The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation has awarded an $886,999 joint grant to the Nisqually Indian Tribe, Nisqually Community Forest and Northwest Natural Resource Group to build forest resiliency in the face of climate change by applying the principles of ecological forestry to commercial timberland management.
The Nisqually project will be located in the Nisqually Community Forest, which covers 5,500 forested acres on the flanks of Mount Rainier and includes critical habitat for threatened salmon species.
Through a regimen of strategically thinning younger trees to encourage the growth of older trees and recovery of native habitat, this project puts industrial timberlands on a climate-resilient trajectory toward older, biodiverse forest while also producing commercial timber.
“This is the forestry of the future,” David Troutt, director of the Nisqually Tribe’s Department of Natural Resources, said in a news release. “Our approach will accelerate forest resiliency, increase carbon sequestration, provide steady local forestry jobs, and greatly advance recovery of our threatened salmon. And with the Allen Foundation’s support, we will make this a model for communities throughout the Pacific Northwest.”
The Nisqually project is one of six natural climate solutions (NCS) projects receiving funding from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation to accelerate climate change mitigation efforts in the Pacific Northwest. The foundation is tapping into the region’s diverse strength and heritage in conservation innovation, as well as the regional leadership, ecological stewardship, and historical knowledge of Indigenous peoples and local communities. Projects will be conducted in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, British Columbia and Idaho, with the majority led by Native American and First Nations partners.
Funding for these six projects totals approximately $5 million over three years. NCS projects are defined as deliberate, nature-based “human actions that protect, restore and improve management of forests, wetlands, grasslands, oceans, and agricultural lands to mitigate climate change,” according to the release.
The grant funding will also the Nisqually team to create curriculum for training tribal youth in forestry practices, a feasibility study for commercial development of a timber mill in the Nisqually watershed, and relocalize and reconnect local communities with timber, according to Joe Kane, general manager of the Nisqually Community Forest. The work will begin this summer on those projects, as well as timber harvesting of young trees.
“A demonstrating forest was the driving idea. We said that if we are ever going to be able to take what we know and put it out into the world, this is the grant to do it,” Kane said.
NCS can provide up to 37% of the cost-effective global carbon dioxide mitigation needed through 2030 to stabilize warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, per the release. NCS have the potential to mitigate up to 21% of net annual emissions.
“We are in a critical window where natural climate solutions have immense potential to accelerate climate-change mitigation efforts while also providing key biodiversity and human well-being co-benefits,” Yuta Masuda, director of science for the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and co-author of several studies on NCS, said in a release. “The Pacific Northwest is home to some of the world’s most transformative science and technology-based conservation efforts and policy innovations. These are high-integrity projects, bringing together some of the best talent and minds to tackle the unique challenges we face.”
Nisqually Community Forest acquires and manages working forests in the Nisqually Watershed to provide sustainable economic, environmental and social benefits to local communities. Founded in 2024, the forest is now the largest nonprofit community forest in the Pacific Northwest.
The other six NCS grantees include Bonneville Environmental Foundation, Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Native Conservancy, Trout Unlimited and University of British Columbia working with four First Nations partners.
