02/17/2026
This week our Friday Five Feature is an interview with Katie Marsh, Deputy Director and Natural Resource Specialist of Land Learning Foundation. Thanks for joining us, Katie! (And see a great example of LLF's restoration work in the photos below!)
MLTC: When did LLF begin its conservation work, and what was the impetus for forming the organization?
LLF: In 2003, a group of conservationists began hosting youth outdoor education and sporting events and created The Land Learning Foundation (LLF). To further serve the public, LLF became a nonprofit land trust and established an In-Lieu Fee Program through the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). We wanted to continue engaging youth in outdoor education and sporting events, but we also wanted to assist landowners with streambank erosion issues and wetland enhancements.
MLTC: You work in the realm of mitigation banks and credits. Not all land trusts are involved with these legal and financial vehicles to support such projects . Can you provide a brief description and perhaps a link or two so people can better understand what you do?
LLF: Our LLF’s In-Lieu Fee Program (ILF) is highly specific and not publicly well-known. Typically, when developers disturb certain streams or wetlands, they must offset or mitigate for that impact. The determination of the “size” of the impact is calculated into “credits” using factors created by the USACE. We offer these credits for sale to seek out projects on private lands that restore stream and wetlands within the state, assisting private landowners who experience streambank erosion.
MLTC: LLF has helped partner on a wide variety of streambank protection and restoration projects across your geography, and your work can involve professional services, restoration and protection. How do you determine which kind of work is most suitable for a particular project?
Most of our stream and wetland restoration projects have been through our statewide ILF program, but we also have had several grant-funded projects. In certain areas of the state, we have more landowners facing severe erosion and property loss than we have funds to restore. This is why we are constantly searching for grant funding, but also why we work with partners like the county Soil & Water Conservation Districts’ C-650 program, and with MDC private lands biologists, which are great resources for landowners. LLF prioritizes projects in areas facing development pressure and those that aid multiple neighboring landowners.
MLTC: “Learning” appears in LLF’s name, referencing your mission’s focus on conservation education among your other goals. Can you talk about what your education programs look like and how they contribute to both the public and new generations becoming more aware of the importance of land conservation?
Our founders were committed to teaching youth outdoor skills. We continue this with an emphasis on water quality. LLF is active in the Neosho school system because we own a property which we utilize to take grade school, high school, and college students on field trips. We work with teachers to demonstrate water quality monitoring, soil science, tree planting and general land stewardship. We also host workshops to demonstrate best management practices to producers in the area. Although this focus is in the Southwest part of the state, we are looking to expand outreach in other areas of the state.
MLTC: Based on your own experiences, how can groups like LLF, MLTC and other land trusts and partners in Missouri best support the message to landowners and others about their options for land protection and restoration?
LLF: The best part about working for a nonprofit in Missouri is the desire to collaborate and work together with everyone around us. We collaborate with many other nonprofits, land trusts, state and federal agencies, schools,and landowners. The best thing we can do for conservation is to work together, which is why MLTC is so important. MLTC can reach landowners and partners in ways that would be impossible for each land trust on their own. I think the message to landowners is: we are here to help you explore the options of protecting your property so you can leave a conservation legacy.
