The L-A-D Foundation

The Story of the L-A-D Foundation

In the beginning, the principal mission of the L-A-D Foundation was to protect natural areas. From 1964 to 1974, our founder Leo Drey donated important Missouri lands he had acquired to the Foundation so that these areas could be protected in perpetuity. Most of these original lands were designated Missouri Natural Areas; others became state parks and historic sites through donated leases of land to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

In the years that followed, Drey and others donated land or contributed resources that have enabled the Foundation to acquire, protect, and sustainably manage land which offers many benefits for the public.

Today, L-A-D Foundation properties include twelve designated Missouri Natural Areas, one state park, one state historic site, and nearly a thousand acres of river corridor lands along the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, all of which are open to the public for research and recreation. Discover our other lands on this website.

Even before founding the L-A-D Foundation, Leo Drey began acquiring land in the Missouri Ozarks to operate a sustainable timber business using a conservative method of single-tree selection harvest. He called these lands Pioneer Forest, and from 1951 to 2004, Pioneer was operated as a sole proprietorship of Leo Drey.

During that time, Leo advocated for his method of forest management, which kept forest landscapes largely intact and habitable for native species even while supporting periodic timber harvest. He was fighting an uphill battle against the even-aged techniques (clear cutting) championed by most of the forest industry at the time, including by the US Forest Service. However, Leo’s persistence eventually won out, and in a big victory, the Mark Twain National Forest adopted his methods in the 1990s.

In 2001, Pioneer Forest dedicated the Roger Pryor Pioneer Backcountry, a 62,000 acre section of Pioneer Forest, as a primitive outdoor recreation area.

In 2004, Leo and Kay Drey donated most of Pioneer Forest to L-A-D in one of the single largest philanthropic donations in the country that year. This donation of more than 143,000 acres dramatically increased L-A-D’s land holdings.

Today, the L-A-D Foundation continues to operate Pioneer Forest as a demonstration forest, modeling its successful method of conservative forest management and contributing to regional, national, and international dialogue around sustainable use of forest resources. Discover more about Pioneer Forest here.

Most of our lands are located in southeast Missouri within the Current River watershed. Both L-A-D Foundation properties and Pioneer Forest are open to the public. We invite you to visit and learn more about what we do.

You Can Benefit From or Contribute to Research on L-A-D Lands

The L-A-D Foundation has conducted extensive research for several decades on sustainably managed forest lands. Additionally, many other organizations have conducted research and published their findings. Bibliographies are shown in the Publications section of this site.

L-A-D Foundation encourages others to conduct research on foundation managed lands. Click here for more information on research.

Grantmaking and Community Support

The L-A-D Foundation supports organizations whose work benefits the conservation of natural and cultural resources in the Missouri Ozarks. During its history the foundation has awarded more than $600,000 in small grants to more than 65 nonprofit and public interest organizations. The foundation expresses its interest in engaging young people from the Ozarks through providing scholarships and supporting conservation projects involving students. Learn more about our grant-making activities on this website.