1966

Foulweather Bluff Preserve

Our first preserve is this gift of 47 acres. Today, the preserve protects 100 acres with 4000 feet of beach front.

1966

Rose Creek Preserve

Our first preserve on the east side is this gift of 12 acres, which we ultimately transferred to the Palouse Clearwater Environmental Institute.

1972

Natural Areas Preserve Act

We lead advocacy to the WA legislature to establish a statewide system to protect the highest quality examples of native ecosystems and rare plant and animal species. By 2019, the WA Natural Area Preserves system had 57 units encompassing 40,000 acres.

1974

Mima Mounds Preserve

Through the Natural Areas Preserve Act, we protect these rare and once mysterious mound formations near Puget Sound’s prairie grasslands.

1977

Skagit River and Bald Eagles

With the WA Department of Game (now Fish & Wildlife), we preserved 878 acres along the Skagit River, including the Skagit River Bald Eagle Natural Area, which expanded to protect 8,000 acres by 2001.

1978

Skagit River and Salmon

Our advocacy with partners achieves Wild & Scenic River protective status for the Skagit River. The Illabot Creek tributary– one of the few to host all five species of salmon—earns this designation in December 2014.

1980

Puget Sound Prairie Islands

We purchase and preserve Yellow and Sentinel Islands in the San Juans, protecting rare prairie island habitat and biodiversity.

1981

Washington Natural Heritage Program

Our advocacy is key to passage of this seminal program, which catalogs the plants, animals, and ecosystems of Washington to prioritize conservation needs.

1987

Prescribed Fire on Yellow Island

Following the lead of Coast Salish tribes who employed prescribed burning for millennia, the Conservancy conducts its first controlled burn on Yellow Island to maintain robust biodiversity.

1989

WA Wildlife and Recreation Program

The Wildlife and Recreation Program sets a national model of public funding, and has generated $1.5 billion for habitat conservation and outdoor recreation as of 2020.

1994

Research at Hanford Reach

Our multi-year study at Hanford produces the only large-scale, detailed inventory of rare species and plant communities (documenting several dozen new plant and insect species).

1999

Beezley Hills & Moses Coulee Preserves

The Conservancy purchases 3,800 acres of sagebrush steppe, protecting coulees carved by Ice Age floods, pothole lakes, haystack boulders, waterfalls and dunes; as well as endangered habitat for sage grouse, Columbia sharp-tailed grouse, pygmy rabbits, and 14 of the 15 bat species found in Washington. Today, these preserves protect more than 30,000 acres.

1999

Ellsworth Creek Preserve

We protect 338 acres of old-growth forest at Teal Slough in Willapa Bay. This preserve now covers an entire watershed of 8,000 acres. In 2006, we initiated research to inform optimal restoration of second-growth plantation forests and accelerate old-growth characteristics.

2000

Robert Y. Pratt Preserve at Ebey's Landing

This land donation from the estate of Robert Pratt, combined with the Conservancy’s purchase of adjacent coastal bluff forest creates a 554 acre-preserve within a National Historical Reserve.

2000

Hanford Reach National Monument

Our research and advocacy help designate this 195,000-acre monument. Two years later, our science informs massive restoration after wildfire: USFWS plants 700,000 sagebrush seedlings and spreads native bunchgrass seeds over 10,000 acres.

2001

Port Susan Bay Preserve

We protect 4,122 acres of estuary and wetland habitat near Stanwood, which today is an active restoration and research site for evaluating “blue carbon” capture.

2003

Tieton River Canyon

We begin purchasing blocks of industrial timberlands in the Tieton River Canyon; by 2007 we secure 10,000 acres and sell most to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, eliminating checkerboard ownership to allow large-scale forest restoration.

2004

Great Bear Rainforest

Fundraising begins to support a historic agreement to conserve 21 million acres - 7 million as fully protected areas - in the Great Bear Rainforest of British Columbia.

2006

Tapash Sustainable Forest Collaborative

With the U.S. Forest Service, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Yakama Indian Nation, we partner to restore the health, natural structure, and productivity of forests in south central Washington.

2007

Washington Ecoregional Assessments

We complete an exhaustive biodiversity assessment of the plant & animal species, communities and ecological systems of Washington's nine ecoregions. Through this work and a statewide Freshwater Assessment, we identify Washington’s most significant salmon watersheds.

2008

Lily Point Marine Park

We begin restoration at Lily Point Marine Park on Point Roberts, through a cooperative project with the Alliance for Puget Sound Shorelines, Whatcom Land Trust and Whatcom County Parks; in collaboration with the Lummi Tribe.

2009

Fisher Slough Restoration

This collaborative projectrestores morethan 60 acres of tidal marsh habitat for Chinook salmon, improving flood protection for farms on the Skagit River Delta and creating dozens of jobs.

2011

Emerald Edge

With Conservancy partners in Alaska and British Columbia, we launch the Emerald Edgeprogram to conserve the world’s largest temperate coastal rainforest. Our community-led approach invests in youth, supports Indigenous leaders and builds sustainable local economies.

2011

Clearwater on the Peninsula

We purchase 3,088 acres on the Clearwater River of the Olympic Peninsula, a foundation for our work in the region that has now preserves 15,000 acres on the Hoh and Clearwater rivers, connecting Olympic National Park with the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.

2011

Washington Prescribed Fire Council

We help launch this program to bring together public and private land managers and other stakeholders to increase the safe use of “good fire” for forest health and resilience across Washington.

2012

First Stewards Conference

We support Washington coastal treaty tribes as they lead First Stewards, a conference on climate change bringing together coastal Indigenous people from North America and the Pacific Islands.

2013

Floodplains by Design

We launcha public-private partnership for river restoration that brings multiple community benefits. One of the first projects on the flood-prone Puyallup River restored floodplain habitat for salmon and protected the town of Orting from record-level floods the following year. FbD is now a model program for collaborative floodplain management in WA and beyond.

2014

Forest Health Science

Research led by TNC with the U.S. Forest Service found that 2.7 million forest acres in Eastern Washington are in critical need of restoration. The WA Department of Natural Resources incorporated these findings and recommendations into its 20-year forest management plan.

2014

Plum Creek Acquisition

We purchase a patchwork of 48,000 acres of private timber land in the Cascade Mountains, reconnecting wilderness areas and protecting the headwaters of the Yakima River.

2015

Coastal Conservation

We support restoration and economic development through the WA Coast Restoration Initiative (WCRI) and the Coast Works business competition, which elevates sustainable local businesses throughout the Olympic Peninsula.

2015

Cities & Climate Programs

We launch strategic programs on Cities and Climate. Our Cities program aims to make Puget Sound’s urban centers more resilient and livable through a community-led approach that builds green infrastructure and natural solutions to stormwater pollution. 

Our Climate program advances bold and equitable zero-carbon policy alongside conservation solutions that harness nature to sequester carbon and protect against severe climate impacts like wildfires and floods.

2017

UW Research Partnership

We initiate a strategic research partnership with the University of Washington, integrating academic scholarship and the latest science with practical experience to inform our on-the-ground conservation strategies and efforts.

2018

1631 Climate Ballot Initiative

We help build a diverse coalition committed to passing the nation’s first tax on carbon emissions via citizens’ initiative. While Initiative 1631 didn’t pass, it energized the statewide conversation on climate change by bringing pivotal, often marginalized, voices to the table and contributed to subsequent legislative wins, including the 2019 100% Clean electricity bill.

2018

Shellfish Growers Climate Coalition

We join several WA shellfish growers, and their peers from both the east and west coasts, to create the Shellfish Growers Climate Coalition. This group of advocates are dedicated to bringing about climate policy action by sharing the impacts and experiences felt throughout their businesses and communities.

2019

LWCF permanent authorization

The Land and Water Conservation Fund, which provides essential federal funding to safeguard our natural areas, water resources and cultural heritage sites, wins permanent authorization from the US Congress. We help mobilize broad bipartisan support for the reauthorization and continue to fight for robust funding.

2019

Aquaculture research

Our scientists, with NOAA and WA Sea Grant, explore the ecosystem benefits and impacts of aquaculture beds, such as water filtering and habitat creation, to identify best environmental practices for this growing global industry. Underwater cameras in Puget Sound reveal that fish and crabs use shellfish beds in different ways, varying by species and location.

2019

Washington Equity Statement

We release an equity statement that recognizes where we have been, where we are and where we aspire to go. Our vision of thriving people and nature can only be realized through a steadfast commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in our management, conservation and business practices.

2020

Green Bridges, Healthy Communities

Our partnership to filter polluted stormwater runoff from Seattle’s Aurora Bridge completes its final phase. Rain gardens and bioswales will treat 2.3 million gallons of polluted highway runoff annually, and further state funding will help launch the “Green Bridges, Healthy Communities” initiative to target other hotspots in Pierce and Snohomish counties and the Duwamish Valley.

2020

Great American Outdoors Act

Our decades-long advocacy and broad bipartisan support helps achieve permanent federal funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a momentous victory for our public lands.

2020

Satellites and Forest Health

We team with NASA and emerging scientists to track lightning strike frequency and vegetation moisture using satellite data for strategies that reduce wildfire risk.