protecting biodiversity and ecosystem health in the Pacific Northwest & Northern Rockies

PRIORITIES

shared commitments, measurable results, enduring futures

washington coast

protecting and restoring salmon habitat from headwaters to tidewaters

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northern rockies

protecting and connecting Grizzly Bears in the Northern Rockies

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public lands

strengthening protections for state and federal public lands and the benefits they provide all people

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A complete list of grant priorities is available here.

one vision,
many partnerships

The Washington Coast – spanning nearly 4 million acres of abundant aquatic and coastal ecosystems rich in biodiversity – represents the last best chance for the Pacific Northwest to get salmon recovery right. If we can reconnect the streams to each other and to the sea, the fish will come. Our coastal rivers produce the most abundant and diverse wild Pacific salmon populations in the contiguous United States and are home to 50% of Washington state’s strongest unlisted runs. With our mission to ‘protect the best and restore the rest,’ our work is focused on nurturing and protecting these abundant coastal areas and the economies they support.

Mara Zimmerman, former Executive Director

Coast Salmon Foundation

The Cold Water Connection Campaign aims to remove barriers and reconnect the coldest, cleanest rivers on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula to bring salmon and steelhead home.

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news

President’s Message 2025

7.7.25

For the most part, 2024 was a good year for the Foundation. It represented our first full year with a deeper Program Team, and we took the opportunity to reaffirm our Mission of protecting biodiversity and the wild places that nature requires to simply hang on in an increasingly changing landscape. We also reaffirmed our style of grant making that requires deep focus and ongoing commitment to geog…

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President’s Message Fall 2023

11.4.24

As 2023 comes to end I am very happy to report on a few very exciting developments at The Harder Foundation: First, I am really pleased to advise that Betsy Buffington has joined our Board of Directors and is our first new Trustee in over 25 years. With an amazing background in conservation advocacy Betsy brings an incredible skill set and wealth of experience to our grant program. Second, T…

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President’s Message Fall 2022

2.16.23

As we look to commence our second and most important Grant Cycle of our year, I am pleased to announce that we will maintain the same total annual grant budget as last year — $1,500,000.  This grant level was an important milestone for the Harder Foundation, as it was the highest annual grant total in our history.  Considering the very difficult equity market’s performance this year, matchin…

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protecting biodiversity and ecosystem health in the
Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies.

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