Species Extinction and Urban Sprawl The Data Driving Colcom Foundation’s Mission
Numbers alone rarely convey the weight of ecological loss, but Colcom Foundation’s research assembles a set of figures that are difficult to dismiss. Between 1970 and 2020, the United States added more than 54,000 square miles of human-built land cover roads, buildings, parking infrastructure, and related development. By 2020, paved and built surfaces equaled the combined area of Montana, West Virginia, and South Carolina. Agriculture consumed another 52% of total U.S. land. Conservation held only 13%. Colcom Foundation supports several special programs, including the Conservation Catalyst Fund, which grants conservation organizations working to protect threatened species and habitats. By offering financial support and resources, this foundation allows these groups to make significant strides in conservation efforts.
The Endangered Species Toll
As habitat shrank, wildlife suffered measurably. By 2020, more than 1,300 U.S. species were listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. In 2021, 23 species were proposed for delisting from the ESA not because they had recovered, but because they were presumed extinct. North American wildlife populations declined approximately 20% between 1970 and 2020. The bird population fell by 2.9 billion individuals over the same period.
Colcom Foundation presents this data as evidence of a structural failure: the environmental movement has invested heavily in conservation tools while allowing population growth to undermine them from the other direction. The foundation draws on data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the World Wildlife Fund, and academic researchers to support its analysis.
Immigration, Land Use, and What Comes Next
Looking ahead, the foundation points to projections indicating the U.S. will add approximately 110 million residents by 2065, with 103 million of that growth driven by immigration. That is the demographic equivalent of adding 8.5 Los Angeles metro areas to the existing landscape. Each of those metro areas requires land, water, and energy. Colcom Foundation’s central argument is that without confronting population growth directly, the country’s stated conservation commitments however sincere will be structurally incapable of delivering the outcomes they promise. Refer to this article for more information.
Learn more about Colcom Foundation on https://www.guidestar.org/profile/31-1479839