Conservation Legacy

The Conservation Legacy Effect Featuring Iliana Peña and Kassi Scheffer

Article by LORIE A. WOODWARD Photo by KRISTIN PARMA

Spring Break 2020 will loom large in the collective memory of educators as the time when all hell broke loose.

“COVID-19 threw us all a curveball,” TWA’s Director of Youth Education Kassi Scheffer said.

Students and teachers left their classrooms for a seven-day break, never expecting that it would be almost seven months before schools could reconvene. Adult educators, who had calendars of long-scheduled events, scrambled to contend with shelter-in place orders, travel bans and prohibitions on public gatherings.

“COVID required us to very quickly change how we did things and how we saw our jobs,” TWA’s Director of Conservation Programs Iliana Peña said. “We had to be more creative in how we executed traditional programs.”

Scheffer concurred, “Because of the pandemic, the Conservation Legacy staff, more than ever before, embraced the Marine Corps’ mission: improvise, adapt and overcome.”

Overcome they did. In the youth education realm, conservation educators transformed five in-class presentation modules into virtual learning experiences.

“Within three weeks, our team members were back in the ‘classrooms’ virtually,” Scheffer said. “No complaining, just problem solving and forward motion.”

The full calendar of adult events ranging from the education programs and Private Lands Summit that help define the TWA Convention experience to field days such as “Small Acreage, Big Opportunities” and partnership conferences such as the South Texas Wildlife Conference were reimagined as online offerings.

“We didn’t cancel any of our TWA events,” Peña said. “Were they ideal? No. But we were able to do it.”

Despite the limitations, people responded to the re-imagined learning opportunities. As one example, the February “Small Acreage, Big Opportunities” workshop had 29 attendees at the in-person event, while 79 people participated in the virtual workshop held in May.

“There’s no way of knowing whether or not 79 people would have attended an in-person event, but we do know on-line experiences remove the mileage barriers that exist for Texans,” Peña said. “And we do know our audience—our members, our land stewards—are still passionate and eager for good information. If we provide the opportunity, they take it.”

While COVID provided more than its share of challenges, it also provided a multi-faceted prism through which to examine the many different aspects of the Conservation Legacy program. In 2019, a donor challenged the staff to examine, evaluate and possibly expand the outreach and education programs through a project dubbed CL 2.0.

“It’s the first time in 20 years that we’ve enlisted facilitators, along with our partners and stakeholders to join us, as we undergo a deep-diving self-examination,” said Scheffer. “We’re taking a long, hard look at our strengths, our weaknesses

and the best ways to grow, develop new programs and enlist new technologies. Just as we’re not protecting any sacred cows, we’re not committed to adding things if we discover we’re meeting the needs of our audiences and are already positioned to grow.”

She continued, “Our standards have always been high, but as they move to the next level hold on tight. While we don’t know the end result, I’m confident in saying get ready for Conservation Legacy to blow the top off.”

A Q&A WITH ILIANA PEÑA AND KASSI SCHEFFER

What do you consider the hallmarks of Conservation Legacy?

IP: In the arena of adult conservation and natural resource education, TWA positions itself to be heavily involved, both as a sole provider and in partnership with other like-minded organizations with reputations for excellence. We work diligently to earn a reputation as a trusted provider of good, solid, current land stewardship information that has been vetted by leaders in the field. We want to be the go-to resource for landowners, whether they’re newcomers or stewards of a multi-generational legacy.

KS: Accessibility. In the area of youth education, we’ve really focused on delivering conservation education through schools and other formal education systems. To that end, we’ve worked hard to remove participation barriers for educators just as TWA’s Hunting Heritage program strives to remove barriers to entry for firsttime hunters. Our programs are free, and they run a gamut from Discovery Trunks to live streams and On-demand Webinars, so regardless of a school’s access to the Internet, we can provide useful tools for teachers.

Understanding that many teachers don’t come from an outdoors background, our materials are accurate, but simple and clear-cut enough that teachers can read in preparation and feel confident teaching the material. By designing our lessons in all formats around the TEKS objectives, we speak the language of education and align ourselves with the teachers’ professional goals.

What three words would you use to describe Conservation Legacy staff and volunteers?

KS: Passionate. All of the people who work with this program, professional and volunteer, do it because they love what they do—and are passionate about introducing Texans of all ages to the natural world.

IP: Committed. Unlike many organizations, we have volunteers who when they say they’re going to do something, they do it. This kind of commitment is crucial and essential. We couldn’t do what we do without their support.

KS: Invested. They continue to learn new things and work to make the new information relevant and engaging. They take the time to assess, incorporate and improve.

IP: Everyone involved asks themselves, “How do I take the knowledge of what I’m passionate about and present it in such a way that it excites other people?”

2020 has been a pivotal year for Conservation Legacy. What strengths has it identified?

KS: In my opinion, we’ve always been flexible, adaptable and resilient, but 2020 has stretched us beyond the ordinary. We identified problems, worked to find solutions and along the way found all of these crazy silver linings.

We really had to re-think how we delivered information to students, so we came up with new systems, strategies and methods that will be relevant long past COVID. Although we found ourselves scrambling and reacting to an unprecedented situation, all of the ideas and solutions we came up with had real value that will move the program successfully into the future.

IP: In my job, I’m a convener. I convene programs, partnerships, seminars. In 2020, we had to pivot and go from an on-the-ground inperson model to on-line virtual delivery. We did it in short order. While it’s not ideal, it has benefits. Online programming cuts across geography and distance removing barriers to participation. Online programming exists beyond the moment because it can be taped, catalogued and made available for learning on demand.

Now we know how to deliver in both realms and can tackle the questions of how to get back to safe, in-person gatherings in the era of COVID.

What do you want the legacy of Conservation Legacy to be?

KS: Texas is 95 percent privately owned and yet there are still members of the general public who don’t understand land stewardship and the role it plays in their lives. TWA and Conservation Legacy are here because we have a passion for the natural world and its stewardship. Our job is to provide unbiased information about land, water and wildlife and how to best take care of them. I’d like for TWA and Conservation Legacy to be household names and trusted sources of information that help people understand and connect with nature in such a way that they want to care for it.

IP: Land ownership in Texas is changing. Holding size is decreasing. The number of first-generation landowners is increasing. Resources are being fragmented while demand for them is rising. Multi-generation landowners are facing more challenges than ever before to keep their land intact.

Regardless of individual situations, we have to help people understand that as land stewards we’re managing systems to produce healthy soil, clean water and diverse habitat. When we do that collectively it is good for the state.

To do that, we have to continue to be a trusted source of vetted, current information.

The next step is to figure out how to use the myriad of communication channels that exist now to connect rural and urban Texans. We need urban Texans to understand they have a stake in well-managed private lands, so they can help rural Texans advocate for what is good for the land and for society.

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