The Brainerd Foundation -

Funding

We fund organizations that protect the environment of the Northwest and build broad support for conservation.

Photo via Montana Environmental Information Center

Conservation policy

Policy gains that ensure protection of our region's air, land, and water.

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Photo by John Lambing

Place-based conservation

Landscape and wildlife protection through community engagement and empowerment.

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Photo by Michael Scott

Conservation capacity

Building upon past investments and growing the next generation of conservation.

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Recent successes

Photo by Angela Milani via Round River Conservation Studies

Yellowstone grizzly protections restored

Federal protections have been restored to a population of grizzly bears living in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, effectively calling off grizzly hunts in Wyoming and Idaho. The U.S. District Court ruling identified the isolation of the Yellowstone grizzlies as a key factor, labeling the Trump administration's analysis of future threats to the population as "arbitrary and capricious."

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Killer Whales by Skeeze via Pixabay / Pixabay license, cropped

Canadian court revokes approval of Trans Mountain Pipeline for Orcas.

Canada's National Energy Board had approved expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, claiming the acknowledged likely negative impact on critically endangered southern-resident killer whales was beyond it's scope. The national Court of Appeals disagrees, revoking approval of the project, a ruling hailed on both sides of the border by First Nations, U.S. tribes, environmental advocates.

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Shaw AFB firefighters by Airman 1st Class Daniel Phelps via Shaw AFB

Community Groups force EPA to end delay of Chemical Disaster Rule

Community groups, represented by Earthjustice, won key protections that safeguard the public and first responders from chemical disasters. The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) delay of implementation of EPA's Chemical Disaster Rule was unlawful. Industry will now need to implement the life-saving protections of that rule.

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Read about more grantee successes »

Meet some of our grantees

Oregon Community Foundation

Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts

Kalmiopsis Audubon Society

Wildsight

Montana Conservation Voters Education Fund

Social Venture Partners, Seattle

Trustees for Alaska

Sierra Club of British Columbia Foundation

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What we've learned

Photo by Kathleen Whitson

When making grants, do the analysis—but trust instinct, too.

In this Chronicle of Philanthropy opinion piece, our founder, Paul Brainerd, shares his grantmaking philosophy. He advises grantmakers to make space for honest dialogue with grantees, look for the gaps, and invest in leadership potential.

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Photo by Allison Carver

Letting go...and moving forward

After 23 years, moving an office is about more than furniture and boxes. For our co-director, Keiki Kehoe, it was also about reflecting on more than two decades of work and experiencing firsthand what our grantees have been telling us for a while now -- that the very nature of the workplace is changing.

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Photo via Paul Brainerd

How Paul Brainerd's extraordinary career went from revolutionizing publishing to empowering enviros.

Our founder Paul Brainerd was featured in this special GeekWire series focused on important community issues, innovative solutions to societal challenges, and people and nonprofit groups making an impact through technology.

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