The Private Lands Leadership Academy (PLLA) is a comprehensive training program for early career (1-5 year) conservation delivery professionals. Participants receive approximately 60 instructional hours over a 9-month period while building community with their peers. The purpose of the program is to develop leaders in the private lands conservation field, creating stronger, lasting outcomes for wildlife habitat and species diversity in Arkansas.
The Digging Deeper Series of Workshops is free and open to all private lands conservation professionals seeking to:
Conservation on private lands requires the use of agricultural machinery and other specialty equipment. This workshop will provide an opportunity to learn how to safely and effectively operate tractors, seed drills, sprayers, and more.
Carbon credits and renewable energy infrastructure are growing areas of interest among landowners seeking to adopt conservation practices on their land, but it can be difficult to navigate the financial and logistical intricacies. This workshop will inform participants about these issues and how to provide good guidance to interested landowners.
We are proud to partner with National Wildlife Federation to offer this Grow More workshop at the Forestry Health Research Center at UA Monticello. Grow More is a training program designed to help conservation professionals bridge the gap between information and action. Click here to register.
This training is designed for early career (1-5 years) conservation delivery professionals, including private lands biologists, farm bill biologists, foresters, soil conservationists, land managers, and others who work with private landowners to conserve and protect wildlife and natural resources.
Participants will receive over 60 hours of instruction over the course of four in-person workshops at locations across Arkansas, as well as two virtual training sessions.
Field locations will feature upland hardwood and pine forests, bottomland hardwood forests, grasslands and wetlands, on both public and private lands.
The inaugural Academy ran Feb-Nov 2025.
Participants attend multiple workshops:
Participants must commit to attending the entire program.
January 20, 2025 | Space is limited.
$2,000 per person. Includes all meals, lodging, instruction, and materials.
The Arkansas Wildlife Federation (AWF) designed this comprehensive training program in consultation with conservation partners across the state including Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Quail Forever Arkansas Chapter, Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and others, for conservation professionals seeking to improve their effectiveness and build their skills in private lands conservation delivery.
