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The Capitol Land Trust is a rare beast. It seemingly has no enemies.

Based in the state’s most political city, this diplomatic little environmental outfit has somehow managed

to get blessed by both parties and toasted by clashing factions that rarely concur on much else.

Gov. Chris Gregoire and other top state Democrats praise the Trust. So do prominent Republicans. Manybureaucrats, preservationists, timber companies and homebuilders laud it too.

In fact, you can find just about anyone celebrating the Capitol Land Trust at its annual summer gala atthe home of former Republican Secretary of State Ralph Munro who embraces his role as the Trust’sdefacto ambassador.

The Capitol Land Trust’s ability to get along withseemingly everyone helps explain why this little

group may get as big of a bang out of an

environmental buck as any group around.

Through creative use of grants, donations andnegotiations, the Trust has managed to buy

properties and easements that have resulted in the

permanent conservation of 3,000 acres in the area.And the Trust’s reputation, influence and supportcontinue to snowball.

So, who are these guys?

Pull back the curtain and you’ll see the non-profit

Trust survives on a staff of just four people – twiceas many as it had two years ago - in a humblecorner office in downtown Olympia.

Yet the Trust is actually quite formidable. Its staff issmall, but boasts two masters of environmental

science, a Ph.D in forest economics and a lawdegree. The Trust also sports a savvy board of 

directors and a cadre of volunteers that include

esteemed biologists and property lawyers.

Atop it all, is the Trust’s unassuming and articulate

director, Eric Erler.

  “I think what makes the Capitol Land Trust so

effective is the people,” said Brian Abbott, salmonsection manager of the Washington State Recreation

and Conservation office. “It’s the board, and it’s

Eric. He gets along with people.” 

Continued

Capitol Land Trust: A Model That WorksBy Jim Ly

Oakland Bay on Puget Sound

Terry Lib

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Abbott’s agency staffs the state panel which oversees salmon recovery grants and approved six key

Capitol Land Trust shoreline projects last year worth a combined $1.79 million.

Abbott says Capitol Land Trust has earned the state’s trust by making smart proposals, handling delicatenegotiations with landowners and following through on projects.

He also praised the Trust's ability to generate bipartisan support, most visibly in the form of the widelyrespected Ralph Munro. “A lot of people listen to what Ralph says. Ralph is part of the local landscape. It

certainly helps.” 

The Capitol Land Trust also benefits from the fact that its practical approach to complex environmental

challenges is increasingly in vogue.

Tighter regulations infuriate property owners. Expensive habitat restoration projects outrage fiscalconservatives. Preservation projects – especially when negotiated amicably with consenting landowners –don’t tend to upset anyone.

Plus, the purchase or donation of critical properties is usually far more effective and far cheaper thantrying to restore damaged habitat. Just as it’s impossible to rebuild an old growth forest, the smartest

engineers can’t re-create intricate estuaries like Budd Inlet’s Gull Harbor, where the Trust cobbledtogether easement deals that conserve two miles of wild shoreline.

Sometimes the trust must pay full market value to conserve properties. But in many cases, landownersare willing to sell at a bargain in exchange for the charitable tax break that comes with selling to theTrust at a discount. Still other landowners donate their properties outright.

  “We can’t always pay ful

value,” says Erler. “We

have to get creative. Wehave to identify the top

priorities and only seekmoney for those," the

Trust director says beforeadding, "We can’t afford

not to succeed.” 

During the past few years,

the Trust has found a wayto protect ten miles of wild

South Sound shorelineth rough pu r chase s ,donations or conservation

easements.

  “What we’re doing is notsaving the world by anystretch,” Erler says. “But

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Howe Conservation Easement 

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what we’re doing, I believe, is a model for

what can succeed.” 

Rinee Merritt says Capitol Land Trust is not

your average local land trust.

  “They have an excellent reputation withcounty and state and federal people. Theyplay well with others,” says Merritt, former

project manager for Trust for Public Lands, anational non-profit that works with local landtrusts.

Merritt says Capitol Land Trust’s "well-rounded" local support is unique, noting that

many land trusts only court liberalDemocrats.

Capitol Land Trust courts everyone. One of its biggest corporate sponsors is GreenDiamond Resource Company, a Shelton-based timber company. The Trust's close advisers include one of 

Olympia’s most prolific home builders. Another enthusiastic and valuable backer is Doug Sutherland, the

Republican Washington State Lands Commissioner.

"They've worked really well with us," Sutherland says, "helping us identify lands we feel are important."

Even John Dodge, a grizzled Olympian columnist who has watched

the rise and fall of South Sound environmental groups for years,

finds the Trust’s bipartisan prowess noteworthy.

After attending a Capitol Land Trust breakfast in March, Dodgedescribed an unusual gathering at which “the pro-growth and anti-

growth factions check their guns at the door and rally around the

community benefits of protecting valuable open space in a non-regulatory way.” 

  “Conservation is the concern of all of us,” Trust board president

Pene Speaks told the breakfast crowd. “It’s not a partisan issue.” 

 Jim Lynch is the author of “The Highest Tide” and a former reporter for the Seattle Times and Portland Oregonian.

Capitol Land Trust is a nonprofit conservation organization whosemission is to further collaborative and strategic conservation of southwest Washington’s essential natural areas and working lands. 

Kayaking on Eld Inlet 

Great Blue Heron Nests, McLane Pt.