This year is one of continued programmatic honing and sunset preparations. As part of this effort, so far this year we have sharpened our Theory of Change so it incorporates our sunset goals and better reflects how we achieve them. We have also contracted with the Center for Effective Philanthropy to evaluate our work using its Grantee Perception Survey, which confirmed we were on track for how we interact with our grantees and add value to the grantee community.

We have also gained new leverage by embracing the concept of being a learning organization, meaning that we continually search for creative approaches to communications and engagement, ask grantees what they need most or where their biggest challenges lie, experiment with new grants, assess old models, and pose evocative questions about what would make our work and our grantees' work more effective.

Grantmaking Highlights

Conservation Policy

Despite challenging political environments in 2011, coalitions of conservation organizations managed to make progress on priority campaigns to protect our region's air, land, and water.

In Washington, the governor signed into a law a bill phasing out the state's only coal-fired power plant. Conservation advocates worked for years on this historic agreement, reaching out to local residents near the plant, organized labor and the governor.

In Oregon, unanimous passage of the "Cool Schools" bill will speed the implementation of energy efficiency upgrades in the state's schools. Expansion of the state's Bottle Bill to include a greater number of consumer products, is expected to significantly increase recycling rates of containers and keep the state one of the nation's leaders on recycling.

In Montana, conservation advocates successfully appealed to the governor to veto some of the most egregious bills passed by the state legislature, including a repeal of the voter-approved ban on cyanide mining and bills that would undercut renewable energy standards, and limit the ability of local governments to use zoning and planning tools.

In Alaska, conservation advocates prevailed upon the governor to protect priority energy efficiency investments in the face of sweeping budget cuts. In Anchorage, four pro-conservation candidates were elected to the Chugach Electric Board, allowing the state to move forward with key renewable energy projects.

Place-based Conservation

The Flathead agreement between the U.S. and Canada was formalized and major oil companies voluntarily retired more than 200,000 acres of oil and gas leases in the U.S. Flathead. Additionally, the Nature Conservancy and the Nature Conservancy of Canada announced a commitment to provide $9.4 million to the province of British Columbia to help offset the costs of enacting the 2010 partnership between B.C. and the state of Montana. The agreement will prevent coal mining and oil and gas development on nearly 400,000 acres in British Columbia.

The Taku River Tlingit First Nation signed historic agreements with the British Columbian government establishing land protection measures and shared management responsibility for their ancestral lands. The new land use plan protects more than seven million acres from commercial logging and designates over two million acres as First Nation Conservancy Parks. The Brainerd Foundation's early investments in the Taku helped build early momentum for this effort.

Conservation Capacity

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed WELC's victory strengthening conservationists' ability to prevent environmentally devastating actions from going forward while the project is in court. WELC's precedent-setting victory on the issue of preliminary injunctions is being hailed far-and-wide.

The foundation's goal to strengthen Northwest journalism was partly realized through a Society of Environmental Journalists conference: 381 professional journalists exposed to a variety of western environmental issues for 3-4 days, at a conference that was full of energy and strong educational programming.