Grants and Reports

Laird Norton Family Foundation

2007 Grants

Arts in Education

• ArtsCorps, Seattle, Washington $1,000

For general operating support for this after-school arts program in Seattle Public Schools.                                        

• ArtsFund, Seattle, Washington $1,000

For general operating support for a collaborative fund that raises and distributes money to performing arts organizations throughout King, Snohomish and Pierce counties, Washington. 

• Pratt Fine Arts Center, Seattle, Washington $2,500

To support free art classes to underserved community youth.

• Youth in Focus, Seattle, Washington $1,000

For general support for an organization that teaches photography to urban teens as a means for expression. 

• Grantmakers in the Arts, Seattle, Washington $1,000

For general support for a national association of foundations and other grantmakers who fund in various arts fields.

Climate Change

• Renewable Northwest Project, Portland, Oregon $1,000

For general support for this coalition of Northwest energy organizations that promotes the development of the region’s untapped renewable resources – solar, wind and geothermal energy. 

• Northwest SEED, Seattle, Washington $1,000

For general support for this organization that works throughout the Northwest to establish a clean, diverse, and affordable Northwest energy system based on efficient use of renewable resources, with maximum local control and ownership of energy issues.

• Climate Solutions, Olympia, Washington $1,000

To support bringing Van Jones, CEO of Green Jobs, to speak to the Northwest Environmental Grantmakers group.

Global Fundamentals

•  Water 1^st International, Seattle, Washington $50,000

To support the Agua Caliente water system project in partnership with COCEPRADIL in Honduras and the Bishikiltu project in partnership with Water Action in Ethiopia. 

• PATH, Seattle, Washington $20,000

To extend the scope of a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Safe Water Project in India to include a community-based entrepreneurial model that moves beyond household water treatment to explore commercial solutions to combat the problem of waterborne disease.  We are also pleased that PATH will be matching this gift from its innovation fund. 

• Haiti Outreach, Minnetonka, Minnesota $15,000

In support of the drilling and completion of wells in ten communities as part of the La Gonave Well Project Phase 2.  We are also pleased that Rotary intends to provide matching funds for this project. 

• Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW), Eugene, Oregon $15,000

To provide legal, scientific and technical support for ten projects that protect water resources and advocate for clean water.  

• Acumen Fund, Inc., New York, New York $15,000

In support of the Water Portfolio and the reverse osmosis water treatment plants of the Environment Protection Group Limited (EPGL).  

• Global Greengrants Fund, Boulder, Colorado $1,000

To make grants through this public charity that collects donations and provides small grants to grassroots environmental organizations worldwide. 

• Pangea: Giving for Global Change, Mercer Island, Washington $250

For general operating support of this association of individuals who are dedicated to increasing international engagement and philanthropy through grantmaking, education and travel.

Laird Norton Foundation  

This was the final distribution from the foundation when it operated under the name Laird Norton Foundation and it funded only in watershed issues in the Pacific Northwest.

• American Rivers, Seattle, Washington $20,000

To ensure that the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams on Washington's Elwha River, Portland General Electric's Marmot and Little Sandy dams in Oregon's Sandy River Basin, and PacifiCorp's Condit dam on Washington's White Salmon River are removed and to communicate the success of these major river restoration projects. To marshal scientific and socio-economic information that will facilitate other dam removals in the Pacific Northwest. To advocate a thorough and objective analysis of all relevant environmental and economic issues surrounding the proposed Black Rock dam project in Washington's Yakima Basin. 

• Cascadia Wildlands Project, Cordova, Alaska $10,000

To prepare a comprehensive restoration plan for the Yakataga watershed as part of Phase I of the Lost Coast Restoration Project. Initial restoration efforts will focus on pilot projects working with a diversity of stakeholders, including community members, scientists, foresters, allies at the Eyak Preservation Council, and other local conservation groups in the Yakataga River watershed.

• Earthjustice, Seattle, Washington $15,000

To preserve the Aquatic Conservation Strategy (ACS), a scientifically based framework for protecting Pacific Northwest old growth forest watersheds. A cornerstone of the Northwest Forest Plan, the ACS protects clean water and salmon habitat in the federal forests of western Washington and Oregon by requiring that individual logging, road building, mining and other projects be constrained or tailored to protect functioning watersheds.

• Montana Outdoor Science School, Bozeman, Montana $7,000

To support the Ninth Annual Gallatin Valley Watershed Festival, a hands-on watershed education community event that strives to create a heightened awareness and understanding of the importance of protecting water resources.

• National Center for Conservation Science & Policy, Ashland, Oregon $20,000

National Center for Conservation Science & Policy's mission is to create science-based solutions to protect and restore the life processes and ecological vitality that sustains all lands, waters and communities. This grant is for general operating support.

• National Parks Conservation Association, Seattle, Washington $15,000

To improve the Elwha Valley's riparian habitat by educating and engaging individuals from rural communities in hands-on re-vegetation and habitat restoration. To build community support for watershed restoration on the Olympic Peninsula by recruiting and mobilizing community volunteers and by providing project leadership, supplies, and materials.

• Northwest Youth Corps, Eugene, Oregon $9,912

To improve watershed health in West Eugene with youth crews working with the Nature Conservancy at Willow Creek Preserve to remove non-native vegetation. Youth crews will also improve aquatic and terrestrial habitat for several endangered species on lands & waters managed by the McKenzie River Trust by removing noxious weeds to be replaced with native willow plantings.

• Oregon Natural Desert Association, Bend, Oregon $15,000

To protect native fish populations and improve overall watershed health by reducing the impacts of grazing in critical fish habitat within the John Day River watershed. To collaborate with local ranchers and federal agencies to remove institutional barriers to retiring federal grazing permits in the John Day Basin, while pursuing long-term protection of federal lands.

• Oregon Water Trust, Portland, Oregon $20,000

To enhance the health of Little Butte and Bear Creeks, two important and threatened salmon streams in Southern Oregon, by developing a Jackson County Water Bank to facilitate the coordinated movement of water from one purpose to another (an agricultural purpose to in-stream use or for municipal purposes). To develop relationships with local irrigation districts and major holders of large parcels of water rights in Jackson County.

• 10,000 Years Institute, Port Townsend, Washington $15,000

To develop a Watershed Stewardship and Resources Center for Jefferson County citizens, landowners, and developers to improve watershed-based community outreach and education, protect and sustain the County's critical ecosystem services, and create a setting for positive interaction between citizens and regulators.

• Upper Deschutes Watershed Council, Bend, Oregon $15,000

To develop an information collection and dissemination template that will guide a ten-year restoration effectiveness communication strategy in the Deschutes Basin. This communication template will be designed to translate the highly technical information about key watershed indicators into an easily-accessible, meaningful and accurate assessment of watershed health that can be used to advocate for watershed restoration with a broad community audience.

• Washington Rivers Conservancy, Wenatchee, Washington $12,200

To develop and present four workshops in north central Washington to help landowners, farmers, ranchers, real estate agents, and land use planners understand the basis of water rights under Washington water law and the opportunities to transfer water rights to in-stream flows in return for compensation. The workshops will highlight opportunities for farmers to increase the efficiency of their irrigation systems, which may free up water no longer needed for diversion and conveyence to be transferred in-stream.

• Watershed Education Network, Missoula, Montana $20,000

To expand the School Stream Monitoring Program to incorporate a timely and historic local watershed event: the removal of Milltown Reservoir and Dam Superfund Site, as well as associated remediation, restoration and redevelopment. To engage more than 1,500 K-12 students in Western Montana in hands-on, place-based watershed education, using best available science to educate students and community members about ecosystem function.

• Wilderness Society, Seattle, Washington $20,000

To lead a broad-based collaborative effort to restore the badly damaged Skokomish River watershed on the Olympic Peninsula and work with local and regional media to increase public awareness and support of Skokomish watershed restoration. Key stakeholders in the watershed, including the major federal and private forest landowners, county and tribal governments, and conservationists, will be active participants, improving coordination of restoration plans and activities in the upper and lower portions of the watershed and deepening relationships for future work together on the Peninsula.

• Wolftree, Sisters, Oregon $20,000

To support the Whychus Creek Improvement Project to improve and protect the fish and wildlife habitat of the Creek and increase community watershed awareness and stewardship. To engage the Sisters community, especially its young people, in riparian restoration, expand outreach activities that increase community support, and protect important Creek habitats through advancement of policies that conserve the floodplain of Whychus Creek.