CLC Launches $20 Million Cascade Agenda Campaign with Large Corporate Grants

Cascade Agenda Progress Report and the Conservancy’s

Conservation Awards also highlight 13th Annual Event

Seattle, May 1, 2008 - The Cascade Land Conservancy’s 13th annual Conservation Awards Breakfast became one of its most significant today with confirmation of a half dozen key accomplishments that advance the overarching goals of conserving great landscapes and creating great communities.

The annual breakfast again attracted a capacity crowd of more than 1,800 elected officials, civic leaders, business executives, non-profit partners and conservationists at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, the largest such gathering in the state. 

Specifically, the Cascade Land Conservancy today:

•    Launched publicly the $20 million Cascade Agenda Campaign with nearly $15 million already raised.

•    Received today $1 million in grants to the Campaign from two of the region’s largest and significant corporations – a $750,000 grant from The Boeing Company and a $250,000 grant from the Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation.

•    Brought together as never before in the Campaign, a coalition of philanthropic, government, environmental and now business contributions to achieve significant landscape conservation and to create complete, compact and connected cities, towns and neighborhoods.

•    Published the first report of progress by the many partners of The Cascade Agenda.  When The Agenda was launched in May 2005, the promise was made that a report would be prepared every three years.  This is the first report.

•    Honored Billy Frank, Jr., of the Nisqually Tribe with the Conservancy’s Frank Pritchard Lifetime Achievement Award and presented five other awards.

•    Expanded the Cascade Agenda Cities program with Kirkland and Issaquah joining Tacoma as Leadership cities and the addition of Ellensburg and Edmonds as member cities. 

“This is a great day for the Cascade Land Conservancy,” said Maryanne Tagney Jones, Chair of the Conservancy’s Board of Directors. “Increasingly the Conservancy is a broad-based organization that reaches across conservation, public policy and stewardship. We are working to make a difference in this region we all love so well.”

Earlier contributions to the Campaign during its “quiet period” include a campaign-launching $1 million gift from The Bullitt Foundation, a $1.5 million gift from Nick and Leslie Hanauer as well as significant contributions from Wildlife Forever Fund, the Russell Family Foundation, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, the State of Washington and many generous community members.

The announcement of the public phase of the Campaign reflects the progress of The Cascade Agenda in the three years since it was launched at the Cascade Land Conservancy’s 2005 Conservation Awards Breakfast. The Agenda has become one of the cornerstones in the drive to conserve the quality of life that exists in the region today for generations to come.

The Cascade Land Conservancy released the first of the promised three-year progress reports of The Agenda.  The report shows that while much has been accomplished, there remains a huge task before the region if it is to learn to grow with grace.  One of the key findings in the report is the fact that large-lot development is using up resource land at a rate that cannot be sustained without significant damage.

“The report shows that working together, in these three short years, we have accomplished far more than we dared to hope, but frankly not nearly as much as we need,” said Gene Duvernoy, the Conservancy’s President.  “If anything in these three years, our challenges have become more significant, more serious.  But working together as one community, these challenges are still surmountable.”

The three-year report comes against the backdrop of a number of recent reports on growth and the region.  The Puget Sound Regional Council released its Vision 2040 report April 24 and the Urban Land Institute-sponsored Reality Check was April 30.

While each report looks at the challenge of population growth, jobs and quality of life from different angles, they are well coordinated.  The Cascade Agenda has the additional support of the community through the generous contributions to the capital campaign to coordinate the efforts of many into an achievable solution for the issues facing the region.

“We need to pull together all of the creative energy being generated and make sure our individual efforts are coordinated, complimentary, integrated and working toward the common goal of creating an economically and environmentally sustainable region,” said Bill Ruckelshaus, chair of the Puget Sound Partnership Leadership Team.  “This is an organization that can pull together many of the elements of the region who are often at odds with each other.  If an organization like the CLC did not exist, we’d have to invent it.”

Gov. Christine Gregoire also commented on The Cascade Agenda three-year report, saying, “Raising a family. Running a business. Stewarding our forests. Farming the land. Those are the tough jobs. The measure of Washington’s success will be whether we have helped our people and our communities flourish. Together we can make a great future for Washington.”

Awards presented at the breakfast also reflect the values of the Conservancy and the goals and aspirations of The Cascade Agenda.

Billy Frank, Jr., of the Nisqually Tribe was awarded the Conservancy’s highest award, the Frank Pritchard Lifetime Achievement Award for the tribal leader’s long service to the region.

Frank has been Chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC) for 22 years. In this capacity, he "speaks for the salmon" on behalf of 19 Treaty Indian Tribes in western Washington. Under his leadership, the tribal role over the past 30 years has evolved from that of activists, fighting the state to secure fishing rights reserved in treaties with the United States government, to managers of the resource fishery.

The Cascade Agenda calls for the conservation of 1.3 million acres of working forests.  While a number of transactions are under way now, The Agenda also calls for communities and neighborhoods to become more livable to attract the expected growth in population.  The Cascade Agenda Cities program is increasingly successful in helping cities plan for this growth.

Kirkland and Issaquah have now joined Tacoma as Leadership cities, all three making a substantial commitment to the goals of The Agenda through city policy and other concrete steps.  Ellensburg and Edmonds also have joined the program as member cities, with Ellensburg the first city in Eastern Washington to join and Edmonds the first in Snohomish County.

 “The City of Kirkland is excited about the opportunity to partner with the Cascade Land Conservancy as one of the region’s first Cascade Agenda Leadership Cities,” said James Lauinger, mayor of Kirkland.  “Kirkland already embraces the basic principles outlined in this critical program.  We look forward to elevating our effort to a new level with the CLC, as we strive to improve the livability of our city through smart growth strategies, environmental stewardship and community engagement.”

Kirkland, home to over 45,000 residents on the northeastern shore of Lake Washington, has great waterfront parks, culture and a compact, vibrant downtown.

“The City of Ellensburg became a Cascade Agenda City to support the goals of attracting people to live in our complete, compact, connected and vibrant city, leaving the surrounding working landscape and resource lands open,” said Nancy Lillquist, Ellensburg Mayor.  “Our Comprehensive Plan vision and goals are very much in line with those of The Cascade Agenda.  The Cascade Agenda Cities Program offers tools and support for us to achieve our vision of Ellensburg.”

Ellensburg, the first Cascade Agenda City east of the mountains is located in the Kittitas Valley of central Washington.  It is home to nearly 17,000 residents along with Central Washington University.  Additionally, Ellensburg is well known for its annual Labor Day rodeo.

"Becoming a Cascade Agenda Member City makes a lot of sense for us here in Edmonds,” said Gary Haakenson, Mayor of Edmonds.  “As a city, we're 100 percent committed to leading by example when it comes to environmentally sound policies, principles and planning.  Edmonds understands that protecting 1.3 million acres of undeveloped land in Puget Sound means our cities need be wonderful places to live, work and play.  That's why we want to continue to make Edmonds such a great place to call home," he said.

Edmonds, Snohomish County’s second largest city, is on the shores of Puget Sound and is known for its small-town atmosphere and active arts community.

“Becoming a Cascade Agenda Leadership City fulfills Issaquah’s longstanding commitment to environmental excellence and sustainability,” said Ava Frisinger, Issaquah Mayor, “and further reflects the values of our community. We can leave no greater legacy than this, a life-affirming region for generations to come.”

Issaquah is a city of approximately 24,000 residents situated 16 miles east of Seattle.  It is surrounded by the “Issaquah Alps” and Lake Sammamish, offering its residents a multitude of open space and recreational opportunities along with a historic downtown core along Front Street.

The Conservancy also presented awards in the following categories:

THE CASCADE AGENDA LEADERSHIP AWARD:  John Ladenburg, Pierce County Executive, and the Pierce County Council for their work in the enactment of a Pierce County Transfer of Development Rights ordinance.

THE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Nancy Malmgren for her continuing work to protect Seattle’s natural areas.

THE LAND STEWARDSHIP AWARD:  Friends of the Hylebos for its continuing environmental work to preserve the Hylebos Watershed and its Hylebos Creek Conservation Initiative.

THE INNOVATIVE CONSERVATION PROJECT AWARD: The Partnership of Jones & Jones, Wilcox Farm, Stewardship Partners, the Nisqually Tribe and the Nisqually River Council for their work along the Nisqually River and the Wilcox Farm.

THE JOHN STANFORD EDUCATION ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Yakima WATERS Project for engaging students in authentic watershed science, including water quality, climate change and salmon habitat education.

THE NEW DIRECTIONS FOR LIVABLE COMMUNITIES AWARD: Port of Seattle / Seattle Tacoma International Airport for its conservation efforts establishing the Green Airport Project.