Fall 2023
350 Tacoma
General Support
$7,500.00
350 Tacoma supports climate resilience and environmental justice by advocating for the phasing from fossil fuels; the preservation of forests, greenspaces and wetlands; the strengthening of zoning policies, ordinances and laws that support and enhance future sustainability, healthy communities and climate justice. 350 Tacoma organizes local support of a wide array of environmental and social justice issues. This includes its current major priorities such as fighting a “mega” warehouse atop Tacoma’s primary water aquafer as well as conservation and restoration of a saltwater marsh that the organization has a stewardship agreement with.
Source: $4,000 from Cloud Mountain; $3,500 from Puget Sound Stewardship & Mitigation Fund
Columbia River Environmental
General Support
$5,000.00
Columbia River Environmental is a relatively new organization devoted to marine debris removal and prevention, with a specific focus on Styrofoam and Styrene pollutants. CRE will provide educational events, outreach to the public regarding appropriate marine debris disposal and prevention, host cleanup events in and around the Astoria, OR, and promote recycling initiatives that will help prevent waste streams into the Columbia River. Projects will be conducted along the mouth of the Columbia River, encompassing small watersheds in both Washington and Oregon. CRE intends to measure the effectiveness of its debris removal and prevention strategies through data collection and analysis in critical areas and adapt as needed.
Duwamish Alive! Coalition
General Support
$10,000.00
Duwamish Alive! Coalition provides community engagement and volunteer opportunities for the care and stewardship of the Duwamish River and surrounding communities. The Coalition will conduct restoration activities at 15 sites along the Green-Duwamish Watershed as well as Longfellow Creek. The Coalition will engage volunteers and homeowners in maintenance of creek and riverbanks, planting of native species, removal of invasive species, water quality monitoring, and outdoor education for local schools, including water quality and soil testing. Further, The Coalition will host community education and cultural events in partnership with the Duwamish tribe. Results will be tracked with metrics of sites, volunteers engaged, work accomplished as well as engaging with new homeowners, holding a neighborhood gathering about the program, developing ecosystem related resources for homeowners which foster stewardship.
Garden of the Salish Sea Curriculum
General Support
$10,000.00
Garden of the Salish Sea Curriculum partners with the Pacific Shellfish Institute in Washington’s Whatcom County, to provide K-12 shellfish-based ocean education focused on stewardship, hands-on learning, field experience, and personal responsibility. GSSC focuses on North Sound water quality by emphasizing education about waste, its effects on climate and the ocean, and waste reduction. GSSC will partner with Whatcom County schools to educate about stewardship, marine debris, and waterfront recycling audits through classroom lessons and hands-on field trips. Ocean plastics and waste reduction education will be added to and expanded upon in the curriculum provided by GSSC and delivered to at least 600 K-12 students who will engage in direct marine debris removal. The curriculum culminates in the Salish Sea Challenge program which provide high school and college internships that promote careers in sustainable aquaculture, marine science, and water quality.
Protect the Peninsula’s Future
General Support
$7,500.00
Protect the Peninsula’s Future (PPF) is a small, rural, volunteer organization with an emphasis on protecting the natural resources on Washington State’s North Olympic Peninsula. PPF will engage in a legal effort to require the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services (USFWS) and associated federal agencies to act according to the federal Refuge Improvement Act guidelines. This includes conducting a compatibility determination, as required by law, prior to approving permits for commercial and industrial use in the Dungeness Spit Wildlife Refuge. As USFWS did not conduct the compatibility determination, PPF will mount a legal challenge to the permit and ask that environmental impacts are well understood prior to using sensitive habitats for new commercial activities which could impact several different protected animals in the region. Further, PPF will engage its volunteer base and local community, show up at county meetings, pass out literature at farmers markets in the region, and organizing public participation in public comment periods.
Source: $7,500 from Cloud Mountain
Restaurant 2 Garden
General Support
$7,500.00
Restaurant 2 Garden (R2G) is seeks to establish localized, high capacity composting throughout the greater Seattle-area. Currently, R2G transforms local food scraps from businesses into nutrient-rich compost for local gardeners in the Danny Woo Community Garden with plans to scale up operations to other Seattle neighborhoods. Additionally, R2G is engaging in a green stormwater infrastructure design project in its facilities and in partnership with a neighboring organization. This project will allow R2G to capture stormwater run-off and treat it onsite for use in gardens and composting operations. It will also allow R2G to construct a localized rain garden to slow stormwater streetside in a heavily paved trafficked area of the city.
Source: $4,000 from Cloud Mountain; $3,500 from Puget Sound Stewardship & Mitigation Fund
West Plains Water Coalition
General Support
$7,500.00
West Plains Water Coalition (WPWC) works to educate, engage, and empower the citizens of Spokane’s West Plains watershed towards public health safety and solutions to groundwater and drinking water contamination, and water table resources. WPWC is an organization composed of mostly rural homeowners on private wells that are or are at great risk of PFAS contamination. Members live within the150 square mile aquifer contaminated by Fairchild Air Force Base and Spokane International Airport from 1975-2017. PFAS, a known health and habitat hazard, have been found in high concentrations throughout local wells but also throughout the Spokane River and come from the same sources. WPWC will engage in regular water quality testing, develop storytelling and data capacity using GIS mapping to create visuals for local water quality data, and will engage with elected officials and relevant committees.
Source: $7,500 from Mike Chappell Fund for the Spokane River
