Our Mission
The SGPC’s mission is to collectively improve development, facilitation, and implementation of projects that enhance economic vitality, forest ecosystems, outdoor recreation, and public safety on the south end of Gifford Pinchot National Forest and surrounding communities.
Learn more about the SGPC mission by reading our Operations Manual.
Our Story
The South Gifford Pinchot Collaborative (SGPC) was formed in December 2011 by combining the former Mt. Adams District Collaborative (MADC) and the Lewis River Collaborative (LRC) that were working on similar issues to create a single group with a shared mission. The LRC and MADC were both formed in the fall of 2008 by Skamania County Commissioners who saw that collaboration and the newly developed Stewardship Sale authority could benefit both forest health and the local county and communities. The Gifford Pinchot National Forest (GPNF) makes up 80% of the land base of Skamania county, and jobs and revenue generated from the GPNF have been critical to the health and well-being of the county and its communities.
The SGPC works with the Forest Service on watershed scale vegetation planning projects to achieve outcomes that the diverse membership of the collaborative can support, is highly involved in Stewardship Timber Sales and the development of stewardship projects funded by the retained receipts generated from these sales, and seeks to add capacity to the Forest Service to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration.
Since 2011, the group has had a part-time collaborative coordinator that has been funded through various grants received from the National Forest Foundation and Secure Rural Title II funding via the South Gifford Pinchot Resource Advisory Committee (RAC). Since October 2017, the group has benefited from the help of a Forest Service Resource Assistant who splits his time between the SGPC and the Pinchot Partners, the collaborative working on the north end of the GPNF.
Our Photos
Images on this site are courtesy of Jurgen Hess Photography or are public domain images available through USDA Forest Service unless otherwise noted.
