property's ecological position: connectivity potential, habitat condition, species-relevant site factors, relationship to SWAP priorities, conservation frameworks, and adjacent conservation lands. Understand what the landscape needs before designing for it.
Develop a site-specific conservation landscape design — native plant palette, habitat zones, connectivity features, stewardship plan — calibrated to ecological goals, site conditions, and how the land will be used and experienced by the people who call it home.
Implement the design, study what it's doing ecologically, and document outcomes — producing conservation records legible to land trusts, state agencies, and policy audiences, and giving the landowner a durable voice in the larger conservation conversation.
The best starting point is a conversation about your property, your goals, and the landscape it's part of.
Start a ConversationHeather Davis Miller · Principal
heather@justconservationsolutions.com