NEVADA CITY, Calif. – The Sierra Nevada Alliance will host its Biannual Regional Conservation Conference, Connecting to Nature: Deepening our Relationship with the Sierra, on Thursday, November 5, 2026, at the Miners Foundry Cultural Center in Nevada City with field tours the following morning of Friday, November 6.
The conference will open with a keynote address by ethnoecologist and author of Tending the Wild, M. Kat Anderson. Breakout sessions will address topics including Building the Conservation Workforce, Sustainable Recreation, Community Advocacy and Policy in Action, The Ecology of Belonging, Funding Solutions, and other issues central to Sierra Nevada conservation and community stewardship.
Speakers and organizational representatives will include Friends of the Inyo, American Forests, the Calaveras Planning Coalition, the American River Watershed Institute, Tribal Representatives, the Feather River Watershed Alliance, and more. Full session descriptions and speaker biographies are available on the conference website.
Friday’s optional field tours (November 6, 9 a.m.–12 p.m.) will take participants into the Nevada City area to observe stewardship work in action or connect deeper with the Sierra. Tours are $25 each and require separate registration. Options include the Little Deer Creek Landscape Resilience Project with the Yuba Watershed Institute, the Hoyt-Purdon Fuel Reduction and Prescribed Fire Project with American Rivers, and Meeting locations and additional details are available on the conference webpage.
General admission is $100 for November 5th. Group rates are available at several hotels in Nevada City and Grass Valley. Tickets, lodging information, tour registration, and the complete conference agenda can also be found on the conference webpage.
About the Sierra Nevada Alliance
The Sierra Nevada Alliance is a regional conservation organization working to protect and restore the Sierra Nevada for future generations through collaboration, education, policy, and community engagement.