CURE’s mission is to protect and restore resilient rural landscapes by harnessing the power of citizens who care about them.

We do this because we believe that robust human communities can only be sustained by healthy ecosystems, and robust natural environments can only be regained through vigorous stewardship.

Our work takes many forms, but always involves three core practices:

• Awakening people’s bonds with the natural world around them.
• Inclusively, strategically and dialectically exploring issues and actions.
• Systematically building communities of change at critical intersections of ecological and social well-being.

Beliefs that we hold deeply and help orient, align and amplify our work:

• The capacity of communities to flourish is directly connected to the condition of the landscapes that embrace them.
• We have a moral responsibility to future generations to be good stewards of the ecosystems on which they will depend.
• The human use of natural resources can be a regenerative and sustainable force.
• As advocates, we are most catalytic when we push beyond saying “no” to current problems to saying “yes” to new possibilities.
• Lasting change can only be achieved by honoring the stories, engaging the wisdom and mobilizing the abilities of all those affected by the status quo.
• Environmental and social justice must be pursued hand in hand. Transformational progress on either challenge is impossible without acknowledging and including the other.
• Speaking truthfully and urgently plays an important part in every change effort, but we also prize assiduous information gathering, appreciative dialog and knowledgeable decision making even more highly. We expect this of ourselves, our partners, and our leaders.