As a result of our investments, we expect to see policy gains at the state (or provincial) and local levels, protection of critical landscapes, a growing conservation mandate, and more effective conservation advocacy. More specifically, we will evaluate our foundation's success with benchmarks that lead to the following objectives:

• Successful adoption of policy priorities identified by state and provincial level advocates

• Strong community-based support for protecting or restoring critical landscapes in pivotal parts of the region

• Collaborative efforts between allies or among diverse communities (such as ranchers, conservationists, government agencies, and fishing and hunting communities) that lead to place-based conservation gains

• Voter education and policy groups that achieve higher levels of voter engagement and increased levels of support from their communities

• Increasing decisionmaker support for policies that protect our air, land and water

• Growing recognition that conservation advocates reflect mainstream public concerns to which decisionmakers must be accountable

• Healthy organizations with sufficient resources and capacity to achieve their goals

• Communications and outreach strategies that successfully engage target constituencies