Funding

SPP staff and activities at The Evergreen State College (Evergreen) are funded by an array of contracts and grants, generally from 8 – 12 sources at any one time. In fiscal year 2016, SPP-Evergreen staff were responsible for stewarding funds from 18 different sources! This diversified model demands staff time devoted to negotiations and tracking, but also offers us financial resilience that makes the effort worthwhile.


Evergreen does not provide direct funding for SPP programs, but makes significant contributions by providing space, payroll services, access to students and faculty, human resource services, grant, foundation, and budget support, and more.

Contracts and funding come from conservation organizations and state and federal agencies including Washington State Department of Corrections, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Center for Natural Lands Management, US Department of Defense, Institute for Applied Ecology, and Bureau of Land Management. These focus primarily on ecological conservation and environmental education programs, and staffing costs.

Foundation and private donations have allowed us to create new initiatives, such as the SPP Network and our Western Pond Turtle programs. In addition, these donations have supported purchase of environmental education materials and have funded highly productive statewide networking events to advance SPP programs. For the past several years, generous annual contributions from an anonymous donor at the Seattle Foundation have boosted our capacity for programming and outreach.

Past funding

We have been graced by grants from the National Science Foundation, Herb Alpert Foundation, and the Russell Family Foundation.

Other past funders of conservation programs include the Oregon Zoo Foundation and Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

We are grateful to all the individuals & organizations who have helped grow SPP!