Connecting Everyone to the Outdoors in the Northwest!
Spending time outdoors nurtures joy, improves health, and strengthens connections to nature and one another. These are among the many reasons we are on a journey to create and conserve places that bring us outside—parks, playgrounds, public lands, and trails— and ensure these places are accessible to communities that surround them.
This year, your support allowed us to complete two schoolyards in Tacoma, Washington and break ground on two more neighboring schools. In Oregon, you furthered progress on three community-led rural schoolyards. We also placed a conservation easement at Camp Waskowitz in the Mountain to Sound Greenway and mobilized the Springwood Ranch project. We continue to make profound impact throughout our beloved Northwest with the Healthy Forest, Healthy Community program, from preserving critical forestland in Oregon to connecting integral landscapes in Washington.
We are looking forward to 2025 with enthusiasm. Our portfolio of new projects is growing, and we are poised to increase our investment in expanding trails and green spaces, further activate the Jim Ellis Fund, and break ground on more parks and schoolyards.
Our new President and CEO, Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser will begin her tenure. She brings a wealth of experience in public policy, philanthropy, the outdoor industry, and
community engagement. Most recently, she served as President and CEO of Colorado Mountain College. Her love for adventure and outdoor spaces is reflected in her career and identity. Her skills and experiences coupled to her belief that the outdoors and nature are critical for everyone make her ideal for leading TPL into the next chapter. Carrie’s leadership will be instrumental as we continue to elevate outdoor access through equity, health, climate, and community commitments.
As TPL looks to the future, we remain committed to our vision of a world where every person can connect with the outdoors. We appreciate your steadfast support of this vision. Thank you for partnering with us on this journey.
Sincerely,
Mitsu Iwasaki Associate Vice President & Northwest Regional Director
PHOTO BY TEGRA STONE NUESS
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Tualatin Mountain Forest Project
Oregon’s world-famous landscape of lush forests, gleaming streams, and endless opportunities for adventure are where millions of outdoor enthusiasts find their solace. Located within 30 minutes of downtown Portland and near the beloved Forest Park, the Tualatin Mountains are well-used by residents and visitors looking to experience Oregon’s natural beauty.
TPL is partnering with Oregon State University and consulting with the Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde to conserve this forestland for generations to come. Once acquired, the university will own and manage
It is essential to conserve Oregon’s forests to help ensure this land remains healthy, well managed, and accessible to Oregonians, visitors, and future generations.”
— Jeff Merkley, Oregon U.S. Senator
the land as a working research forest, pioneering climatesmart forestry methods.
Beyond scientific research, public ownership of the Tualatin Mountain property will provide free and closeto-home access to 24 miles of mixed-use trails for hiking, biking, and bird watching.
The Tualatin Mountain project will serve as a national model for an actively managed forest, mitigate the impacts of climate change, and expand public access and recreation opportunities. In May 2024, the U.S. Forest Service awarded $3.63 million to further support the project through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Legacy Program. The successful conservation of this forestland will build on TPL’s legacy in the Portland region, with past projects including Sandy River Delta, Chehalem Ridge, and many popular destinations in the Columbia River Gorge.
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Together, we can enhance outdoor access for all Oregonians and protect this space for future generations.
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PHOTO BY NICK GRIER
The Opportunity of a Lifetime Watershed-scale Conservation in Chelan County
Upper Wenatchee Watershed
TPL has been working alongside partners including Chelan County, Chelan-Douglas Land Trust, and the US Forest Service since 2019 to preserve up to 35,000 acres of picturesque mountains and timberland around Leavenworth and Wenatchee.
The Upper Wenatchee Watershed spans the eastern slope of the Central Cascades, draining water from Stevens Pass and Blewett Pass into the Columbia River. Much of this land is lush, forested, and protected by public ownership. However, efforts to manage the public forestland have been hindered by privately owned and checkerboarded inholdings across the landscape. Preserving this land will create miles of unbroken wildlife corridors and support the community’s goals to restore the region’s forests and watersheds, enhance
Leave your legacy
The Mary and Wallace Stegner Society honors individuals who make a legacy gift to TPL. When you arrange a gift to TPL in your estate, you join a growing number of visionary supporters committed to connecting everyone to the outdoors.
If you have already included TPL in your estate plans or would like to learn more, please let us know by contacting 202.856.3748 or plannedgiving@tpl.org.
recreational opportunities, support the local economy, and mitigate the risk of wildfires.
Funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the first phase of the Upper Wenatchee Watershed Community Lands Plan has been secured through the US Forest Service. The investment would allow TPL to secure the first 11,610 acres of this massive project by Summer 2025.
Follow along for updates as we convey parcels as far north as Stevens Pass and through the Wenatchee Watershed for public benefit. We hope you consider a donation to support operational costs related to this legacy project.
Outside for All
All people need access to nature and the outdoors, close to home, in the cities and communities where they live. At TPL, we lift local leadership and wisdom to create parks and protect public land where they are needed most.
Springwood Ranch
Over the last three years, TPL has worked alongside the Yakama Nation, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Kittitas County, and the Kittitas Reclamation District to secure the 3,600-acre Springwood Ranch site in Kittitas County as part of the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan. The ranch features rolling hills, wildlife habitat, and more than six miles of Yakima River Frontage. Placing Springwood Ranch in the hands of these four stewards will greatly benefit the people of the Yakima Basin and the State of Washington by protecting biodiversity, building climate resilience, sustaining agriculture, and restoring ancestral lands to the Yakama Nation.
Camp Waskowitz
In June 2024, TPL helped preserve the historic Camp Waskowitz, a 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps property housing one of Washington’s longest-running outdoor education programs. In partnership with Highline Schools, King County, and the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, TPL secured a 345-acre conservation easement over the forested portion of the property, protecting the area in perpetuity, expanding public access, and generating over $7 million to fund scholarships and maintain the outdoor education center. Over 60% of the district’s students are eligible for free or reduced-priced lunch and many do not have access to
I am honored to work alongside Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities to ensure future generations are reconnected to their cherished and native lands, cultures, sovereignty, and traditions.”
Dr. Ken Lucero, TPL Tribal and Indigenous Lands Director
Members of the Klamath Tribe drummers, offering a blessing at the start of the groundbreaking ceremony. PHOTOS BY SPAYNE MARTINEZ; BELOW: DAVID RYDER
parks in their neighborhoods. For some students, time spent at Waskowitz can be a life-changing experience.
Tribal and Indigenous Lands
In Oregon, TPL is working in partnership with the Cow Creek Umpqua Tribe as they seek to reacquire a portion of their ancestral land. TPL’s collaboration with the Tribe aims to blend traditional ecological wisdom with modern conservation, promoting sustainable futures for both the Tribe and the broader community. Support for this initiative will aid in the restoration of ancestral lands, benefiting the Tribe and the community with cleaner water and air, wildfire resilience, and the return of vital wildlife populations.
Community Schoolyards ® in the Northwest
A Parks Solution in Plain Site
TPL’s Community Schoolyards® initiative strives to bring nature’s gifts to every child by converting black top schoolyards into rich environments for learning and play. Accessible outside school hours, these spaces also serve as neighborhood parks. As we work to bring everyone in the United States within a 10-minute walk of a park, we look to schoolyards to fill the gaps and enrich communities across the region where resources and space for new park facilities may not otherwise exist.
Washington
By the end of 2024, TPL will have completed work at four Community Schoolyards projects in Tacoma, with a fifth in construction. Reimagined, rebuilt, and revitalized schoolyards at Reed, Stafford, Mann, and Whitman Elementary Schools will bring over 25,000 households within a 10-minute walk of a park and have a huge impact on academic, health, and social outcomes for hundreds of students.
And our work is just beginning. We are in the process of identifying additional schoolyard sites throughout Tacoma and are partnering on projects in South Seattle, Renton and South King County, and are building partnerships throughout Pierce county.
Oregon
In Oregon, TPL’s focus has been on developing schoolyards in rural communities, connecting Oregonians to the joys and benefits of the outdoors through their Community Schoolyards. We piloted the Rural Community
Schoolyard concept in Chiloquin and have three other Oregon Rural Community Schoolyards underway in Madras, Ontario, and Riddle.
Nationwide, TPL has transformed more than 300 underused schoolyards into nature-rich parks designed to improve education, health, and climate outcomes. Through our successes, we hope to create a replicable model and toolkit for other rural communities to adopt throughout the country.
The Oregon Rural Community Schoolyard Program is indicative of the spirit of rural communities. We are thrilled to continue our support for other rural schoolyards.”
Erin Borla, Executive Director of the Roundhouse Foundation
PHOTO BY DAVID RYDER
NORTHWEST ADVISORY BOARD
Peter Ackroyd
David Allnutt , Co-Vice Chair
Joshua Anderson, Chair
Teresa Bendito-Zepeda
Tony Cavalieri, Co-Chair
Jill Chelimer
Megan Colwell
Gail DeGiulio
James Fearn
Barbara Fielden
Alden Garrett
Suzanne Geary
Marcia Matthaei
Rupa Patel
Leslie Redd, Co-Vice Chair
Thomas S. Reeve*
Cody Reiter
Sarah Stephens
Shon Sylvia
Vehro Titcomb
F. Jerome Tone*
Owen Wozniak
Mitsu Iwasaki
Northwest Regional Director & Associate Vice President mitsu.iwasaki@tpl.org 425.922.2940
EMERITUS BOARD MEMBERS
Marco Abbruzzese
Tom Bayley
T. William Booth
Campbell Mathewson
Brady P. Walkinshaw
Martha M. Wyckoff * Also serves on National Board
Roland Carette-Meyers Northwest Associate Director of Philanthropy roland.carette-meyers@tpl.org 253.973.5250
Stephen Hatfield Oregon Associate Director of Philanthropy stephen.hatfield@tpl.org 503.217.4582
15 SW Colorado Avenue Suite 100 Bend, OR 97702
tpl.org/donate