Conservation Northwest

15 years of Northwest Ecosystem Alliance Another piece of magic transpired months after we had finished raising the $13.1 million we'd been told was needed to purchase the timber rights and protect the Loomis. The State Board of Natural Resources had raised the price on us by $3.4 million. Outraged, we quickly got the news to the press. The next day, meeting in the office trying to figure out what in the heck we were going to do, we got a phone call from Paul Allen's foundation. Reading about our plight on the front page of the newspaper, they'd decided to give us the $3.4 million needed to finish protecting the Loomis Forest! That's the kind of magic day you never forget. I think the only day I ever laughed harder or smiled bigger was the day I found out my wife, Laurie, and I were having twins. Outreach Both Challenging and Fruitful Sawmill Creek old growth saved by The Partnership, another NWEA brainchild coalition. Dave Atcheson Heidi Eisenhour now divides her time between working as Development Coordinator for the Northwest Maritime Center capital campaign in Port Townsend and as business manager for her husband, David, a sculptor. David helped prepare the first Doug slab for its Ancient Forest Roadshow this summer. Where did it all start? My love for Northwest Ecosystem Alliance began in 1999 when I worked as government relations staff for The Nature Conservancy of Washington and began sitting in on meetings of the Loomis Forest Fund capital campaign. Eventually this led me to a staff position with The Cascades Conservation Partnership, a campaign that equaled (and some may argue eclipsed) previous efforts in the annals of regional conservation. A letter signed by nearly 70 scientists said that The Partnership addressed the major ecological problem of maintaining landscape connectivity in the Washington Cascades. That was something I wanted to be a part of and for three challenging and fruitful years was. As outreach director for The Partnership I had the privilege of meeting residents and electeds on both sides of the Cascade crest, talking to them about the dwindling thread that held the Cascades together from north to south and our plan to weave some reinforcement in the fabric of this ecosystem's connectivity. It was the vision of the leaders of NWEA and the groups' partners, including Mitch Friedman, Fred Munson, Charlie Raines, Bill Pope, and Tom Campion, that brought the goal into focus. I was honored to be part of the small team that helped bring this vision along. Together, we drew 17,000 supporters. We raised over $72 million in public and private dollars and protected nearly 35,000 acres. But, the work is not done. There are highways (I-90 for example) to bridge, trails to restore, and streams to protect. But without the audacity and earnestness of these leaders and the tight staff team they assembled, it is clear that the region would hold a lot less hope for the future of Washington's Cascades. Members as Friends and Allies Christie Raschke has a degree in environmental science, and started at NWEA as an intern working on forest policy issues. She is currently studying to get her teacher's certificate with a focus on chemistry. One of my early memories at NWEA is opening big piles of mail after we'd just sent out a mailing. It was my first look at who our members are. Those envelopes were filled with more than generous donations. On many occasions people would write words of encouragement on the envelope or response form— 18 Northwest Ecosystem Alliance www.ecosystem.org Sally Hewitt To learn more about what the Ancient Forest Roadshow is up to, go to www.forestroadshow.org

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