Our History

1994 - 2023

  • 1994

    The Beginning

    Sustainable Northwest founded to pioneer natural resource solutions that work for people and nature.

  • 1996

    Wallowa Resources

    Created Wallowa Resources to steward collaborative forest restoration in Northeast Oregon. Today, Wallowa Resources supports 58 jobs and 1.8 million acres of working lands.

  • 1998

    Save the Sawmill

    Convened the Lakeview Stewardship Group to sustainably manage 500,000 acres of the Fremont-Winema National Forest and save the last sawmill in Lake County.

  • 2000

    Rural Voices

    Launched the Rural Voices for Conservation Coalition, a network that gives a voice to rural leaders in national policy discussions.

  • 2001 - 2006

    Sustainability in the PNW

    Hosted the Oregon Sustainability Forum, one of the first conferences to advance sustainability initiatives in the Northwest.

  • 2002

    Renewable Energy

    Founded Lake County Resources Initiative, establishing 22 renewable energy projects in Lake County and saving the county over $1.9 million. Lake County plans to become a net-zero community and energy exporter by 2020.

  • 2003

    FSC Group Certification

    Created the first FSC® group certification program in the US to help small wood products businesses access the green building marketplace.

  • 2003 - Present

    Responsibly-Sourced Wood

    Sustainable Northwest’s Green Markets program enables the sale of $80 million in responsibly-sourced wood from 140 family-owned businesses in Western North America.

  • 2004

    Yainix Ranch

    Helped restore the Yainix Ranch on the Sycan River in Klamath County, Oregon, and created the first tribally-held working lands easement on non-tribal land in Oregon.

  • 2006

    Blue Mountains

    Founded the Blue Mountain Forest Partners, a succesful forest collaborative in Grant County, Oregon that has restored thousands of acres of national forest and increased work for 7,300 residents.

  • 2006 - Present

    Klamath River Dams

    Guided negotiations and supported Tribes, conservation groups and commercial fishing advocates for removal of four Klamath River dams, set to be the largest dam removal and river restoration project in US history.

  • 2008 - Present

    SNW Wood

    Founded Sustainable Northwest Wood to exclusively offer locally-sourced wood products from well-managed forests in the Pacific Northwest. In 2018 Sustainable Northwest Wood posted sales of $3.3 million and 2 million board feet of locally-sourced, responsible wood products. Since their inception in 2008 they have invested over $13 million in approximately 60 mills across the Pacific Northwest.

  • 2009 - 2014

    Dry Forest Zone

    Launched the Dry Forest Zone, a forest collaborative initiative spanning 15 counties in eastern Oregon and northern California that created 72 jobs and restored 8,843 forest acres.

  • 2010

    A Million Acres

    Helped pass the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, resulting in $52 million invested to restore over 1 million acres of forests in Oregon and Washington.

  • 2012

    Save the Sawmill (Part 2)

    Sustainable Northwest, the Blue Mountains Forest Partners Collaborative, U.S. Forest Service, and Malheur Lumber mill among others collectively secure a sustainable supply of logs to keep the last sawmill in Grant County open.

  • 2014

    Western Juniper

    Established the Western Juniper Alliance and wood products market, supporting 10 sawmills and 50 jobs across Oregon.

  • 2014

    Forest Collaboratives

    Created the Washington Forest Collaboratives Network to restore forest health on every national forest in Washington State.

  • 2014 - Present

    Energy Efficiency on Farms

    Supported dozens of energy efficiency projects for farmers and ranchers, saving enough power to avoid burning 430,000 pounds of coal each year.

  • 2015

    Community Forests

    Established the Northwest Community Forest Coalition, a network of 30 organizations assisting local groups to acquire and manage forest land from Montana to California.

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  • 2016

    Everyone At The Table

    Hosted the first annual Pacific Northwest Forest Collaboratives workshop, bringing together 150 leading foresters, scientists, timber companies, conservationists, government partners, and others from across the Pacific Northwest.

  • 2016

    Klamath Basin Restoration

    Enactment of the historic Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA), in which SNW is a signatory and played a key role. The Amended KHSA was a critical step towards the largest dam removal in U.S. history.

  • 2017

    Forest Restoration

    Partnered with multiple Indian Tribes in Washington and Oregon to help restore 450,000 acres of tribal-owned land and tribal ancestral land managed by the US Forest Service.

  • 2017

    Protect Drinking Water

    Launched the Oregon Coast Community Forest Initiative to maintain working forests and protect drinking water in 50 coastal communities.

  • 2018-2025

    2 Million Acres

    Forest collaborative projects in the Pacific Northwest will restore 2 million acres of forest by 2025.

  • 2019

    Solar In Your Community

    Sustainable Northwest’s Making Energy Work for Rural Oregon team wins Best Non-profit Project from US Department of Energy’s Solar in Your Community Challenge by increasing access and benefits of solar to rural customers.

  • 2020

    Southwest Intergrated Forest & Fire Treatment (SWIFFT)

    Sustainable Northwest launched the Southwest Integrated Forest and Fire Treatment (SWIFFT) initiative to invest more than $2.5 million in targeted efforts to accelerate forest health and wildfire reduction treatments next to communities West of I-5 into the Applegate Valley. A collaboration between public agencies, local leaders, communities, and philanthropy, we are proud to complement and leverage long-standing efforts for immediate impact and increased investments across the region.

  • 2021

    Electric Tractor Debut

    Sustainable Northwest, Forth, Wy’East RC&D, and Bonneville Environmental Foundation partnered to launch Oregon’s first electric tractor demonstration to evaluate and demonstrate the potential of this new technology. The project will serve as an important test case to explore best use cases and areas to develop while increasing knowledge, access, and adoption of electric farm equipment to help farmers save money and reduce on-farm emissions.

  • 2022

    Regenerative Ranching

    Sustainable Northwest debuts new program for regenerative ranching, which seeks to accelerate the adoption of regenerative ranching practices across the West. The new Regenerative Ranching program is in partnership with Country Natural Beef (CNB), a cooperative of more than 100 family ranching operations covering 6.5 million acres of land across nine states western states.

  • 2023

    Klamath Dam Removal Begins

    In 2023, the largest dam removal in history began with the removal of the first of four dams on the Klamath River – Copco No. 2.

  • 2023

    Wildfire Recovery

    Sustainable Northwest launches innovative project to help private landowners impacted by the 2020 Labor Day Fires in western Oregon find funding and support to recover their forest lands using scientifically sound practices.

  • 2023

    Forest to Frame

    In 2023, the world’s largest mass timber roof was installed at PDX Airport and will be fully unveiled in 2024. The roof and other wood in the airport – including the oak floor – totaled more than 3 million board feet and was sourced entirely from family- and Tribal-owned forests practicing ecological forestry in Oregon and Washington.