2024
annual report
Letter from our Board Chair and CEO
Dear Friends,
In a world of dizzying changes, the lands we protect together offer something increasingly rare: certainty. Forests that stand. Habitat that nurtures fish and wildlife. Communities that thrive.
2024 CONSERVATION WINS
While pursuing numerous conservation projects that will close soon, Forterra completed several real estate transactions in 2024 protecting both wild and working lands in urban and rural settings.
Duwamish Hill Preserve
We added a seemingly small but impactful one acre to Duwamish Hill Preserve in Tukwila – halting the threat of development and encroachment of this urban treasure.
Once buried under years of trash, vandalism and junk cars, it’s now full of big trees, an impressive variety of native plants, winding accessible trails, and beautiful interpretive art that captures the rich history of the Puget Sound Salish.
Our collaboration with the City of Tukwila to protect Duwamish Hill dates back 20 years. Community involvement and countless efforts by volunteers have helped restore the entire ecosystem of this former industrial storage yard.
Duwamish Hill Preserve opened as a public park in 2010. Today, it serves as an excellent outdoor classroom.
Saint Edwards State Park
We facilitated the purchase of nearly 6.5 acres at Arrowhead in Kenmore, expanding Saint Edwards State Park. This rare undeveloped shoreline on the north end of Lake Washington enhances a critical wildlife corridor. The conservation easement we secured prevents it from ever being developed.
The hilly terrain showcases a mature native forest of diverse species. It adjoins a network of parks that is home to a surprising variety of animals – including bobcat, flying squirrel, long-tailed weasel and river otter. Its streams historically have supported Chinook, coho and other salmon species.
Arrowhead’s buffer will prevent habitat loss from development and protect water quality in a rapidly growing region.
Hancock Creek
Our 30-acre purchase of timber rights at Hancock Creek fills a critical conservation gap in the Central Cascades.
Forterra had previously purchased the land from Cugini Land and Timber. Securing the timber rights permanently protects this mature and old growth forest – home to the marbled murrelet and northern spotted owl. This marks Forterra’s eighth acquisition at Hancock Creek, preserving 778 acres. It completes our longstanding Hancock Creek conservation initiative near Mt. Si.
Naneum Creek
We purchased a significant conservation easement for a 146-acre family farm along upper Naneum Creek in Kittitas County – one of the fastest growing counties in Washington.
This acquisition protects prime agricultural land from the threat of development while ensuring its availability for current and future generations of farmers and ranchers. It preserves the community’s heritage and protects cultural artifacts of the Yakama Nation.
The property is located at the confluence of Naneum and Wilson creeks with healthy riparian forest that provides shade and nutrients to the streams. Home to 40 acres of critical shrub-steppe habitat, this land is also part of the Ellensburg Foothills Wildlife Corridor.
Woods Lake
We conserved 40-acres of unique freshwater bog habitat and surrounding forested wetlands at Woods Lake in Snohomish County – an area at risk of encroaching development. Forterra first began pursuing protection of Woods Lake back in 2007.
Sharing a history of conservation partnerships in the Skykomish Basin, we transferred this property in late 2024 to the Tulalip Tribes for culturally-informed ecological stewardship and education.
Chehalis Basin
The Chehalis River Basin stretches from the foothills of Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier to the Pacific Coast. Climate change has worsened flooding here and diminished habitat for aquatic life and threatened homes.
In 2024, we purchased the second of two homes to allow removal and Chehalis Basin floodplain restoration on an oxbow of the Chehalis River.
Kachess Lodge
Within hours of a grant funding expiration date in the fall, we succeeded in conserving the 30-acre old Kachess Lodge property at Swamp Lake. After removal of dilapidated structures, this land purchase will enable expansion of safe I-90 wildlife crossings – projects Forterra has long been involved with government and non-profit partners.
Oyhut
In the closing hours of 2024, we celebrated New Year’s Eve with an exciting 18-acre land acquisition in Oyhut. We secured three undeveloped parcels adjacent to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Oyhut Wildlife Recreation Area. On the south end of the Ocean Shores peninsula, this property includes native wetland vegetation and serves as a vital buffer to existing development. Working closely with the Office of the Chehalis Basin, we’re now seeking grant funding for future plans.
More projects are slated to close by year’s end.
REMEDIATION AND COMMUNITY BENEFITS
Old #4 mine, date unknown
Forterra has worked with the community and leaders in the Kittitas County town of Roslyn to cleanup of an old coal mine we purchased in 2020.
The No. 4 Mine was active until about 1909 when it was shut down following an explosion. Foundry operations continued for remaining mines until 1963. Roslyn has since reinvented itself from a mining town to an outdoor recreation destination. This is a small town undergoing the impacts of regional growth.
Area slated for remediation and redevelopment.
In June 2024, EPA selected Forterra for a nearly $1.8 million cleanup grant with the award scheduled for 2025. We also won two state planning grants for cleanup and development. This funding will help transform the historic 30-acre mine site into a vibrant community resource, paving the way for economic development and environmental restoration.
RETURNING FROG’S HOME TO THE YAKAMA NATION
Alukw’át Nisháykt (Frog’s Home)
Alukw’át Nisháykt, or Frog’s Home, is 180 acres with significant ancestral and cultural value for the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation.
Located south of Union Gap, it’s where the Yakima River flows wide through the landscape forming braids of new and old water patterns. For millions of years this river, the longest in Washington, has shaped the landscape by constantly altering its course. This has created a thriving wetland, rich in plants and wildlife. But decades of historic use have damaged this otherwise lush and vibrant area. Our collective goal: restore critical habitat through traditional Tribal stewardship and ultimately return the ancestral site to Yakama Nation ownership.
In 2023, Yakama Nation secured some of the land for Frog’s Home, while Forterra got creative to provide interim financing to take the remaining land off the market. Together in 2024, we worked to raise the funds necessary to complete the purchase and transfer the property to Yakama Nation in 2025.
FLOODplain resilience
Map of Hamilton and the Skagit River
Nestled along the Skagit River, the town of Hamilton is a rural community of 300 residents that has suffered frequent flooding since its incorporation in 1891.
More than 50% of Hamilton is in the Skagit River floodway with 10 devasting floods since 1976. Forterra’s work stems from a 2023 Washington Department of Ecology grant to reduce flood hazards by getting people, houses, and infrastructure out of the Skagit River floodway. This will facilitate reclamation of up to 300 acres of floodplain habitat. The Ecology grant funds community engagement, acquisition and relocation activities – all voluntary.
More grant funding is necessary to complete relocation and acquisition of new properties, and then to implement large-scale restoration. This long-term project requires coordination with local municipalities, state and federal entities, developers, and local Native American tribes. We plan to apply for grants to continue this work.
We recently concluded a similar project in the Chehalis Basin and have three flood plain protection projects underway in the Chehalis River estuary.
DELIVERING TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE ON THE GROUND
Forterra’s Evergreen Restoration Program plants native trees and shrubs around Puget Sound that enhance the lands we steward. We also support our partners in their restoration work. From Forterra Friday volunteer restoration events to corporate work parties and educational webinars, we empower climate resiliency action.
2024 Impacts on the Ground
- Benefited from 350+ volunteer hours
- Hosted 12 restoration events from Crystal Springs Park in Tukwila to Camp Kilworth in Federal Way
- Removed 15,400 square feet of invasive species for the first time
- Maintained 50,000 square feet of previously restored land
- Planted 234 trees and plants
- Through our Trees for Field Partners Programs and Evergreen Carbon Capture programs, Forterra supplied 2,755 trees to field partners across the region – from Belfair to Seattle to Bellingham.
Participants of the Evergreen Restoration Program
Our Evergreen Restoration Program is also collaborating with community organizations to increase tree canopy in urban heat islands.
A young tree planted by participants of the Evergreen Restoration Program.
A highlight of our restoration work? Forterra’s Community Restoration Grants program. We are growing this young program, funding opportunities for historically under-invested communities to take the lead in restoring land for the well-being of both nature and people.
2024 Community Restoration Grants Impacts
- Received final reports for the first two rounds of grants totaling $94,000 in awards from 2023.
This included project funding to Partner in Employment, Yəhaw̓, Trout Unlimited, Earth Wilders, Tilth Alliance and Whale Scout.
More than 1,000 volunteers supported these projects, planted more than 1,500 native plants, maintained nearly 60,000 square feet of previously restored areas and removed approximately 50,000 square feet of invasive species for the first time.
- Awarded $139,500 in 2024 to Delridge Neighborhood Development Association, Earth Corps, Environmental Science Center, Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park, Freedom Farmers, Nature Vision, Tulalip Tribes, Thornton Creek Alliance, Puget Sound Estuarium, Free the Green, Tilth Alliance, and Issaquah Alps Trails Club.
These groups plan to conduct 14 classroom visits and will contribute at least 1,700 hours of volunteer service or educational programming for students and the community.
Beyond the numbers, we are moved by how these groups engaged with youth, fostering the next generation of environmental stewards through overnight retreats, guest speakers, and hands-on learning experiences.
CLOSING CHAPTERS:
STRONG COMMUNITIES FUNDS AND FOREST TO HOME
We laid the groundwork in 2024 to complete the sales of investment properties in our Strong Communities Funds (SCF). We’re on track to close on all SCF properties in 2025 while keeping in mind our original goals to benefit the communities we set out to serve.
Forterra brought our ambitious Forest to Home initiative to a close while still supporting its goals. We coordinated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to successfully transition Forterra’s lead role in the proposed $20 million Forest to Home (Climate-Smart Commodities) grant to the Yakama Nation. We remain champions of a path to advance an integrated supply chain for affordable housing that is sustainable and just. Advocating for the Yakama Nation to continue the mission was key to our commitment.
THE LAUNCH OF FORTERRA NATURE DISCOVERY™
Increasingly, we are bringing together nature’s community with our human community for health and well-being. We added many more Forterra Nature Discovery™ events on our 2025 schedule!
We launched a new and ongoing series of free nature walks in the summer of 2024. Opportunities every season to experience nature on Forterra properties through the hearts and minds of professional naturalists, photographers, and other experts. One of the most popular experiences? Meditation walks with monks.
A moment from ‘Buddhist Forest Meditation Walk’, a Forterra Nature Discovery™ event last fall
Forterra Nature Discovery™ participants on a hike
Increasingly, we are bringing together nature’s community with our human community for health and well-being. We added many more Forterra Nature Discovery™ events on our 2025 schedule.
IMPROVING ACCESSIBILITY
A bluebird at Morse Wildlife Preserve
The Morse Wildlife Preserve in Pierce County is 238 acres of conifer forest, wetlands, oak savanna, and prairie. A birder’s paradise.
As with many parks and preserves, access to Morse is largely limited to people without disabilities. But there are so many opportunities to improve Morse Wildlife Preserve with trail systems, a parking lot, bathrooms, interpretive experiences, and the observation tower.
The observation tower at Morse Wildlife Preserve
Forterra was selected in 2024 to receive technical assistance from the National Park Service to help make Morse Wildlife Preserve accessible to all.
The NPS planned to develop a feasibility study for universal access so that people with disabilities can have equivalent outdoor experiences as non-disabled visitors. Forterra and NPS staff planned site visits – in person and virtually – for a wide variety of disability organizations to evaluate Morse’s accessibility barriers and inform the study. We are excited to take this important first step in creating a safe, welcoming space for all visitors of this treasured preserve. The completed feasibility study will help us apply for design and construction grant funding.
YEAR-ROUND FUNDING FOR STEWARDSHIP
The lands we steward are “living projects.”
Forterra stewards more than 17,000 acres of land in western and central Washington. These “living projects” require financial resources. Each property has unique needs, while every property requires staff to care for them.
Morse Wildlife Preserve’s barn is in dire need of rehabilitation. Boardwalk repairs, caretaker cottage maintenance, and new signage also are needed. Our North Shore property needs fish passage work, and Gold Creek needs a new bridge.
While we seek grant funding for big stewardship projects, funding is always needed to cover the day-to-day care costs.
LEVERAGING ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY
In 2024, Forterra’s leadership focused on ensuring financial sustainability, elevating a high-performance culture, and improving systems, processes and technology to deliver on aspirations for the long term.
Fostering Financial Sustainability
We received more than $7.1 million in government grants and contracts, up from $2.7 million in 2023 for a 157% increase.
We completed six land purchases and conservation easements amounting to over 240 acres.
More than $3 million was secured in financing during 2024 with $623,000 used to purchase land.
We are thankful for the financial support offered by all our business sponsors. We are particularly grateful to Delta Air lines, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Swire Coca-Cola, Stream Real Estate, McKinstry, and First Interstate Bank for their sustaining corporate support
Cultivating a High-Performance Culture
We began annual employee satisfaction surveys in 2021 to better respond to employee needs. An employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) essentially translates to “How likely are you to recommend your company as a place to work?” Any score above zero is considered a positive work culture. Our score was -48 at our lowest point in 2021. In 2022 it was -33. In 2023, it was -20. In 2024, we moved into the positive with an eNPS of +33. Our employees demonstrate every day that they’re committed to advancing the mission and supporting each other, with a collective understanding of why and how we do what we do.
Improving Systems, Processes and Technology
With an intentionally leaner team, we capitalized on technology, streamlined processes, and leveraged our relationship management system to care for our supporters.
Among our process and system improvements in 2024:
- Improved processes within the organization, leading to improved efficiency in billing and receivable aging that helped our cash flow position.
- Implemented a 12-month rolling cash forecast, allowing for more strategic resource allocation.
- Reduced the monthly financial close cycle by 7 to 10 days allowing more timely financial reporting.
- Improved compliance processes, resulting in a Federal Single Audit with no findings and Audited Financial Statements issued with an unmodified opinion.
- Improved processes have led to the earliest annual budget approval in the organization’s history.
NEED MORE INSPIRATION?
KBTC TV shines a light a Forterra
Forterra was honored to join KBTC Tacoma Public Television in its final episode October 2024 of “Saving the Source”— the “Northwest Now” series on saving salmon. With the stunning backdrop of our Camp Kilworth property in Federal Way, we welcomed the opportunity to highlight the niche roles a land trust plays. Camp Kilworth is a success story of land preservation, restoration, youth and community outdoor opportunities, and the power of partnerships.
YouTube: https://youtu.be/nAeLJUBnoTk (Forterra is featured at 18:35 min.)
Land for Good™ Inspiration
Like any nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from individuals, businesses and foundations. While economic and political landscapes change, our living environment is counting on us more than ever. We’ve always believed in direct and collaborative local action, and it matters now more than ever.
We are grateful for all levels of your support – joining us as dreamers and doers in nurturing our Pacific Northwest home.
Here’s to more Land for Good™ where nature and people thrive together in places where everyone belongs.
See Forterra’s audited Financial Statement for FY2024.
