Stewardship Partners is a catalyst, empowering landowners to protect the natural landscapes of Washington State. We collaborate with diverse interest groups to build bridges and find solutions that achieve mutual goals of environmental protection, economic health, and community well-being. Our projects restore fish and wildlife habitat, improve water quality, protect open space, and “green up” the built environment — while maintaining working landscapes of farms, forestland and livable communities.
All three of Stewardship Partners’ solutions programs align with the Northwest Biocarbon Initiative by actively restoring naturally functioning ecosystems across urban, rural and forested landscapes.
Our rain gardens program works with landowners to create rain gardens that catch and clean runoff while also storing carbon in plants and soils. In 2011, we teamed up with Washington State University to launch the 12,000 Rain Gardens Campaign to create a network of community-based rain garden resource hubs all around Puget Sound.
Stewardship Partners
In Western Washington we certify landowners who practice habitat conservation, restoration and good stewardship with the Salmon Safe eco-label. As of early 2013, over 60,000 agricultural acres had been certified as Salmon-Safe across California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. All of these properties are proven champions of land stewardship that emphasizes soil conservation, soil building, and the prevention of runoff, erosion and flooding. Salmon Safe certification provides market visibility to these landowners as a reward.
Our Snoqualmie Stewardship Program works to maintain the economic viability of farms and forestland in the Snoqualmie Valley while helping landowners restore fish and wildlife habitat, which also helps to sequester carbon in soil and plants. Since the program began in 2002, we have worked with farmers, nonprofits, and local government agencies to restore more than 10 miles of habitat on the banks of the river and its major tributaries.
Perhaps more important than our actual on-the-ground conservation work in the Snoqualmie Valley is the model being created for other “bread basket” regions in the Pacific Northwest and beyond to follow. We have shown that it is possible to collaborate and compromise — and find innovative solutions that meet the needs of both wildlife and human populations through sustaining healthy ecosystems and supporting a viable and sustainable economy.
Give for a brighter future
Connect
Join our email list to learn about what we do and how to get involved.