Macon County Conservation Foundation
The quality of your everyday life is influenced by nature: The air you breathe, the water you drink, the food you eat, and the environment in which you live are all affected by nature.
The Macon County Conservation Foundation actively works to restore and preserve local natural areas, to ensure a good quality of life for not only you, but your children and your children’s children.
Established in 1981 by two Macon County Conservation District employees, Janet Atkins and Rodney Washburn, the foundation began as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation known as the Natural Heritage and Wildlife Foundation. In 2003, the name changed to Macon County Conservation Foundation.
Our Mission
To restore and preserve Macon County’s natural and cultural resources through the Macon County Conservation District, and promote education about these resources.
Financials
Programs
Gift and Estate Planning
Leave a Legacy for Macon County’s Future
Planned gifts enable you to achieve your financial and estate goals, while leaving a legacy of natural areas and historic sites for future generations to explore.
While planned gifts take many forms, they are the result of careful planning and an intention to make a lasting impact.
These gifts could include bequests made in a will, naming the Macon County Conservation Foundation the beneficiary of a life insurance policy or retirement plan, or using tax-wise giving options such as charitable gift annuities or remainder trusts.
Sponsor a Natural Area
Natural Area Partners take that extra step to protect the places they love, insuring a legacy of natural areas not only to enjoy today but for future generations to explore. By becoming a Natural Areas Partner, you protect the places you care about. Places that provide habitat for wildlife, room for people to explore, places to just be in nature to relieve stress, recreate, exercise.
Healthy natural areas provide a host of services for people. They protect our drinking water and filter the air we breathe. During storms, they retain flood waters. They provide homes for animals that provide services to people, such as the insects that pollinate the food we eat. They contribute to the quality of the place where we live and work.
Volunteering + Events
Wine in the Wild
This new event, started in 2025, is held at our historic 1860s farmstead, Woodbine Farm. It's an evening with good music, good food, good drinks, and good people all coming together to support the natural restoration efforts and environmental education programs of the Macon County Conservation District.
Prairie Pedal
This is the Macon County Conservation Foundation's longest running fundraiser event, starting back in 2008. Cyclist can choose from 20, 40, or 62 mile routes through the rural roads of Macon County, and come back to an after party with locally cooked chili lunch (with a vegetarian option) and live music.
Volunteering Opportunities
Our events are able to provide the funds for our restoration efforts, but volunteers are the backbone to helping us carry out our mission. Our volunteers can choose from anything from invasive removal to assisting with our environmental education programs and events.