Sustain Featured as Plenary Guest at California's 30x30 Partnership Summit

Sustain Music & Nature’s co-founders, Betsy Mortensen and Harrison Goodale, will be presenting at California’s 30x30 Partnership Summit in San Diego on August 14, 2025.

California 30x30 represents the state’s goal to conserve 30% of its lands and waters by 2030. The 30x30 goal, set in 2020, is intended to help accelerate conservation of the state’s lands and coastal waters through voluntary, collaborative action with partners across the state to meet three objectives: conserve and restore biodiversity, expand access to nature, and mitigate and build resilience to climate change. California’s 30x30 commitment is part of a global effort to increase biodiversity conservation, including in the United States. In January of 2021, the Biden administration issued an Executive Order on tackling the climate crisis and committed the United States to 30x30 through its America the Beautiful initiative.

The Partnership Summit, held at the San Diego Natural History Museum, will welcome over 400 conservation professionals, supporters, and donors to celebrate the halfway point of the decade-long goal. This year’s themes of sustain, strengthen, succeed are a launching point for engaging presentations, rich discussion, and time with colleagues to connect and learn about how 30x30 is being made real across California and beyond.

Sustain Music & Nature will be part of the closing plenary panel, discussing art’s role in deepening emotional bonds with the natural world.

The event is sold out, but you can register to attend the plenary sessions virtually here.

Trail Session: Louisa Stancioff at Portland Trails in Maine

In honor of the Maine Outdoor Film Festival and their upcoming showing of Refuge Alaska, we’ve partnered with Portland Trails to deliver a guided hike and concert at the Conant property in Portland, Maine.

Details

  • Saturday, July 26

  • Hike 10a-11a

  • Concert 11a-Noon

  • Location: Conant Trails, Portland, ME

  • Band: Louisa Stancioff (Indie Folk)

  • Tickets: Recommended $10/adult. Sliding scale donation tickets ($0-$50). Kids free!

  • Portland Trails will lead a gentle hike featuring the Presumpscot River.

  • Friendly dogs on leash are welcome.

  • There are no restrooms or water fountains.

  • Parking on Conant Street is limited - biking encouraged! Use Portland Trails’ trail map to find your route.

  • Bring: Sunscreen, bug spray, water and snacks! The concert will be held within walking distance of the parking lot so you can fetch your blankets/lawn chairs/food after the hiking portion.

  • Event held in honor of the Maine Outdoor Film Festival. Sustain Music & Nature have a short film showing at 3pm featuring Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuges and some of the biggest names in folk music.

Tickets

Sustain to Present at the University of Cambridge

image of musician in wilderness. logistic details given in text below the image.

Sustain Co-Founders, Betsy Mortensen and Harrison Goodale, will be sharing Sustain’s environmental advocacy work at the University of Cambridge on March 6, 2025.

The lecture, titled How Can Music Propel Environmental Action?, will cover how nonprofit Sustain Music and Nature harness the emotional hook of music and cultural capital of musicians to generate new fans for land conservation. It is open to the public and will be held in the Department of Geography’s large lecture theatre from 4pm-5:30pm.

If you’re England based, we hope you can join us for a creative discussion and showings of our Songscapes and Refuge Alaska music videos!

Refuge Alaska Release Coming on Sept 27, 2024

In advance of National Public Lands Day, we’ll be releasing Refuge Alaska nationally on Friday September 27, 2024. This unique film featuring Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuges is scored by keyboardists Sam Kassirer, Matt Douglas, Derry deBorja and Akie Bermiss. You’ve heard them in Josh Ritter, The Mountain Goats, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, and Lake Street Dive respectively.

Stay tuned for details!

July 8 Trail Session: Cold Chocolate at Machimoodus State Park in Moodus, CT

Music and nature come together in this Trail Session. Join us on Saturday, July 8 with Americana band, Cold Chocolate. Guided hike with Friends of Machimoodus and Sunrise State Parks departs at 11am, followed by outdoor concert at 12:15pm.

Sliding scale donation tickets and details on our page: https://www.sustainmusicandnature.org/july82023

KT Tunstall Sings Amongst the Brown Bears of Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge in New Music Video

KT Tunstall Sings Amongst the Brown Bears of  Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge in New Music Video

The 5x Platinum singer-songwriter partnered with Sustain Music and Nature and the US Fish & Wildlife Service to create music inspired by our public lands.

 “Century Trail” will be released through Green Hill Music and available across all digital platforms on 21 April, ahead of Earth Day.

Refuge Alaska: Film and Original Score Premiere Celebrating the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge System

First Friday Film & Music: Refuge Alaska Film Debut & Musical Composer Talk

6:30 p.m. Friday, May 6 Anchorage Museum Auditorium

Gather in the Anchorage Museum auditorium for a visual and sonic exploration of the diverse lands, waters, and creatures across Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuges. 501c3 national nonprofit Sustain Music & Nature collaborated with Alaska Region U.S. Fish and Wildlife on a project meant to build broader awareness of Alaska's National Wildlife Refuges. Using existing footage provided by Alaska USFWS, Sustain brought together four U.S. based musicians – Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band, Board Member: Sustain Music & Nature), Akie Bermiss (Lake Street Dive), Matt Douglas (The Mountain Goats), and Derry deBorja (Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit) – to compose an original score for a 10 minute film. After a long stretch of community isolation and limitations, this film envisions a time of collective re-shaping of how we experience distances, community, and nature. (Members of the project will discuss the creative process and music’s connection to nature). Free. Covid-safe guidelines will be observed.

Event Registration

About the Project:

Sustain Music & Nature, a national nonprofit that makes music a force for nature, partnered with Alaska’s USFWS to create Refuge Alaska, a 10 minute film featuring stunning videography set to evocative music composed by four U.S. based independent artists: Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band, Board Member - Sustain Music & Nature), Akie Bermiss (Lake Street Dive), Matt Douglas (The Mountain Goats), and Derry deBorja (Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit).

 

Unable to travel or gather during the height of the pandemic, the composer-musicians met across time and space to virtually connect with northern places most had never visited in person. An assemblage of video captured in previous years by multiple videographers became the inspiration for an artwork of music and film. Four chapters take the audience through the air over vast landscapes, across the land with close floral and faunal encounters, beneath the water with fish and marine mammals, and finally into the winged world of birds.

 

Alaska’s 16 National Wildlife Refuges span from the edges of the high Arctic to the outer islands of the Aleutians, and provide some of the best places in the world for wildlife and people to thrive. These are the homelands of Alaska Native peoples from time immemorial, and we honor their centuries of stewardship and deep connections with these lands."



Songscapes Podcast: Matthew Nelson

Episode 21: Matthew Nelson – On Transformation in the Grand Canyon and the Great-Grandfather of Percussion

Today, travel with Arizona Trails executive director Matthew Nelson along the Arizona trail, which spans 800 miles from the Mexico/U.S. border to Utah. Matthew helped complete the last 100 miles of the trail in his youth, which he credits as a turning point in his connection with the Southwestern landscape. In his early 20’s, he was launched into a career in Grand Canyon National Park. He tells the story of his transformative first experience with the Grand Canyon, and how that connection led him to create music with his group, Ongtupqa. If you’re curious to learn about clay percussion, ancient flutes and how he and his group invoke Earth, Spirit and Sky, don’t miss this episode of Songscapes!

You can find out more about Matthew on his “about” page at https://www.americantrails.org/presenters-and-authors/matthew-j-nelson, or on his musical group’s page at https://www.ongtupqa.com/media.

Find Charles on his Twitter at https://twitter.com/coplincharles

  • Host: Charles Coplin

  • Producer: Sustain Music & Nature

  • Editor: Harrison Goodale

  • Media Researcher: Lauren Myli

  • Theme Music: Harrison Goodale

  • Featured Music: Rain of Life, Vasey's Paradise, Rolling Thunder

Songscapes Podcast: Mason Runs Through - Wounded Knee

Episode 20: Mason Runs Through – Native Emo Punk and Interpreting Dinosaur National Park

Meet punk musician and park ranger Mason Evan Runs Through III, also known as his stage name, Wounded Knee. Born in Minot, North Dakota, he is of the nearby Fort Peck Reservation in North East Montana and is a member of the Assiniboine (Nakoda) nation. He is currently based in Utah, where he lives and works as an interpretive ranger and environmental educator in Dinosaur National Monument. Mason also shares about his musical project, Wounded Knee, and how he “creates emotionally charged music for a world that’s forgotten how to feel.” Tune in to hear about his journey to working for the National Parks System, as well as how he uses his music for political activism. Mason’s belief in genuine self expression and standing up for what’s right is inspiring and empowering, and his life reflects what he speaks. Don’t miss this striking episode of Songscapes! 

You can find Mason on his Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/woundedkneepunk/ or on his Bandcamp at https://woundedkneepunk.bandcamp.com/album/bury-my-heart

Find Charles on his Twitter at https://twitter.com/coplincharles

  • Host: Charles Coplin

  • Producer: Sustain Music & Nature

  • Editor: Harrison Goodale

  • Media Researcher: Lindsay Johnson

  • Theme Music: Harrison Goodale

  • Featured Music: Holy Fire, Nakoda Calling, Burning Tipis