The Northwest Natural Resource Group (NNRG) exists because healthy working forests are essential to our world. Our mission is to use the marketplace to restore forests and local economies. Dedicated to promoting a sustainable, environmentally sound economy in the forestlands and watersheds of the Pacific Northwest, we focus on the smaller woodlands owned and managed by private landowners, smaller forest product companies, governmental agencies, and non-profit organizations.
NNRG began in 1992 as a community-based non-profit organization striving for economic and environmental vitality in one of the world’s most unique ecosystems, the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. The organization changed its name from the Olympic Peninsula Foundation to Northwest Natural Resource Group in 1997 to reflect an expanded geographic focus. NNRG has spent the past 15 years fostering collaborative, market-based approaches to working with landowners to improve the health of forests in the Northwest.
NNRG’s current priority is to support the growth of a profitable, sustainable, and environmentally sound timber industry in Washington State, primarily through our Northwest Certified Forestry program for small landowners. NNRG has been a long-time advocate for Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC®) certification in the Northwest and continues to work to make certification affordable, functional, and accessible to everyone participating in the forest products economy. Our newest program, Watershed Innovation, focuses on providing access for small landowners to emerging markets for ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, water quality, and wildlife habitat and aggregating the positive impacts these landowners can have on a larger watershed scale.
Meet Dan Stonington, Executive Director for the Northwest Natural Resource Group
Prior to NNRG, Dan served as the Conservation Policy Director for Cascade Land Conservancy (now Forterra) where he managed the Conservancy’s work on rural conservation strategies and ecosystem markets. Dan has also worked for Ross & Associates Environmental Consulting in Seattle, Smart Growth America in Washington DC, and a Washington State land use ballot campaign. Outside of work, he serves as the Vice President for the High Country News board of directors. Dan is a graduate of the University of Washington and the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and is a native of Seattle, WA.
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