Forterra (formerly known as Cascade Land Conservancy), based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

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, US, is the state of Washington's largest land conservation, stewardship and community building organization dedicated solely to the region. Currently, Forterra operates in multiple counties. Principal offices are in Seattle, Roslyn, and

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

Accomplishments

Forterra has conserved of working farms, forestlands and natural areas to date. Some of the major conservation projects include Saddle Swamp, Maury Island Marine Park and Snoqualmie Tree Farm. In December 2016, Forterra acquired of forest near the North and Middle Forks of the

Snoqualmie River The Snoqualmie River is a long river in King County, Washington, King County and Snohomish County, Washington, Snohomish County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The river's three main tributaries are the North, Middle, and So ...

, jointly with Washington’s Department of Natural Resources.

Scandal

In October 2022 Forterra fired Director of Real Estate Transactions Tobias Levey citing "concerns that he could not responsibly or effectively serve the organization’s mission.” Levey settled a civil lawsuit in 2017 that wrought allegations of fraud and embezzlement in a land deal similar to the projects he'd overseen at Forterra. This firing followed accusations by Snoqualmie Tribe officials that Forterra had misled tribal leaders in an application for 20 million dollar grant with the USDA. The tribe claims included allegations that the Forterra leadership refused to provide the grant unless tribal leadership agreed to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Green Cities

Forterra has official partnerships with the cities of Everett,

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, Kirkland, Redmond, Seattle, and Tacoma in leading stewardship projects at city parks and urban forests. Public volunteers and volunteer Forest Stewards work with cities and Cascade Land Conservancy in implementing 20 year plans to protect urban forests from invasive plants. On November 2, 2011, Cascade Land Conservancy officially changed the organization's name to 'Forterra' (meaning 'for the earth') in order to reflect the organization's changing goals. As Washington State's largest conservation and stewardship organization, the 'Cascade' in the name did not reflect the statewide work area. 'Land Conservancy' likewise no longer embodied the purpose of the organization.

Green Seattle Partnership

The Green Seattle Partnership is a partnership between the City of Seattle and Forterra with the goal of combating invasive species and preserving parklands in

External links

*
Snoqualmie Tribe says Forterra misled it, feds in $20M grant application

Forterra’s report finds it took partnership with tribe for granted

Seattle’s Forterra fires executive after tribe, investors, ex-staff speak out

References

Non-profit organizations based in Seattle {{Washington-stub