The Trust for Public Land in the Northwest THERE IS SO MUCH TO BE PROUD OF
in 2021
AND MORE TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN THE YEAR AHEAD
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PARTNERING WITH US IN THE NORTHWEST! As a Trust for Public Land supporter, you are contributing to healthy, equitable, resilient communities. Like you, we believe that green spaces are precious and that everyone deserves access to nature. In early 2020, when the pandemic shut downs began, we turned to open spaces, taking comfort in the joys of spending time outside. Our mass movement outside highlighted that not everyone has access to the outdoors. Last summer’s demonstrations against systemic racism drove the point home: we must center equity and community in everything we do. Now is the time to champion the pivotal role of parks and public lands in addressing inequality. Together, we can ensure that the healing power of nature is available to all.
The Trust for Public Land is committed to advancing equity, health, and climate resilience through nature in every community we serve. Since 1972, we have created more than 5,000 parks and green spaces, safeguarded more than 3.7 million acres, put a park within a 10-minute walk of home for more than 9 million people, and generated more than $85 billion in public funding for parks, trails, and open spaces. Last year, folks like you helped create parks and protect land across the Northwest. We opened three new parks: Kiwanis Methow Park in Wenatchee, Cherryhill Park in East Wenatchee, and First Creek Community Space in Tacoma. And we protected 15,000 acres across Washington and Oregon, including the Dewatto Headwaters Forest, providing public access and protecting riparian corridors and sustaining rural jobs. We couldn’t have done it without YOU. Thank you for creating happier, healthier neighborhoods where all people can thrive! TEGR A STONE NUESS
South Lynnwood Park Groundbreaking
Projected to open in early 2022
NORTHWEST COMMUNITY SCHOOLYARDS™ METRO PARKS TACOMA
First Creek Community Space
Tacoma, WA
More than 2 million people in Washington and Oregon—including 500,000 kids—do not live within a 10-minute walk of a park. Opening schoolyards to the public outside of school hours could close this gap. There is a schoolyard in nearly every neighborhood, but few are accessible to the community when kids are not in school. Even fewer deliver the green space that the students and community need and deserve. Research shows that transforming schoolyards improves educational outcomes, cools neighborhoods, and helps manage urban flooding. Thanks to wonderful people like you, we have begun creating community schoolyards with neighbors in Tacoma, Washington, and Chiloquin, Oregon.
TACOMA, WA The eastside of Tacoma has seen a disproportionately low share of parks and open space investment. One third of folks living in south and east Tacoma do not have a close-to-home park. All told, 65,000 Tacoma residents do not have a great park within a 10-minute walk of home. In fact, Tacoma has the biggest park access gap of any city in Washington State. In partnership with the Tacoma Public Schools and Metro Parks Tacoma, The Trust for Public Land is transforming five Eastside schoolyards over the next two years. Last year, we conducted virtual and in-person community engagement activities at the first two schools. We are on track to break ground in early 2022. We also began community engagement at the next three schools in fall 2021. Our long-term vision is to open all Tacoma schoolyards to the public, putting a great park within a 10-minute walk of 88 percent of the city’s residents.
JENNA STAMM
CHILOQUIN, OR
LOOKING AHEAD
The City of Chiloquin in southern Oregon is the administrative seat of the Klamath Tribes. The surrounding area features remarkable natural beauty, but the town has limited opportunities for close-to-home recreation. The community has repeatedly expressed a desire to improve parks, create community-gathering spaces, and give voice to Klamath culture.
Every kid should have an amazing schoolyard to enjoy. Our long-term goal is to make our schoolyard vision the norm—not the exception. Over the next four years, we are planning to expand the initiative to additional Northwest schools, connecting thousands of people to nature and each other.
Through surveys and community meetings, students and residents identified five priorities: to promote play, education, health, Klamath culture, and the environment. To achieve these goals, the new design for the eight-acre site incorporates elements like walking paths, an outdoor classroom, interpretive signs featuring the Klamath language, and a new playground with swings, spinners, a climbing structure, and a covered basketball court. Construction is scheduled to begin this year, and the schoolyard will be ready to welcome residents in 2022.
Donate today!
Your donation can help close the park equity gap. We are currently 90 percent of the way to our goal of $9 million goal for transforming six Community Schoolyards™ across the Northwest. Fund our current projects and set the stage for future growth.
JIM ELLIS FUND FOR LAND CONSERVATION The Mountains to Sound Greenway National Heritage Area is a treasure trove of public lands that we all own together. Located within easy reach of the Puget Sound metropolitan area, the Greenway sustains our unique quality of life by expanding and strengthening our connection to nature. We owe a debt of gratitude to renowned late civic leader Jim Ellis and the conservation heroes who began this work over 30 years ago. Yet our rapid growth continues to threaten our natural areas and places where people can access nature. We must take action now to secure the legacy of the Greenway for future generations. With land prices skyrocketing, only the support of the philanthropic community can equip the public to compete for critical properties.
LOOKING AHEAD The Greenway’s future rests on the decisions we make today. Your support will ensure access, enhance recreational opportunities, honor cultural ties to the land, and protect wildlife and the environment.
Honor Jim’s legacy
The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust and The Trust for Public Land have partnered to launch the Jim Ellis Fund for Land Conservation. This $5 million fund will allow us to move fast to secure the most important lands now, before they are lost forever. Please consider making a gift to help us launch this fund to continue Jim’s good work for years to come.
TEGR A STONE NUESS
Squak Mountain Issaquah, WA
SOUTHERN OREGON FOREST CONSERVATION INITIATIVE In 1982, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians Recognition Act extended federal recognition to the Tribe and restored the rights and privileges of its members. However, this long-overdue recognition did not come with land for a reservation, as stipulated in an 1854 treaty. Over that last 40 years, the tribe has been purchasing land within their ancestral territory. Their long-term goal is to acquire and restore forestland to sustain their culture and support their members economically. Building on this effort, The Trust for Public Land and the Cow Creek Tribe began working in collaboration this year to restore the tribe’s control of forestland in Southern Oregon. Restoring the tribe’s ownership and bringing their traditional knowledge to the management of these forestlands will build ecosystem
resilience in the face of climate change, buffer communities from the rising threat of wildfires, improve fish and wildlife habitat, and support economic self-sufficiency and resource needs of their members. Acquiring these forestlands in Oregon is a significant undertaking that requires careful planning. With the Cow Creek Tribe, we are beginning with an in-depth assessment to identify where to focus our forest conservation efforts, so they have the maximum potential to protect streams and mitigate wildfire risk. We are exploring a number of approaches, working with local landowners, and beginning conversations with federal and state agencies. We are thrilled to be collaborating with the Cow Creek Tribe on this multi-year effort. We look forward to sharing updates as our plans develop.
TR AVEL OREGON
Northwest Advisory Board Thank you to the Northwest Advisory Board, Next Generation Council, and all of our volunteers! Marco Abbruzzese Josh Anderson* Peter Ackroyd Tom Bayley Teresa Bendito-Zepeda Tony Cavalieri Jessyn Farrell Barbara Fielden Alden Garrett Annalee Luhman Rupa Patel Cody Reiter Tom Reeve† Jackie Martinez Schut Jerry Tone‡ Katie Young * Chair of Northwest Advisory Board † Chair of the National Board ‡ National Board member
TPL ARCHIVES
Fort Townsend Historic State Park Port Townsend, WA
Emeritus Mary Black T. William Booth Campbell Mathewson Douglass Raff Brady Walkinshaw Martha Wyckoff Next Generation Steering Committee Colleen Azelby Lilah Buchanan Bonnie Lei Chris Liu Jescelle Major Maren McBride Krystal Meiners Ashley Mocorro Powell Elliot Smith Lauren Wyckoff
BACK COVER: THOMAS BARTON • FRONT COVER: DARCY KIEFEL; MICHAEL B. MAINE; CATHERINE ANSTET T; TEGR A STONE NUESS; TEGR A STONE NUESS
Thank you for helping improve the health, equity, and climate outcomes for communities in the Northwest and beyond. We couldn’t do this without you.
MEET THE NORTHWEST TEAM Quena Batres, Community Engagement Manager Richard Corff, Washington Land Protection Director Chantell Conner, Sr. Administrative Assistant Alison Driver, Engagement Officer Sarneshea Evans, Parks for People Director David Gorton, Institutional Giving Director Anna Hadlich, Sr. Project Associate (Bend, OR) Stacey Kaiser, Philanthropy Coordinator
Ashley Knapp, Public Grants Writer Kristin Kovalik, Oregon Land Protection Director (Bend, OR) Andrew McConnico, Parks for People Program Manager David Patton, Northwest Regional Director Paulina Racette, Project Associate Danny Rees, Northwest Director of Philanthropy Cary Simmons, Director of Community Strategies Ann Welz, Sr. Project Manager (Wenatchee, WA)
Join us Help ensure everyone has access to the outdoors. Every park we create, schoolyard we transform, trail we extend, and landscape we protect is thanks to supporters like you.
tpl.org/donate
David Patton Northwest Regional Director 206.274.2916 | david.patton@tpl.org Danny Rees Northwest Director of Philanthropy 206.274.2921 | danny.rees@tpl.org 901 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1520 Seattle, WA 98164