Conservation Northwest’s Annual Report 2020-2021

We officially published our Annual Report for 2020-2021. View online or pick up a physical copy.

If asked about life before 2020-2021, most people might answer in terms of the pandemic. Not me. Here’s what I remember from that time:

There were no lynx in the Kettle Range of northeastern Washington. Reintroduction of Pacific fishers in the Olympics and Cascades was incomplete. There was no safe way for wildlife to cross Highway 97 where it transects the Cascades to Rockies wildlife corridor. And the critically important habitat of the massive Figlenski Ranch was at risk of being sold for development. Those challenges are now all successfully behind us, along with many more wins from the past two years.

This report describes some of what Conservation Northwest accomplished over the last two years. We didn’t just endure the pandemic; we thrived! Our great program work continued: keeping conflict between wolves and livestock lower than in a decade; protecting old growth and restoring degraded forests and watersheds; bringing a case before the Washington Supreme Court to decide the very purpose of our state public lands. We also expanded our Sagelands Heritage and Cascades to Olympics Programs. Working entirely by video call, our staff and board not only developed a new strategic plan, but launched one of the new programs we envisioned, this one to address the impact that expanding outdoor recreation is having on our wildlife. We didn’t just make progress; we had some of our biggest wins ever!

Conservation Northwest is stronger now than we’ve ever been. Our staff is full and energized, our budget is stable and growing, and our programs are rolling. The months ahead will see more habitat protected and more highway crossings installed in the Cascades to Rockies corridor. We’ll see grizzly bears actively moved to help boost ailing populations in southern B.C., and more lynx moved from the B.C. Okanagan to the Kettle Range. And we and our indigenous community partners will demand (and I expect win) regulatory and engineering changes to better protect transboundary rivers like the Similkameen from the pollution threat of hard rock mining in B.C. headwaters.

Thanks to your help, we at Conservation Northwest don’t have to measure our output in terms of meetings held, headlines generated, or arms waved. Instead, our progress is manifested on the land in a future Northwest healthier and wilder than it was before the last year, every year.

Ready to view the full annual report? Consider also supporting this work by making a donation online.