Since its inception, the Turner Foundation has supported work at the national, regional, state and local level. Our state and local level support has historically focused in places of special interest to our board of trustees.

Today, the Foundation’s geographic priorities differ slightly for different program areas. The Foundation will consider programs that are national in scope, as well as limited regional, state, and local programs. Please review the individual program area summaries below for more specific information.

Safeguarding Habitat
The goal of this program is to protect terrestrial and marine habitats and wildlife critical for the preservation of biodiversity. Focus is placed on protecting functioning ecosystems, including core, intact habitats, buffer zones and wildlife corridors.

The Turner Foundation invests in select national and priority state level efforts to conserve wildlife and habitat. States with priority consideration include South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Montana, New Mexico and Alaska. In addition, the foundation prioritizes the following regions for wildlife and habitat conservation grantmaking: the Southeastern Coastal Plain (specifically GA and SC); the Florida Panhandle and the Red Hills Region of north Florida and southwest Georgia; the northwestern most portion of the Chihuahuan Desert system (the Sky Islands region) including southwestern NM, southeastern Arizona and northern Mexico; the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem north to the transboundary Flathead; and south central/southeastern Alaska.

Internationally, the Turner Foundation supports wildlife and habitat conservation in the Russian Far East (specifically salmon conservation) and along the central coast of British Columbia.

Creating Solutions for Sustainable Living
The goal of this program is to modify patterns of consumption and to halt further degradation of our natural resources by addressing the environmental impacts of our personal, institutional and community choices. This initiative will help foster sustainable policies and practices.

The Turner Foundation invests in select national, regional and state level efforts depending upon the issue. Energy work is supported at the national level and with a primary regional focus in the Southeastern United States. Human population work is supported at the national level and may also include work in the priority states of South Carolina, Georgia, Montana and New Mexico.

Healthy Planet, Healthy Communities
The goal of this program is to restore or mitigate the results of non-sustainable practices in order to enrich our quality of life and the health of our future communities and planet. Issues may include air, water, climate change, greenspace for community benefit and environmental health.

The Turner Foundation invests in select national, regional and state level efforts depending upon the issue. The Turner Foundation supports freshwater protection efforts at the national level and may support efforts in the following priority states: Georgia, Florida, Montana, Nebraska and New Mexico. The Foundation also supports air quality and climate change work at the national level and may support some regional, primarily Southeastern, and state-level work.

Growing the Movement
The goal of this program is to engage, organize and empower new constituencies in order to ensure the future protection of our environment. This initiative helps stimulate progress in all areas of funding - Safeguarding Habitat; Creating Solutions for Sustainable Living; and Healthy Planet, Healthy Communities. Geographical priorities in the Growing the Movement program complement those in the above three program areas.

For information on geographic priorities for issue areas not provided above, please contact a program officer directly.

The Turner Foundation will annually select priority issues within the above program areas in order to make the greatest impact with our financial resources. Priority issues will be determined by the trustees in an ongoing effort to best address the most timely and relevant needs.

Please check the specific program area listings for more specific information concerning the Foundation's program areas.