Northwest BRINGING THE OUTDOORS CLOSER TO HOME IN 2026 AND BEYOND
Rattlesnake Ridge Trail on the Mountains to Sound Greenway PHOTO BY TEGRA STONE NUESS
Connecting Everyone to the Outdoors in the Northwest Access to nature and outdoor spaces is essential. Our supporters make it possible for Trust for Public Land to conserve land and create community-centered outdoor spaces that improve health and wellness, increase climate resilience, and bolster social connections. You, together with all of our partners, help TPL advance this important work. Over the last year, working together with state agencies, cities, districts, land trusts, Tribal nations, and supporters like you, we advanced our shared vision of a greener, more connected world. We completed the fifth and final school in our Tacoma Community Schoolyards Pilot Program, creating close-to-home park access for 25,000 residents. In Oregon, community schoolyards at both Madras Elementary and Alameda Elementary opened to students and the public this fall. In Winthrop, WA, we helped Washington State Parks acquire the last remaining segment of land to make a trail wrapping around the entirety of Pearrygin Lake possible. And in North Central Washington, we completed the first 11,000 acres of a 30,000-acre transfer of land from industrial timber to the Forest Service.
invested in creating a livable Northwest. Each effort reflects our shared commitment to support people and the places important to them.
Through all these projects, we’ve remained centered on our partners, who designed their parks and guided they ways these parks benefit their communities. We are all
Mitsu Iwasaki Associate Vice President Northwest Director
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As we celebrate all we have accomplished together, we know there is more work to be done. The need for equitable access to nature continues to grow, and so do the challenges and opportunities facing our health, climate, and communities. With your ongoing support, we can rise to meet this moment. Thank you for joining us as we connect everyone to the outdoors. With gratitude,
Helping Communities Invest in Nature Across the Northwest, communities are making longterm investments in parks, trails, open spaces, and recreation. Trust for Public Land’s Conservation Finance team helps local leaders turn those priorities into reality by identifying funding solutions, building public support, and securing the resources needed to care for the places people value most. From creating neighborhood parks and improving trail access to protecting wildlife habitat and strengthening climate resilience, these investments help communities create lasting benefits for current and future residents. Every community’s needs are different, but one thing remains consistent: people care deeply about the places where they live, play, and connect with nature. This year, voters across the Northwest continued to demonstrate support for their communities. In King County, Washington, voters approved the Parks, Recreation, Trails, and Open Space Levy with 73 percent support, generating funding to improve access to parks and trails, maintain clean and safe recreational spaces, and strengthen regional connections to nature. In Portland, Oregon, voters renewed a five-year levy to maintain parks and nature areas, support recreation
programs, restore habitat, and enhance climate resilience. Tacoma voters likewise approved a $155 million parks bond with overwhelming support, funding improvements that will protect natural resources, modernize facilities, and expand recreation opportunities throughout the city. Voters in the Willamalane Park and Recreation District of Springfield, Oregon approved a funding measure that will generate more than $8.4 million for park maintenance, habitat protection, wildfire resilience, and community programming. The measure passed by a narrow margin after months of research, polling, and community outreach. TPL supported the effort with feasibility analysis, voter research, ballot language development, and campaign guidance—helping local leaders secure resources that will sustain parks and recreation services for years to come. Across the Northwest, there is a growing recognition that parks, trails, open spaces, and natural areas are essential community infrastructure. As communities continue to invest in the outdoors, TPL remains committed to helping local partners secure the resources needed to bring their visions to life.
Swinging on the Saddle Rock Trail in Wenatchee. PHOTO BY ADAIR FREEMAN RUTLEDGE TRUST FOR PUBLIC L AND IN THE NORTHWEST
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Strengthening Schoolyards, Strengthening Communities Schoolyards have long been part of the fabric of community life across the Northwest. They are places where children play and learn, families gather, and neighbors connect—and in communities with a strong need for more access to parks, they can provide some of the most important public outdoor space available.
At Larchmont and in communities across the Northwest, schoolyards are becoming greener, healthier places where children can explore, build confidence, and develop lasting relationships with the outdoors—and where families and neighbors can feel at home outside.
Trust for Public Land works alongside students, educators, families, and community partners to transform existing schoolyards into nature-rich places shaped by the people who use them every day. Through an inclusive, participatory design process, students help envision where they will learn and play, while community members contribute ideas grounded in local needs, culture, and identity. The resulting schoolyards may include interactive play areas, outdoor classrooms, native landscaping, gathering spaces, walking paths, and nature-based solutions to help manage stormwater and extreme heat. Each is unique, but all are designed to support learning, recreation, health, and community connection long after the final school bell rings.
A New Community Space at Larchmont Elementary In Tacoma, community partners remained committed to transforming the schoolyard at Larchmont Elementary despite unexpected challenges along the way. Working with Tacoma Public Schools, Parks Tacoma, the City of Tacoma, and local supporters, TPL helped bring the community’s vision to life. The revitalized schoolyard features nature-based stormwater infrastructure, new play equipment, an outdoor classroom, walking trails, expanded vegetation, and a permanent traffic garden where children can practice navigating streets safely. Located in a neighborhood where many families want access to a park close to home, the schoolyard will provide more than 2,400 nearby residents with a welcoming place to learn, play, gather, and connect with nature. 4 |
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Larchmont Community Schoolyard. PHOTOS BY DAVID RYDER
Rural Schoolyards: Realizing the Vision This year marked an exciting milestone for Trust for Public Land’s Oregon Rural Community Schoolyards program as communities celebrated the completion and advancement of several successful schoolyard transformations. Each transformation begins with local voices. In Madras and Ontario alone, more than 1,700 students and community members have helped create new visions for their schoolyards.
Madras Elementary School In Madras, students, families, and community partners came together to reimagine the schoolyard at Madras Elementary School as a welcoming outdoor space that reflects the community’s connection to the surrounding high desert landscape. Serving a diverse student population, including members of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the redesigned schoolyard was shaped through extensive community participation and includes new play opportunities, gathering spaces, and outdoor learning amenities designed to support both students and residents.
Riddle Elementary School In southwestern Oregon, students and residents are helping transform Riddle Elementary’s aging asphalt, fields, and play equipment into a vibrant community schoolyard. The project is being envisioned in partnership with the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, whose ancestral homelands include Riddle and the surrounding communities.
Alameda Elementary School In Ontario, students and community members have envisioned a new schoolyard at Alameda Elementary School that serves both the school and the broader community. Located next to Alameda Park, a major hub for youth sports and recreation, the redesigned space features new play equipment, shaded gathering areas, landscaping, and community-focused amenities selected through our participatory design process. The new space will expand opportunities for recreation, support student well-being, and provide a welcoming destination for families throughout Malheur County. As these schoolyards take come to life, rural communities are gaining places where children connect with nature, families enjoy time outdoors together, and neighborhoods benefit from safe, welcoming spaces rooted in local character that reflect each community’s needs and values. We look forward to working alongside more communities to reimagine and transform schoolyards throughout Oregon and beyond.
Madras Community Schoolyard. PHOTO BY JOSEPH PRECHTL
With state funding awarded to the Riddle School District earlier this year, construction is expected to conclude by the end of 2026. Plans call for student-selected play equipment, art by local artists, accessible green space, and amenities that will serve both the school and its neighbors outside school hours.
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Conserving Lands Through Tribal Partnership Earlier this year, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians hosted a Tribal Funders Roundtable in Oregon, bringing together philanthropic partners to learn about the Tribe’s efforts to reacquire ancestral lands and steward them for future generations. Trust for Public Land was grateful to participate as a guest and to learn alongside other attendees. Participants gained a deeper understanding of the Tribal connections between land, community, and conversation. They discussed how Tribal stewardship supports healthy forests, clean water, cultural traditions, and climate resilience—and how funders and nonprofit organizations can best support efforts that help Tribes restore connections to culturally significant landscapes.
Reconnecting with Canyon Creek TPL is working alongside the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians as the Tribe pursues the reacquisition of Canyon Creek, a forested landscape
within its ancestral homeland in southwestern Oregon. The effort represents an important step in the Tribe’s long-term vision to reconnect with ancestral lands and expand Indigenous stewardship across a broader landscape. The Cow Creek peoples’ connection to this land stretches back thousands of years. Canyon Creek lies within a region of extraordinary biodiversity and cultural significance. Its forests provide wildlife habitat, support traditional cultural practices, and protect a watershed that supplies drinking water to the nearby community of Canyonville. Under the Tribe’s stewardship, the land could support sustainable forest management, habitat restoration, climate resilience, and the continuation of cultural traditions for future generations. TPL is honored to follow the Cow Creek Band’s lead at Canyon Creek, contributing land conservation expertise while respecting the Tribe’s sovereignty, priorities, and enduring relationship with its ancestral homeland.
Canyon Creek.
Trail runner.
PHOTO BY TPL STAFF PHOTO BY TIDEWAY CREATIVE
PHOTO BY TIDEWAY CREATIVE
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Protecting Washington’s Lands and Waters Across Washington, Trust for Public Land works with communities and public agencies to conserve landscapes that support clean water, wildlife, outdoor recreation, climate resilience, and local economies. These collaborative efforts protect forests, rivers, parks, and other cherished places while expanding public access to the outdoors and strengthening connections between people and nature. Together, they help ensure that our communities and natural landscapes remain healthy, dynamic, and resilient.
Upper Wenatchee Watershed In 2025, TPL protected and transferred 11,520 acres in the Upper Wenatchee Watershed to the U.S. Forest Service—a milestone more than a decade in the making and a major step toward a community vision of conserving up to 30,000 acres surrounding Leavenworth and Wenatchee. Over the course of the year, TPL continued working with partners to advance the next phase of conservation in the watershed, helping complete the purchase of more than 10,000 additional acres. Together, these efforts are creating a connected landscape that will provide lasting benefits for people and wildlife across the region. Keeping these forests intact will expand access to popular recreation areas; protect cold, clean water for salmon and steelhead; reconnect wildlife habitat; and make landscape-scale forest restoration possible. As increasingly hot, dry summers intensify wildfire risks, this work will also help build resilience for nearby communities.
Pearrygin Lake State Park When one of the last privately owned properties on Pearrygin Lake became available near Winthrop, TPL didn’t hesitate to take action. Working with the landowners and Washington State Parks, we protected more than 24 acres until the state secured funding to add it to Pearrygin Lake State Park.
Pearrygin Lake. PHOTO BY TPL STAFF
The property provides the final missing section needed to eventually complete the Rex Derr Trail around the lakeshore. Once incorporated into the park, the addition will help create a more seamless recreational experience for visitors exploring Pearrygin Lake’s shoreline and surrounding landscapes. Its protection expands recreation and shoreline access, connects habitat within the existing 1,200-acre park, and preserves the scenic character that supports the Methow Valley’s outdoor economy. From the forests of the Upper Wenatchee to the Yakima River and Pearrygin Lake, these conservation successes are helping shape a future where people, wildlife, and landscapes thrive and remain connected across Washington.
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THANK YOU for helping create parks, protect special places, and connect more people to the outdoors throughout Oregon, Washington, and beyond.
NORTHWEST ADVISORY BOARD David Allnutt, Co-Chair
Peter Ackroyd
Marcia Matthaei
Shon Sylvia
Leslie Redd, Co-Chair
Joshua Anderson
Rupa Patel
Vehro Titcomb
Gail DeGiulio, Vice Chair
Teresa Bendito
Tom Reeve*
Jerry Tone*
Owen Wozniak, Vice Chair
Jill Chelimer
Cody Reiter
Suzanne Geary
Sarah Stephens
*Emeritus National Board Member
1218 Third Avenue, Suite 1700 Seattle, WA 98101
Join us Your gift ensures 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
Mitsu Iwasaki Associate Vice President Northwest Director mitsu.iwasaki@tpl.org 425.922.2940 Stephen Hatfield Associate Director of Philanthropy stephen.hatfield@tpl.org 503.217.4582
COVER, L ARGE: © DAVID RYDER; TOP TO BOT TOM: © JOHN SCIARRINO; © TOM WILLIAMS; © SEAN BENESH; THIS PAGE: © TPL STAFF