Conservation Northwest protects and connects old-growth forests and other wild areas from the Washington Coast to the British Columbia Rockies, vital to a healthy future for us, our children, and wildlife. Since 1989, Conservation Northwest has worke
Issue link: http://conservationnw.uberflip.com/i/209895
From the development director Journey Ahead Brings Challenges and Change for Conservation I remember the day I decided to return to school. I was taking kids backpacking in British Columbia in the summer of 1993. Nine high schools girls and I had stopped for a snack while hiking down a logging road to get to our pickup spot, when we were interrupted by a logging truck barreling around the corner. We were mentally crushed to think about the very forest we hiked through a week earlier being logged. The rapid liquidation of our Northwest old-growth forests was already on my mind, but this incident really motivated me. I started an environmental studies program at Western Washington University the next fall. If anyone would have told me then that I'd someday be the business and development director for a conservation organization with a budget of over $1 million, I would have laughed aloud. Even now, an environmental policy degree seems inadequate preparation for a person in my position. But, applying a lesson I learned from biology class, I've found that the ability to change and adapt is key to survival. Northwest Ecosystem Alliance has been an excellent role model in this regard. I started laying out the Northwest Ecosystem Alliance newsletter in 1998 as a part-time contractor. But my participation with the organization increased dramatically after Mitch Friedman and the NWEA board took a huge risk and struck a deal to buy 25,000 acres of the Loomis State Forest. Mary Humphries, development director at that time, recruited me as part of a team that was supposed to raise $13 million to save a place I'd barely heard of and never seen. My excuses were abundant. "You want me to call people and ask for money? Encourage a room full of people to give more to this cause than they've ever given before? But, that's crazy. I don't know any fundraising techniques!" I pictured it like taking a calculus test—but even scarier. With less than seven months to raise these funds, I challenged myself to do something I had never done before, just as NWEA itself was doing. And, to my surprise, I found that meeting with someone who also cares about forests, water, and wildlife and asking her for a substantial gift was not nearly as difficult as taking a calculus test. Asking for financial support was really just developing a relationship with a NWEA member, finding a connection through a cause we both believed in, and creating an opportunity to make a difference. You, our members, continue to inspire us to think big and take risks. I went from a crash course in fundraising 101 to directing all of our development efforts. NWEA proved successful in raising funds for the Loomis and has continued to test new tactics, form new partnerships, and expand programs where there are new opportunities. I hope you'll participate in the next 15 years of our journey with us, as we change and adapt to find the most innovative opportunities to solve the challenges facing the Northwest's wildlands and wildlife. Thanks for your support—you are an integral part of keeping the Northwest wild. Jodi Broughton at Hart's Cove, Oregon. Andy Wickstrand It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new.…There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power. —Andy Cohen Note: Mitch Friedman is on sabbatical and will return next issue. Jodi Broughton Keeping the Northwest wild Summer 2004 3