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

Wild salmon and steelhead are spiraling toward extinction in Idaho, and with this decline, the Southern Resident Orca population on the coast is in decline too. Removing the four federal dams on the lower Snake River in downstream Washington State must be the centerpiece of any successful effort to restore true abundance and honor Tribal treaty rights. We are seeking administrative and legislative action to replace these dams’ services through investment in energy, transportation, and irrigation infrastructure and the removal of these four federal dams. We are working for ‘win-win’ solutions that benefit salmon, orca, and communities alike.

Justin Hayes, Executive Director

Idaho Conservation League

Our Restoring the Snake River campaign is a multi-pronged approach that centers around connecting people and communities to the river in an effort to restore salmon and restore water quality.

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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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