ForeverGreen Council

Community leaders form ForeverGreen

ForeverGreen Council formed in 2000 to examine an integrated “System of Parks” for Pierce County. The intial board of community leaders examined the number of new parks that would be needed to meet the needs of a growing population by 2020. After holding a series of public hearings around the county, the council learned that citizen's priorities called for a countywide trail system and for increased funding for open space.

National Parak Service provides planning assistance

Initially a grant from the National Park Service in October 2002 provided a trail planner, Bryan Bowden, to evaluate the numerous trail proposals around the county. A unified map was created showing that less than 20% of a county-wide trail was complete. A search began for an agency to house a trail assistance office. ForeverGreen chose the Pierce Conservation District because of its reputation for cooperation and its willingness to work with the ForeverGreen Council to fund the project.

Incorporates and becomes Non-profit organization

In 2004 ForeverGreen was incorpoarted as a non-profit organization with Jayme Gordon as the first Executive Director. Funding for the initial phases of the project were provided by the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, the REI and others. Operational funding comes from members and jurisdictions which include MetroParks of Tacoma, Pierce County Parks, and City of Sumner.