Current Projects Under Development

With the support of Global BridgeFoundation, Hinterland Institute is rapidly moving from vision to execution; building a national, veteran-led model that restores land, revitalizes rural economies, and gives veterans a new mission through regenerative stewardship.

We are rapidly growing our footprint and partnerships across Utah, Georgia, Idaho, and California, laying the foundation for scalable impact in each of these regions. This growth is being accelerated through strategic partnerships that open real doors for veterans. Collaborations with White Oak Pastures, the Veteran Business Resource Center, and other regenerative leaders are creating clear pathways for veteran apprenticeships, hands-on training, and long-term placements with some of the most respected regenerative farms and land managers in the country. These relationships ensure veterans aren’t just trained, they are integrated into viable operations where they can build skills, purpose, and economic stability.

Across all four states, Hinterland is assembling a connected ecosystem that links land restoration, regenerative food systems, and veteran workforce development. With early supporters like Global Bridge Foundation helping unlock momentum, we are positioned to scale nationally; transforming stewardship into opportunity and ensuring that those who served our country can now help heal it.

The Yates County Water Management District represents a bold, farmer-led solution to one of the Finger Lakes’ most urgent challenges: securing water for agriculture while restoring the health of Seneca Lake and its surrounding watershed.

Yates County has faced nearly two decades of compounding drought, limiting crop diversity, increasing insurance losses, and accelerating nutrient runoff that fuels harmful algal blooms. This project would establish New York State’s first farmer-governed irrigation cooperative, designed to turn water scarcity into resilience. By diverting warm thermal discharge from existing power infrastructure, supplementing it with local surface water, and delivering shared, metered irrigation, the District creates a reliable, conservation-driven water supply tied directly to regenerative practices.

Phase One includes a $12 million investment anchored by a $1 million pumping station, serving 70 farms across 7,000 acres—with a clear path to expand to more than 300 farms and 30,000 acres. The result: higher yields, diversified crops, reduced runoff, improved lake ecology, and fewer drought-related losses.

The initiative also creates hands-on infrastructure and monitoring roles for veterans and builds partnerships with Indigenous communities, applied research leaders like Cornell University and SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry, and conservation agencies.

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to protect Seneca Lake, strengthen family farms, and launch a nationally replicable model for water resilience, stewardship, and rural prosperity.

The Native American Regenerative Hub, led in partnership with the Modoc Nation, is a transformative initiative centered on Native American veterans, land stewardship, and long-term economic resilience. This project brings together tribal leadership, veteran-serving organizations, conservation partners, and universities to create a culturally grounded pathway into regenerative grazing and ecological restoration.

At its core, the program trains Native American veterans in regenerative grazing practices that restore soil, water, and biodiversity while opening viable, mission-driven careers. Veterans move through a structured education and apprenticeship pathway—combining classroom instruction, hands-on land management, and mentorship—while gaining access to conserved and compatible grazing lands aligned with long-term stewardship goals. Traditional ecological knowledge is integrated throughout, ensuring that regeneration is rooted in tribal values, sovereignty, and generational land ethics.

The Hub also introduces innovative financial partnerships that allow veterans to build equity in regenerative herds and enterprises, rather than remaining wage laborers. By aligning private investment, conservation incentives, and regenerative food markets—including healing, nutrient-dense food systems—the program supports both economic independence and ecological recovery.

This initiative represents a powerful convergence of veteran transition, tribal self-determination, and landscape restoration. With philanthropic support, the Native American Regenerative Hub will become a nationally replicable model—strengthening tribal economies, restoring critical lands, and empowering Native American veterans to lead the next generation of regenerative land stewardship.

The CFAR initiative represents a major step forward in aligning veteran workforce development, regenerative agriculture, and military land stewardship in Georgia and across our nation. Through a powerful collaboration with White Oak Pastures, Compatible Lands Foundation, Hinterland Institute, Bioarmor, Essential Provisions, and the Veteran Business Resource Center, the project is launching a regenerative grazing-as-a-service model on military lands across the state.

A cornerstone of this effort is the $1.2 million already awarded for construction of a veteran training lodge, which will serve as a hub for education, coordination, and hands-on learning. The program opens clear pathways for veterans into regenerative grazing careers while supporting producers connected to White Oak Pastures with training, market access, and operational alignment.

By integrating grazing operations on installations such as Fort Benning, Fort Stewart, and Townsend Bombing Range, the initiative improves soil health, water quality, and biodiversity while remaining fully compatible with military training needs. Veterans gain paid experience, mentorship, and long-term economic opportunity, while bases benefit from reduced land-management costs and enhanced readiness.

This CFAR-led project demonstrates how regenerative agriculture can strengthen military missions, support producers, and give veterans a new, purpose-driven role in stewarding some of Georgia’s most critical landscapes.

This flagship desert restoration initiative, led by Savory Holistics LLC under the leadership of Roger Savory, tackles one of the most urgent ecological challenges in the United States: accelerating desertification. Centered on 10,200 acres in Socorro County, New Mexico, the project is being implemented in collaboration with the Turner Institute for Ecoagriculture at the Armendaris Ranch, with a clear pathway to scale across more than 530,000 acres.

Using advanced regenerative tools—including the proprietary Biocarpeting process and holistic planned grazing—the project is transforming degraded desert landscapes into productive, biodiverse savannah grasslands. Early outcomes include restoring over 3,000 acres annually, improving water infiltration by up to 750%, increasing soil organic matter, and removing thousands of net tons of atmospheric CO₂ in the first year alone. The system also supports the development of desert-adapted Bos Sanga cattle, producing nutrient-dense, OM3:OM6-balanced beef that strengthens food security and rural economies.

The effort brings together Bio Armor Environmental, the Compatible Lands Foundation, tribal and local producers, veteran workforce partners, and philanthropic supporters such as the Reed Jules Oppenheimer Foundation. With a $10 million investment request beginning spring 2026, this project is a scalable, science-backed model for land restoration, rural jobs, veteran engagement, and national food resilience.