Land Stewardship Partnership Program

Restoring White Sage Through Long-Term Care & Relationship

The Land Stewardship Partnership Program is an initiative of the Sustainable Sage Foundation that invites landowners to partner with us in the long-term protection, restoration, and ethical care of white sage on its native lands.

Rather than buying land or extracting resources, this program is built on relationship, trust, and shared responsibility. We work with private landowners who are willing to grant access to their land so white sage can be protected, tended, and restored over time.

How the Program Works

Through a long-term land use agreement (typically 10 years or more), landowners partner with Sustainable Sage Foundation to:

  • Protect existing white sage stands or restore degraded habitat

  • Prevent poaching and overharvesting

  • Support ethical stewardship rooted in respect for the plant and land

  • Contribute to the future of truly sustainable, traceable white sage

Each partnership is customized based on the land, the landowner’s capacity, and ecological needs.

Stewardship Options

We recognize that landowners have different levels of availability and interest in hands-on care. Our agreements allow for flexibility, including:

Passive Land Use

  • Landowner grants access for conservation and stewardship

  • Sustainable Sage Foundation assumes responsibility for care, monitoring, and protection

  • Water access may be included when available, but is not required

Active Stewardship

  • Landowner participates in tending, watering, or monitoring

  • Steward effort is acknowledged and reviewed over time

  • Greater involvement may lead to a higher share in future harvest returns

All partnerships are reviewed periodically (typically after 3 years) to adjust expectations, effort, and stewardship goals.

Harvest Ethics & Timeline

White sage stewardship is guided by patience, respect, and long-term relationship with the land.

  • No significant harvest occurs during the first several years

  • Early years focus on restoration, root establishment, and overall ecosystem health

  • Any future harvest is ethical, sustainable, and ceremonial, honoring the plant’s natural rhythms

  • Harvest sharing, when applicable, reflects the level of care and stewardship contributed

Our goal is regeneration, long-term reverence, and relationship with white sage, while helping to create a verified, sustainable supply that can responsibly meet global demand and replace harmful and extractive sourcing practices.

Why This Matters

White sage is increasingly threatened by:

  • Poaching

  • Unsustainable commercial demand

  • Habitat loss

This program creates an alternative path — one that allows landowners to protect the land they care about while contributing to a future where white sage is respected, traceable, and responsibly grown.

Who We’re Looking to Partner With

  • Landowners in Southern California or other native white sage regions

  • Individuals or families who value conservation and long-term impact

  • Landholders open to collaboration, patience, and plant-first ethics

You do not need farming experience — just a shared commitment to care.

Interested in Becoming a Land Stewardship Partner?

If you own land and feel called to help protect white sage for future generations, we’d love to connect.