Green Seattle Partnership, 20 Years and Counting!
Updated: Sep 13
As we head into the winter season and another year’s end, we are reflecting on a big year for the Green Seattle Partnership. We welcomed new partners and new Forest Stewards, debuted a new video about the Partnership, observed our 20th Green Seattle Day, and had the pleasure of gathering our community to celebrate our 20-year milestone! And now, we are a couple weeks away from finalizing an updated strategic plan that will drive our programming forward.
Reflecting on 20 Years of Partnership
In our 20 years of existence, we’ve connected residents directly to the forests, parklands, and plants they live alongside, getting tools and knowledge in the hands of people who want to build relationships with their local parks.
Working alongside partners, volunteers, restoration professionals, stewards and champions, we have raised the bar for what is possible in urban forest restoration. We’re proud to share these huge strides for Seattle parklands, including:
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2,032 acres in active restoration
across 230+ parks including forests, freshwater and marine shorelines, meadows, tidal and freshwater wetlands and creeks.
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1,438,943* total volunteer hours
with 23% of hours provided by youth.
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171 active volunteer Forest Stewards
leading volunteer events in 74 parks, with 494 Forest Stewards trained since 2005 and 71 Forest Stewards accomplishing 10 years of service.
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1,507,386* total native plants
planted, including 355,238 trees.
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62,249* trees
freed from climbing vines.
*all-time totals reported from 2005 to September 2025.
A Brief GSP Timeline
We compiled a brief timeline of GSP for those who have been involved since the beginning and those who are entirely new to the realm of restoring our urban ecosystems.
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2001: Seattle Urban Nature Project’s Citywide Habitat Assessment was completed. This assessment was the first of its kind in Seattle and the foundation of Green Seattle Partnership.
2005: Green Seattle Partnership was founded. Forterra was a co-founding organization, then known as Cascade Land Conservancy.
2010: The GSP Forest Monitoring Program was developed.
2018: GSP recorded one million volunteer hours, and one million plants installed.
2023: Seattle was recognized as a “Role Model City” for community-led restoration by the United Nations as part of the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
2025: 20 years of the Green Seattle Partnership!
Strategic Planning Process
We’re kicking off the next 20 years with a new strategic plan that harnesses all we’ve learned about who we are and what we can become together. We have been busy this year gathering stakeholder input through community surveys, focus groups, meetings, and interviews to define our new plan’s priority areas. Summer work groups created three-year action work plans for each priority area. Now, we are putting the finishing touches on the plan, incorporating final feedback to ensure the plan represents our shared vision.
Sneak Peak
The Green Seattle Partnership will continue to prioritize land care and stewardship, partnership building, and community programming.
Our efforts will sustain a cooperative structure that includes pathways for accountability, inclusive leadership, and coordinated investments to meet shared goals, by:
Developing a clear and accountable partnership structure
Diversifying representation across the Partnership
Ensuring sustainable funding streams
Our work will result in a culture of care for Seattle’s ecosystems, where engagement opportunities prioritize belonging and connection, provide tangible benefits to participants, and are responsive to community relationships, by:
Growing school and student participation
Expanding event offerings to resonate with overburdened communities
Strengthening career exposure and job training programming
Our work will result in urban ecosystems that are rich in life, resilient in the face of climate change, and tended by an inclusive and collaborative network that invites diverse perspectives and emphasizes continuous learning, by:
Aligning stewardship efforts with both current conditions and long-term goals
Prioritizing restoration sites with a climate justice lens
Facilitating restoration knowledge sharing to reflect multiple and diverse perspectives
A Huge Thank You!
Sharing gratitude for the many, many community members who have helped us define our goals and refine our steps along the way! And keep an eye out for the full strategic plan in the coming weeks. As we move beyond 20 years and continue on this long road ahead towards sustaining Seattle’s parklands and people, we hope you’ll join us!
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