About Us

Our Mission

The Gifford Pinchot Task Force supports the biological diversity and communities of the Northwest through conservation and restoration of forests, rivers, fish, and wildlife.

Our Work

 The Task Force accomplishes its mission through the following programs.

Please click on each program below to learn more about it.

Conservation

To recover thriving fish and wildlife populations and to protect community water sources, the Gifford Pinchot Task Force continues to work to protect our public lands from destructive mining, grazing, timber practices, and more. When we act to finally protect remaining mature and ancient forests and roadless areas, we will be able to look to the future with more confidence that we can successfully restore the biodiversity and resilience of our forest and watersheds.

Restoration

The Task Force’s programs are deeply rooted in the foundation of ecological restoration—assisting the recovery of resilience and adaptive capacity of ecosystems that have been degraded, damaged, or destroyed. We work to reconnect fragmented landscapes so fish and wildlife habitats can survive floods, fire and drought – all of which are predicted to increase in intensity and occurrence with climate change. For example, we work with coalitions and rural community members to prioritize closure of roads, which can be turned into trails or other non-motorized recreational areas while restoring fish and wildlife habitat.

Gifford Pinchot National Forest Demonstration Project

The GPNF is crucial to habitat connectivity and species migration across the spine of the Cascades and is home to 51 documented or suspected threatened, endangered, or sensitive plant species (such as pale blue-eyed grass), 24 threatened, endangered, or sensitive animal species, and a host of rare and common wildlife ranging from jumping slugs and ensatina salamanders to coyotes, deer, songbirds, and hawks, and the elusive wolverine.  These attributes make the GPNF the ideal location to demonstrate that restored Northwest ecosystems and thriving wildlife populations can be good for the land, the land management agencies, and our communities.

Policy

The Task Force works with other organizations and with coalitions to shape national legislation and Forest Service policies to protect and restore Northwest public lands.

Our Values

The Task Force is guided by the following core values:

• Thriving biological diversity supports the high quality of life in the Northwest and is embodied by healthy fish runs, functioning forest ecosystems, clean drinking water, and inspirational recreational experiences.
• The Northwest is one of the best places to demonstrate that conservation and restoration can support thriving local communities because the region still has habitat, biodiversity, and an infrastructure of businesses and contractors that have expertise working in the woods and restoring watersheds.
• Collaboration with local community members, government, and other organizations is our preferred approach to addressing conservation issues. 
• We have a responsibility to efficiently and carefully use the financial resources entrusted to us.