Watershed Stewardship

Goals and Strategies

Watersheds have social, ecological, and economic significance. The goal of the Watershed Stewardship program is to create enabling conditions for long-term social and ecological health and resilience in places of importance to the Laird Norton Family.

Approach

We take a long-term view on healthy watersheds and invest in organizational capacity with an eye to future resilience. We encourage our partners to focus not on single-species recovery or restoration to historical conditions as a primary end-goal, but to also consider the potential value of significantly altered — but functioning — ecosystems as we continue to face the impacts of climate change and other natural and human-caused changes into the future.

​We seek to add value not just by making financial investments in organizations advancing place-based ecological and social outcomes, but also by building relationships in watershed communities, spending time listening and gaining experience in the watersheds in which we invest, and fostering partnerships, convenings, and additional investment from other funders.

Why Take This Approach?

We believe the wellbeing of the people who live in a place must be considered alongside ecological goals; understanding the diverse interests and values of a watershed’s human inhabitants is an important component of long-term success. ​

Guidelines

Organizations or programs we partner with should:

• Possess the organizational capacity and skills to be well-positioned to secure much more significant funding for projects than we would ever be able to provide.
• Be open to the Foundation removing barriers to entry for public funding and get projects to a shovel ready position.
• Provide us with opportunities to invest in their abilities to develop strong governance structures, collaborate, mediate, facilitate, tackle sticky challenges, get paperwork in order, maintain momentum on big projects, and otherwise lay the groundwork for success.

While we don’t specifically commit to a set term of investment in any watershed, we believe that investing in a place long enough to really understand the work is important, and we believe that sustained and flexible funding enables greater long-term success for our partners. Although we make grants on a one-year cycle, we take a partnership approach to our grantmaking and hold a long-term view on the work being done in the watersheds we prioritize, but we do move on when we no longer have a necessary role to play.

Priority Will Be Given To:

Watersheds of significance to the Laird Norton family, where the work:

• Is well-grounded in science.
• Incorporates adaptive management (trying something out, testing the assumptions, adjusting as needed), ongoing monitoring and evaluation, and fosters strong community engagement in place; as there is clear evidence that the presence of these elements significantly increases long-term success toward ecological goals.
• Is already in progress (or there interest is already in place) to prioritize actions throughout the watershed, and a degree of coordination amongst implementing organizations representing diverse interests.

The Watership Stewardship Program Will Not Fund:

• Specific implementation projects (except in cases of high-leverage opportunity in watersheds in which we are already invested). Exceptions may be made in instances where we value prioritization, and only consider projects that are part of watershed-wide prioritization plans.

2018 Watershed Stewardship Grants

BONNEVILLE ENVIRONMENTAL FOUNDATION

Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) (Portland, OR) $70,000
To support BEF's engagment in continued planning and coordination work in Hood Canal and the Rogue River basin, and to conduct exploratory work on LNFF's behalf. Since 2003, BEF has worked in close partnership with watershed groups operating across a wide range of ecological and social contexts. The collaborative and long-term nature of these relationships has yielded knowledge that is valuable and directly applicable to the work LNFF seeks to advance in Hood Canal and in the Rogue River basin. BEF works to facilitate the widespread adoption of sustainable, planet-friendly practices.

LONG LIVE THE KINGS

Long Live the Kings (Seattle, WA) $75,000
To continue implementation of the Hood Canal Bridge Ecosystem Impact Assessment Plan. The Assessment Plan's goal is to identify the causes of high fish mortality at the Hood Canal Bridge, through a partnership with NOAA Fisheries, the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe, Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, and WA State Departments of Transportation and Fish and Wildlife. Since 1986, Long Live the Kings has worked to restore wild salmon and steelhead and to support sustainable fishing.

PORT GAMBLE S'KLALLAM TRIBE

Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe (Kingston, WA) $25,000
To support equipment, supplies, and contracted services to enhance implementation of components of the Hood Canal Bridge Impact Assessment Plan, specifically data analysis and ongoing fieldwork. The Assesment Plan's goal is to identify the causes of high fish mortality at the Hood Canal Bridge, through a partnership with NOAA Fisheries, Long Live the Kings, Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, and WA State Departments of Transportation and Fish and Wildlife. 

ROGUE BASIN PARTNERSHIP

Rogue Basin Partnership (Medford, OR) $105,000
​For capacity building of this newly-formed restoration backbone organization, and to support member organizations in implementing the Rogue Basin Restoration Action Plan. The Rogue Basin Partnership is a member-based collaborative organization that serves as a coordinating entity for watershed restoration within the 3.3-million acre Rogue River Basin of SW Oregon and NW California. ​The Partnership unites people in restoring the Rogue by strategically investing in the stewardship, and provides a basin-wide venue and perspective to enhance the success of members and partners. 

TRUCKEE RIVER WATERSHED COUNCIL

Truckee River Watershed Council (Truckee, CA) $50,000
​To support bi-state policy work and project development in California and Nevada. The Truckee River Watershed Council was founded in 1996 to protect and restore the water quality and biological resources of the watershed; they serve as conveners, coordinators, and implementation leaders for restoration projects directly related to the health, beauty, and economy of the watershed. The Council believes that a more sustainable tomorrow starts with the watershed. Their goal is to restore the resiliency of our environment—so nature and humanity can thrive together for generations.