Friends of the Columbia Gorge

What Friends of the Columbia Gorge does

Friends of the Columbia Gorge is a 501(c)(3) conservation nonprofit founded in 1980 in Portland, Oregon, with the founding mission of creating and protecting the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Operating today with 22 staff across offices in Portland, Hood River, and Washougal, the organization functions as the only conservation entity exclusively dedicated to the Columbia Gorge, executing an integrated portfolio of advocacy, land acquisition, litigation, public education, and direct stewardship. Its core service areas include the Protect & Conserve program, the Friends of the Columbia Gorge Land Trust (established 2004, holding 19 preserves covering 1,700+ acres), Outdoor Programs and Events, Youth & Community Education (including Explore the Gorge), Volunteer Stewardship, and Advocacy & Policy Campaigns, with newer initiatives Gorge Towns to Trails (a 200-mile loop vision) and the Gorge Accessibility Project.

The organization's underlying technology footprint is minimal and intentionally non-commercial: a WordPress content site (gorgefriends.org), an online donation platform (act.gorgefriends.org), a Shopify merchandise store, and a broad social media presence. Its competitive position is built on regulatory heritage (founding the NSA designation 40+ years ago), institutional relationships with federal/state agencies and tribal nations, in-house legal staff, and a 4,500+ member grassroots network rather than on proprietary technology.

Revenue is generated entirely through philanthropic channels: individual membership and recurring donations, capital campaigns (e.g., the $5.5M Preserve the Wonder campaign), grants, planned giving (Norman Yeon Legacy Circle), and merchandise. The organization is governed by an independent board chaired by Pleschette Fontenet, with no parent entity, no subsidiaries beyond the Land Trust arm, and leadership transitioning in May 2026 from long-serving Executive Director Kevin Gorman to Gabe Sheoships, an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

Name

Friends of the Columbia Gorge

Legal name

Friends of the Columbia Gorge

Website

https://gorgefriends.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Friends of the Columbia Gorge is a Portland-based 501(c)(3) conservation nonprofit that protects, preserves, and stewards the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area through advocacy, a 19-preserve land trust, education programs, and a 4,500+ member grassroots network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Conservation Services

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Zoos and Botanical Gardens (712130)

akta.pro primary industry

Land Trusts & Protected Areas (BPAGAGAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

Keywords

• Land conservation services
• Environmental advocacy
• Land trust management
• Outdoor education programs
• Habitat preservation

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership and Donations: Friends of the Columbia Gorge generates revenue primarily through membership fees and donations from supporters. The organization has over 4,500 members and runs annual membership drives, with special promotions like Membership Month offering branded merchandise (shirts, pins) for donations over $100.
2. Land Acquisition Campaigns: Capital campaigns such as the Preserve the Wonder campaign ($5.5 million) to purchase properties and preserve land in the Columbia Gorge.
3. Donations and Fundraising: Tax-deductible donations as a 501(c)(3) organization with Tax ID: 93-0782467.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels12 records

Core offering

Friends of the Columbia Gorge is a nonprofit conservation organization that protects, preserves, and stewards the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area through advocacy, land acquisition, litigation, public education, and volunteer stewardship. It operates a land trust that has permanently protected over 1,700 acres across 19 preserves since 2004, and delivers outdoor education, youth programs, guided outings, and policy campaigns. Revenue is generated primarily through individual memberships, donations, and capital fundraising campaigns such as the Preserve the Wonder initiative.

Product overview

Friends of the Columbia Gorge is a nonprofit conservation organization offering a unified set of programs and services dedicated to protecting, preserving, and stewarding the Columbia Gorge. The organization operates through integrated service areas: Protect & Conserve (advocacy, land acquisition, litigation, public education), the Friends of the Columbia Gorge Land Trust (which has protected over 1,700 acres across 19 preserves since 2004), Outdoor Programs and Events (guided outings and educational events), Youth & Community Education (including the Explore the Gorge program), Volunteer Stewardship, and Advocacy & Policy Campaigns. The organization maintains a network of preserves including Mosier Plateau, Lyle Cherry Orchard, Turtle Haven, Alashík Preserve, and Cape Horn Preserve. Key initiatives include the Gorge Towns to Trails vision for a 200-mile loop trail and the Gorge Accessibility Project.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Friends of the Columbia Gorge Land Trust: The land trust arm of the organization, established in 2004, focused on land acquisition and permanent preservation of sensitive lands in the Columbia Gorge.

Products and services

• Protect & Conserve

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 1,800 acres permanently protected through land trust
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

20 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts - Oregon Land Justice ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 April 2026Gabe Sheoships co-founded the Oregon Land Justice Project, a network to strengthen relationships between Oregon land trusts and Tribal communities. Sheoships worked with Kevin Gorman through this coalition before his appointment as executive director.
• Washington Department of Fish and WildlifecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for endangered Western pond turtle recovery at Turtle Haven preserve. WDFW has worked since 1998 with the Oregon Zoo on turtle head-start programs, collecting hatchlings and returning grown turtles to the wild.
• Oregon ZoocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Western pond turtle head-start program. Turtles are raised at the zoo during winter, growing from dollar-coin size to palm size, then returned to Turtle Haven preserve in the Gorge.
• Lower Columbia Estuary PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead organization on the $22 million Steigerwald Habitat Restoration and Flood Control Project to reconnect 912 acres of Columbia River floodplain. Friends is acquiring Steigerwald Shores to support this restoration.
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Steigerwald restoration project that will help USFWS avoid $4 million in costs to replace failing structures at Gibbons Creek. Adjacent to Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
• Port of Camas-WashougalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Steigerwald restoration project. Project will remove 125 acres of Port and City property from FEMA flood zone, saving the Port up to $100,000 annually in electrical costs.
• Washington Trails Association (WTA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for trail building at Lyle Cherry Orchard and other preserves. WTA organizes volunteer work parties to construct new trails as part of Gorge Towns to Trails initiative.
• U.S. Forest ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLongstanding partnership for Gorge management and stewardship. Friends worked with USFS during Eagle Creek fire response and ongoing conservation work in the National Scenic Area.
• Vancouver Audubon SocietyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPetitioner organization in appeal to protect western gray squirrel. Partner in coalition including Friends of the Columbia Gorge, Friends of the White Salmon River, Center for Biological Diversity, and WildEarth Guardians.
• Friends of the White Salmon RiverminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPetitioner organization in appeal to protect western gray squirrel. Coalition partner in conservation advocacy efforts.
• Center for Biological DiversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPetitioner organization in appeal to protect western gray squirrel. Coalition partner in conservation advocacy.
• WildEarth GuardiansminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPetitioner organization in appeal to protect western gray squirrel. Coalition partner in conservation advocacy.
• Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian ReservationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey tribal partner. Gabe Sheoships is an enrolled citizen of CTUIR. The organization supports tribal treaty rights and Indigenous First Foods protection. First enrolled member of a Gorge Treaty Tribe to lead the organization.
• Confederated Tribes of Warm SpringsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTribal council member Carina Miller spoke at Mosier derailment anniversary event. Partnership in opposing fossil fuel development affecting tribal lands.
• Yakama NationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTribal Council Chairman JoDe Goudy participated in Mosier derailment anniversary events. Partnership in opposing fossil fuel transport through tribal territories.
• Stand Up To Oil CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition of groups opposed to new oil terminals and increased oil transport through the Northwest. Friends helped gather 1.3 million comments against coal and oil transport terminals.
• Power Past Coal CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition working to stop coal exports through the Northwest. Partnered with Friends in gathering public comments against fossil fuel transport terminals.
• Cascade Red CrossminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner during Eagle Creek fire emergency, operating evacuation shelters for displaced Gorge residents in Gresham, OR and Stevenson, WA.
• Hood River County Search & RescueminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal emergency responder and partner. Friends raised over $30,000 in emergency appeal to support their efforts during Eagle Creek fire.
• Washougal School DistrictminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Explore the Gorge outdoor education program. Friends operates the program in partnership with the district, serving students from Jemtegaard and Canyon Creek middle schools.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Columbia Land Trust: Pacific Northwest land trust operating in the lower Columbia region, with a comparable model of land acquisition, preserve stewardship, and conservation advocacy. Strongly overlapping geography and donor base with Friends of the Columbia Gorge.
• Oregon Natural Desert Association: Oregon-based conservation nonprofit combining land trust-style stewardship with advocacy, public lands protection, and grassroots organizing — structurally analogous to Friends of the Columbia Gorge with a high-desert geographic focus.
• Washington Trails Association: Pacific Northwest trail-building and stewardship organization that is an active partner of Friends (Gorge Towns to Trails initiative) and shares its volunteer-led model, public engagement programming, and Pacific Northwest focus.
• Deschutes Land Trust: Oregon-based land trust that acquires and stewards conservation preserves, runs volunteer stewardship and outdoor education programs, and engages in advocacy — closely mirroring Friends' integrated land trust + advocacy model within the same state.

Emerging players

• Cascadia Wildlands: Pacific Northwest advocacy-driven conservation nonprofit focused on forests and wildlife, with litigation and grassroots mobilization similar to Friends' advocacy arm. Smaller scale and more issue-specific in scope.
• Center for Biological Diversity: Active coalition partner of Friends (western gray squirrel litigation) with a litigation- and Endangered Species Act-driven model that overlaps significantly with Friends' legal advocacy in the Columbia Gorge.

Broad incumbents

• Sierra Club (Oregon Chapter): Large national environmental organization with a significant Oregon chapter that engages in regional conservation advocacy, public lands protection, and outdoor programing, providing overlapping advocacy and member-engagement channels.
• The Nature Conservancy (Oregon): Largest global conservation organization with deep Oregon operations, including land acquisition, preserve management, and policy advocacy in the Columbia Gorge and broader state. Represents the most well-funded incumbent in the same space.
• Trust for Public Land: National nonprofit land trust active across Oregon and Washington, focused on conservation, parks, and land acquisition. Competes for the same capital campaign donors and operates overlapping preserve and advocacy programs.

Others

• EarthShare: Workplace-giving federation of which Friends is a member, channeling payroll-deduction donations to environmental nonprofits. Functions as an ecosystem/fundraising infrastructure provider rather than a direct conservation peer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/columbiagorge
• Facebookfacebook.com/gorgefriends
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gorgefriends
• Instagraminstagram.com/gorgefriends
• Xx.com/GorgeFriends

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Friends of the Columbia Gorge