Created out of a partnership between the Nisqually Indian Tribe and the Nisqually Land Trust, the Nisqually Community Forest is a leading example of how a working forest can be managed for local community benefit.
A nearly $890,000 grant awarded from Allen Family Philanthropies to the tribe, the Nisqually Community Forest nonprofit corporation (NCF) and Northwest Natural Resources Group aims to make the forest an example for similar efforts throughout the state and beyond.
The tribe owns about 2,600 acres of the 5,500-acre community forest, managed in partnership with NCF.
The grant will fund the tribe’s efforts to create jobs and boost forest health by thinning trees that have grown so thick they’re stunted and unhealthy. Managers of the community forest use ecological forestry to transform overstocked young dense Douglas fir plantations into diverse and open forests that improve habitat for Endangered Species Act-listed Nisqually steelhead and chinook salmon.
“This is the forestry of the future,” said David Troutt, director of the tribe’s department of natural resources. “Our approach will accelerate forest resiliency, increase carbon sequestration, provide steady local forestry jobs, and greatly advance recovery of our threatened salmon.”
Funding also will support stream monitoring, a forestry training program for tribal youth, and public events such as classes and tours.
With an effort that started in 2010, the Nisqually Community Forest—a subsidiary organization of the land trust—is one of the first community forests in the state and the first to partner with a tribe and a nonprofit.
The grant is not the only recent change aimed to boost the forest’s future. Gifford “Marco” Pinchot IV was recently named NCF’s first executive director. The great-grandson of Gifford Pinchot—the first chief of the U.S. Forest Service—Pinchot brings a background in forest ecology, sustainable business and community engagement.
Ecological forestry, governed by the long-term needs of the forest and other part of the ecosystem, is part of the Nisqually Community Forest’s long-term plan. Story: Trevor Pyle. Photo: Tristan Olson
