Conservation Roots
Our roots go deep, building off the work of many working to conserve and protect the forests and wildlife of the Northwest.
The story of conservation in the Northwest
The native peoples of America were its first conservationists. Some 200 tribes lived in the Northwest before settlers of European ancestry arrived. Native land-use patterns still affect the Northwest landscape in profound ways, such as the opening up of camas root prairies and beargrass savannas. 
Since then, Washington State has been one of the nation’s conservation leaders. Two of America’s first national parks,Mount Rainier and Olympic, are here, and Washington has a higher percentage of its land base in protected status than any other of the contiguous states. Conservation Northwest is honored to work on the trail blazed by historic efforts of the Mazamas, the Mountaineers, the North Cascades Conservation Council, and other pioneering and passionate conservation groups and individual leaders. Founder Mitch Friedman has fond memories of the founding of Conservation Northwest in 1989, how the times have changed, and where we are today in our work to "keep the Northwest wild."
We are proud to have continued that legacy by leading bold, innovative, and winning efforts to protect our last ancient forests. Unique strategies and campaigns led by Conservation Northwest include the Ancient Forest Rescue Expedition in 1990-91, the Cascades International Alliance in 1992, the Loomis Forest Fund in 1999, and The Cascades Conservation Partnership at the turn of the millennium. Today, community-based collaborative efforts are important for restoring health to degraded forest lands.
These strategies have not only succeeded in saving vast acreages, they have strengthened the environmental movement by bringing new supporters, demonstrating that our wild forests can be more valuable as trees than as logs, and finding efficiencies through coalitions that combine the strengths of the many groups in our movement.
We at Conservation Northwest honor and continue the Northwest’s tradition of leadership in conservation because our natural and human communities of this remarkable landscape need and deserve at least as much, and because future generations of people and wildlife will judge us not by our thoughts and efforts, but by our legacy on the ground.
Read Founder Mitch Friedman's reminisces of the founding of Conservation Northwest in 1989, how the times have changed, and where we are today in our work to "keep the Northwest wild."
