First-ever Environmental Partnership Grant Saves Final Land Purchase
Over a year ago, facing a deadline to come up with nearly a million dollars or lose the opportunity to acquire the crown-jewel property for its Nisqually Community Forest Project, the Land Trust did something it had never done before – took out a private, short-term, eleventh-hour loan. “And we did that with no idea how we’d pay it off,” said Executive Director Joe Kane.
In the ensuing months the Land Trust managed to reduce the mortgage to $500,000 by winning a U.S. Forest Community Forest grant and additional funding from the state’s Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration program.
“But there it stood,” said Kane, “with the clock ticking, interest payments mounting, and the very real possibility that we could still lose the land – until the PSE Foundation called.”
Nisqually Community Forest Board members, (left to right) Justin Hall, Joe Kane, and Bryan Bowden along with PSE energy government affairs rep Kelsey Hulse
The Foundation had just launched its new Environmental Partnership program, and Executive Director Sandra Carson was canvassing the PSE service area for potential applicants. Foundation Chair and President Andy Wappler recommended she look into the Nisqually Land Trust.
Carson and Kelsey Hulse, Puget Sound Energy’s government affairs representative, visited the Land Trust offices and learned about the 320-acre Busy Wild Creek property, the final piece in the community forest’s 1,920-acre Phase I acquisition plan.
Busy Wild Creek is the headwaters of the Mashel River, the largest tributary to the Nisqually River. In 2016, both the Mashel and the Busy Wild were designated federal critical habitat for steelhead trout, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and verge dangerously close to extinction.
“The community forest properties are in the headwaters of the Busy Wild,” said Kane. “They influence everything below them, all the way to Puget Sound. And they have dense timberlands that need management to improve salmon habitat. That means steady local forestry jobs.”
The property also contains key sections of the most popular trail in the Mount Tahoma Trails Association’s hut-to-hut cross-country ski network, which attracts some 3,000 users annually and is an economic driver for upper Nisqually Watershed communities.
Two months later, Carson called with big news: The Land Trust had won $500,000 to pay off the property loan. It was the first and largest grant the Foundation awarded under its new program. In announcing the award, the Foundation cited the Land Trust’s “environmental and community impact in a rapidly growing area.”
“The PSE Foundation is committed to supporting programs that deliver meaningful, measurable and long-lasting results for generations to come,” said Foundation Chair Andy Wappler. “We’re proud to help the Nisqually Land Trust protect this critical watershed.”
Learn more about our Community Forest here