One of the driving forces of Forterra’s mission is connecting people and nature. As our action-packed October proved, there are a number of ways to make these connections, from programs providing an insight into other cultures and their relationship with the land to getting your hands dirty.
Connecting with each other
Locals and visitors gathered this fall to hear George Selam, a Longhouse Leader of Yakama Nation, speak of his experience in traditional ecological knowledge with land stewardship and the preservation of ancestral lands like Alukw’át Nisháykt (“Frog’s Home“) near Union Gap. The program—one in a series of Forterra Nature DiscoveryTM events, took place in the historic town of Roslyn, Washington.
The relationship between Forterra and the Yakama Nation long precedes the October event and recently led to Forterra’s acquisition and transfer of the 180-acre Frog’s Home ancestral lands to the Yakama people.
Forterra provided the initial $1.3 million in interim debt financing and related costs to pull Frog’s Home off the open market. The site is a central and sacred place of the Creator’s story, and it was fitting that Selam and fellow Yakama Nation leaders made their concluding remarks in front of the Creator’s Law Sculpture at the recent Forterra Nature DiscoveryTM event.
Partnerships like these have always been the foundation of Forterra’s successful conservation work.
Connecting with the land
One way that Forterra connects with the community is through partnerships, like those that support Camp Kilworth in Federal Way.
Forterra works with Nosotros en Naturaleza (NEN), a group that connects Latinx/BIPOC youth to the outdoors by removing barriers to access, fostering belonging, and creating community. Forterra and NEN have recently partnered on a program to improve urban tree canopy in South King and Pierce counties.
On a rainy Saturday this fall, restoration was underway as Forterra and NEN members joined together to plant tree saplings like Douglas-fir and western redcedar on the grounds of the historic Camp Kilworth.
Planting native species at Camp Kilworth will help control severe erosion of the bluffs high above the Puget Sound shoreline and create a thriving native upland forest that will provide the food and habitat juvenile salmon require as they migrate out to the Pacific Ocean.
But the story of partnership came long before the tree planting and restoration work.
Camp Kilworth is one of the last remaining undeveloped shoreline habitats in Federal Way. Its acquisition by Forterra in 2022, in partnership with the neighborhood nonprofit Kilworth Environmental Education Preserve (KEEP), was a huge win for the environment and the community. A year after the purchase, the YMCA of Greater Seattle leased the property and began a multi-phased restoration process—and is now providing environmental education and outdoor recreation for local youth.
Forterra Nature Discovery™ events and projects like the Camp Kilworth story are ongoing: visit our Events page to learn more about how you can connect. Click here to keep up to date with Forterra’s acquisition and conservation of lands.
