Our History: 2007 & Beyond
Photo courtesy of the Sonoran InstituteEarly this year, we finished our foundation-initiated research covering: socio-economic, demographic and ecological data; non-partisan political assessments; and media trends and coverage. Then we traveled throughout the Northwest sharing the findings with conservation groups and asking for feedback.
As part of our new strategy, and at the urging of our board, we designed a new evaluation plan that better measures how the foundation and our grantees are doing. Specifically, we are interested in how well we collectively strengthen the base of support for conservation, strengthen organizational capacity and improve state-level conservation policies.
In the winter of 2008, Paul Brainerd announced his intention to spend the foundation's entire endowment in the next 10 to 12 years, "Despite all that we have accomplished, the ecological challenges before us are as significant as humanity has ever faced. I believe we must each do whatever we can to protect the natural resources that sustain this planet because the need is nothing short of urget. There are many ways to accomplish this, of course, and mine is to see that the foundation's entire endowment is spent in my lifetime. After much thought, I have decided to spend-out the foundation's assets over the next 10 to 12 years and then pass the baton to a new generation of conservationists and philanthropists."
Grantmaking Highlights
Marking the first year of grantmaking under our newly minted strategic shift, we are happy to report significant achievements in all three of our major funding areas.
Conservation Policy
Each year in the Northwest, coalitions of conservation organizations work to build bipartisan support for state-level policy priorities. In both Oregon and Washington, 2007 was a red letter year with wins achieved on all community priorities. In fact, many observers in Oregon hailed 2007 as the most pro-environment legislative session in decades. The Brainerd Foundation provided general support funding for the organizations leading these efforts.
2007 brought public debates about land-use planning to the fore statewide in Oregon and in the Mat-Su Borough of Alaska. Grants to 1000 Friends and other groups in Oregon and to Alaska Center for the Environment, in collaboration with local groups, helped to bring public education resources to those debates.
Place-based Conservation
In our High Divide focus area, the Madison County (Montana) Board of Commissioners adopted a growth management plan and the Lemhi County (Idaho) Commission adopted a new comprehensive plan. These achievements were due in no small measure to Brainerd grantees including the Madison Valley Ranchlands Group, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Salmon Valley Stewardship, Lemhi Regional Land Trust, the Sonoran Institute and Conservation Geography.
Conservation Capacity
In November, due to the persistent work of Conservation Capacity grantee Earthjustice, the Bush administration dropped a years-long effort to strip salmon protections from watersheds in Northwest national forests. This was in response to a federal court ruling that the Bush administration acted illegally by suppressing scientific dissent when it illegally modified environmental safeguards provided by the Northwest Forest Plan.