Our History: 2006
Lemhi Valley, Idaho. Courtesy of Lemhi Regional Land TrustAfter an intensive planning process, we adopted a new strategic plan that we hope brings some innovative thinking to conservation in the Northwest. This shift in focus put a greater emphasis on building deeper public support for conservation in our region, strengthened by a renewed commitment to our core values, methods and approaches. This comes from the realization that if we want to see enduring protection of the places we care about, we must increase the commitment of policymakers and community leaders to embrace a deeper conservation ethic.
In 2006, we began conducting baseline analyses of each of the states and provinces in our funding region. These include non-partisan political assessments, regional trend analyses and media research to inform the foundation's future strategies and priorities. This research was designed to be shared with our grantees and funder colleagues.
As part of our shift in strategy, we created a new Grassroots Fund to help bring new voices to conservation concerns at the community level. In 2006, for example, this fund provided support to the Lemhi Regional Land Trust, a newly-formed organization working to maintain stewardship opportunities for rural landowners. This grant recognizes the importance of their efforts to conserve ranchland, wildlife habitat and environmental and cultural resources by building local, grassroots conservation capacity in a threatened region.
Grantmaking Highlights
The Brainerd Foundation has long relied upon the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) and other bedrock environmental laws and regulations to protect critical ecosystems in the region. In 2006, we continued to support the exemplary efforts of the Western Environmental Law Center and Earthjustice to defend these critical laws. Because of their sustained efforts, the structure of the NWFP has withstood nearly six years of legal challenges.
In Washington State, environmental protection faced a renewed threat from a ballot initiative intended to undermine the state's land use planning efforts. Similar to a previous grant made in 1995, the foundation funded an economic analysis by the University of Washington of the proposed ballot measure. This research highlighted the economic and legal impacts associated with the measure.
Further up the coast, we provided a grant to the Alaska Conservation Alliance in support of their new vision that capitalizes on bridge-building with new communities. Their latest efforts to link environmental protection and economic development demonstrate an innovative approach for protecting Alaska's air, land and water.
In February of 2006, after a decade-long struggle, the B.C. provincial government granted formal protection to the Great Bear Rainforest. A full 33% of the area's 15.5 million acres is now off limits to logging while the remaining two thirds is subject to a better, lighter-touch logging. The Brainerd Foundation made early investments in this work by groups like Round River Conservation Studies, Ecotrust Canada, Greenpeace and the Sierra Club of Canada, BC Chapter.