What Long Live the Kings does

Long Live the Kings (LLTK) is a Seattle-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1986 to restore wild salmon and steelhead populations and to support sustainable fishing across the Pacific Northwest. The organization was seeded by founder Jim Youngren's 1978 experiment at Glenwood Springs on Orcas Island, and over 40 years has built a portfolio of programs organized into five areas: Healthy Habitat (Nisqually River Delta restoration, Snohomish toxics reduction, urban estuary projects); Safe Passage (Hood Canal Bridge assessment, Lake Washington Ship Canal work, Survive the Sound); Science and Innovation (marine life monitoring, stormwater filtration, pinniped predation, herring recovery); Species Conservation (Chinook Adaptive Management, Hood Canal Steelhead Project, Hood Canal Summer Chum Recovery); and Sustainable Fishing (Glenwood Springs Chinook hatchery). Two flagship assets — the Lilliwaup Conservation Hatchery on Hood Canal and the Glenwood Springs Chinook program on Orcas Island — provide on-the-ground recovery infrastructure alongside innovative low-impact hatchery techniques that have tripled steelhead abundance in pilot basins.

LLTK does not operate a commercial technology platform; its functional stack is acoustic telemetry for fish tracking, GIS mapping for project sites, and the Survive the Sound web-based educational game (combining science, art, and technology) that reaches 30,000+ annual participants and 100,000+ students through educators. The organization coordinates research and deployment across 125+ project sites with 250+ partners including Northwest tribal nations (Nisqually, Tulalip, Skokomish, Port Gamble S'Klallam), federal and state agencies (NOAA Fisheries, WDFW, Tacoma Power), universities (UW, Pacific Northwest National Laboratories), and industrial partners (Vigor, Cedar Grove).

The business model is donor-funded: tax-deductible individual donations, monthly recurring gifts (Salmon Squad), corporate sponsorships, planned giving, stock and asset donations, workplace giving, and donor-advised funds. Revenue is not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market is community-led, with content marketing (blog, newsletter, Survive the Sound platform), earned media (Smithsonian, FOX13, Tacoma News Tribune), events, and direct donor cultivation. Primary constituent segments are tribal nations, government agencies, educators and students, individual donors, corporate partners, and conservation organizations.

Name

Long Live the Kings

Legal name

Long Live The Kings

Website

https://lltk.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Long Live the Kings is a Seattle-based nonprofit founded in 1986 that restores wild salmon and steelhead across the Pacific Northwest through habitat restoration, conservation hatcheries, scientific research, and education, partnering with 250+ tribal nations, agencies, universities, and corporations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wildlife Conservation Services

NAICS

Finfish Farming and Fish Hatcheries (112511), Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting (11)

SIC

Fishing, Hunting And Trapping (900)

akta.pro primary industry

Marine & Freshwater Conservation (BPAGAGAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Aquaculture Health, Biosecurity & Veterinary Services (AFAEAAAK)

Keywords

• Salmon conservation
• Habitat restoration
• Conservation hatchery programs
• Environmental education outreach
• Wildlife nonprofit research

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Tax-deductible gifts from individual donors supporting watershed-level recovery projects, basin-wide planning efforts, and international research initiatives.
2. Monthly Giving (Salmon Squad): Recurring monthly donations that sustain year-round salmon recovery efforts through collective donor impact.
3. Corporate Sponsorship: Corporate sponsorship opportunities that boost visibility and align brands with local conservation efforts, including Survive the Sound sponsorships.
4. Planned Giving: Legacy giving through bequests and estate planning to ensure salmon conservation continues beyond donor lifetimes.
5. Stock and Asset Donations: Donation of appreciated stock to maximize tax benefits while advancing salmon recovery.
6. Workplace Giving: Workplace giving programs with matching fund opportunities for employees.
7. Donor-Advised Funds: Tax-efficient giving through donor-advised funds directed toward wild salmon protection.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Long Live the Kings restores wild Pacific salmon and steelhead populations in the Pacific Northwest through a portfolio of on-the-ground conservation programs, including low-impact hatchery operations, habitat restoration, fish-passage improvement, scientific research, and public education. The organization partners with tribal nations, federal and state agencies, universities, and other nonprofits to deliver projects across Hood Canal, Puget Sound, the Salish Sea, and Washington State, while engaging donors and educators through the Survive the Sound platform and a range of giving programs.

Product overview

Long Live the Kings is a nonprofit salmon conservation organization founded in 1986, operating a portfolio of interconnected programs combining on-the-ground fieldwork with scientific innovation. The core offerings include Survive the Sound (an educational game for public engagement), conservation hatchery programs at Glenwood Springs and Lilliwaup Creek, and various habitat restoration and species conservation initiatives across the Pacific Northwest. The organization's work spans five main program areas: Healthy Habitat (restoration projects), Safe Passage (migration barrier removal), Science and Innovation (research initiatives), Species Conservation (Chinook, steelhead, and chum recovery), and Sustainable Fishing support. These programs are unified by the mission to restore wild salmon and steelhead populations while balancing ecological and community needs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Survive the Sound: An interactive online game where students can follow fish migration through Puget Sound, combining science, art, and education
• Lilliwaup Conservation Hatchery
• Glenwood Springs Chinook

Products and services

• Survive the Sound Interactive online game where players follow real tagged steelhead trout as they migrate through Puget Sound, combining science, art, technology, and education to teach the public about salmon conservation challenges. Engages 30,000+ participants annually and serves 100,000+ students through educators.
• Glenwood Springs Chinook Program Conservation hatchery program on Orcas Island that uses clean, cold spring water from Mount Constitution and natural earthen ponds to rear Chinook salmon fry, acting as a living laboratory for release strategies and supporting regional salmon recovery.
• Lilliwaup Creek Conservation Hatchery Conservation hatchery program operating since 1998 that contributes to recovering summer chum salmon populations in Hood Canal by increasing naturally spawning salmon abundance through supplementation.
• Healthy Habitat Programs On-the-ground habitat restoration initiatives including Nisqually River Delta restoration, toxics reduction in the Snohomish Estuary, and urban estuary restoration to improve salmon spawning and rearing conditions across the Pacific Northwest.
• Safe Passage Programs Projects focused on removing barriers to salmon migration, including the Hood Canal Bridge Assessment and Lake Washington Ship Canal temperature management to improve fish passage survival rates for steelhead, sockeye, and Chinook.
• Science and Innovation Programs Scientific research initiatives including marine life monitoring in Puget Sound, stormwater filtration studies (Ohop Creek), pinniped predation research, and herring recovery projects that advance understanding of salmon ecosystem challenges.
• Hood Canal Steelhead Project Basin-wide study testing innovative hatchery supplementation techniques using low-impact wild steelhead rearing methods to boost steelhead populations on the brink of extinction; techniques pioneered here tripled steelhead abundance.
• Chinook Adaptive Management Program working to refine and coordinate Chinook salmon recovery actions across Puget Sound by developing common metrics and shared strategies among watershed partners, led through the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Council.

Quantifiable outcome

• 20% reduction in seal predation at migration bottlenecks
• +6 more outcomes

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• Nisqually Indian TribecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey strategic partner in the Nisqually River Delta Habitat Restoration project. The tribe is seeking comprehensive nature-based solutions to improve key salmon habitat and has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to ensure benefits from planned I-5 bridge redesign flow back to them.
• NOAA FisheriescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal partner in salmon recovery efforts, including the Hood Canal Steelhead Project which pioneered innovative low-impact hatchery techniques that tripled steelhead abundance.
• VigorcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndustrial partner seeking to mitigate impacts of a working shoreline by creating functional estuary habitat for juvenile salmon. LLTK and UW evaluate effectiveness of Vigor's restoration project.
• University of Washington's Wetland Ecosystem TeamcoreTechnology or IntegrationAcademic research partner conducting post-restoration monitoring and scientific evaluation of habitat restoration effectiveness at the Duwamish estuary.
• Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState agency partner providing long-term contaminant monitoring data. WDFW's program found PBDEs in juvenile Chinook salmon at all 11 major Puget Sound estuaries in 2016.
• City of EverettsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in investigating PBDEs in the Snohomish Basin. Working with LLTK to investigate and address pollution from wastewater discharge.
• Tulalip TribescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in investigating PBDEs and addressing water pollution affecting salmon habitat in the Snohomish Basin.
• Hood Canal Coordinating CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead partner in addressing high steelhead mortality at the Hood Canal Bridge, working with tribes and state/federal agencies on mitigation strategies.
• Nisqually Indian TribecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Ohop Creek Stormwater Filtration project to protect key coho habitat from toxic roadway runoff (6PPD-q).
• Cedar GrovecoreTechnology or IntegrationDesigned, built, and installed the innovative containerized compost-based biofiltration system for treating stormwater runoff.
• HerrerasecondaryTechnology or IntegrationTechnical support and stormwater sampling installation services for the Ohop Creek project.
• Tulalip TribescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeading partner in offshore marine monitoring effort in Puget Sound, in partnership with USGS. Five years of monitoring surveys focused on juvenile salmon and Pacific herring.
• Port Gamble S'Klallam TribecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in recovering declining Puget Sound herring stocks using methods adapted from traditional Indigenous techniques.
• Pacific Salmon CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational body that LLTK coordinates with on the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project, an initiative to understand low salmon survival in the Salish Sea.
• Tacoma PowersecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in expanding innovative hatchery techniques into the North Fork of the Skokomish River for Hood Canal Steelhead recovery.
• Skokomish TribecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in expanding hatchery techniques to the North Fork of the Skokomish River and raising adult steelhead at Lilliwaup Conservation Hatchery.
• WRIA 8 Salmon Recovery CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWatershed partnership addressing water temperature challenges in Lake Washington Ship Canal that threaten sockeye and Chinook salmon migration.
• Pacific Northwest National LaboratoriessecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner contributing to large-scale scientific undertakings including the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project.
• Nisqually Land TrustsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerLandowner partner at Ohop Creek project site where the Nisqually Land Trust previously restored riparian areas.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Wild Salmon Center: Portland-based nonprofit dedicated to protecting wild Pacific salmon and their habitats across the Pacific Rim. Directly comparable because it operates conservation science and policy programs for the same species and shares LLTK's blend of applied research, on-the-ground projects, and donor-supported funding model.
• Wild Fish Conservancy: Pacific Northwest nonprofit using field science, policy, and advocacy to protect wild fish and their watersheds. Directly comparable because its work spans the same Hood Canal/Puget Sound geography and the same species (Chinook, steelhead), with similar small-team science, restoration, and education programs.
• Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations: Trade association representing West Coast commercial fishing families, including sustainable salmon fishing interests. Comparable because it operates in the same sustainable-fishing advocacy space and shares stakeholder relationships with the same tribal and government fisheries agencies.
• Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission: Inter-tribal organization coordinating fisheries management and salmon restoration across the Columbia River basin. Directly comparable because it sits at the same intersection of tribal sovereignty, salmon science, and policy advocacy that defines LLTK's partnerships with Nisqually, Tulalip, and other treaty tribes.
• Trout Unlimited: National nonprofit focused on coldwater fish conservation—trout and salmonids—with a similar model of donor-supported habitat restoration, science-based programs, and volunteer chapters. Directly comparable because its Steelhead and Pacific salmon programs overlap the same Pacific Northwest geographies and donor constituencies as LLTK.
• Save Our wild Salmon: Pacific Northwest coalition advocating for Snake and Columbia River salmon and steelhead recovery. Directly comparable because it convenes tribal, environmental, fishing, and civic groups around salmon recovery—a coalition model that mirrors LLTK's stakeholder convening role in the Salish Sea.

Broad incumbents

• The Nature Conservancy (Washington Chapter): Global environmental nonprofit with a major Washington program portfolio covering forests, rivers, and estuaries. Broadly comparable because it operates large-scale habitat restoration and policy programs in overlapping geographies with similar private-donor, corporate, and government funding models.
• Earthjustice: National environmental law organization that litigates for salmon and river protection across the Pacific Northwest. Broadly comparable because it pursues salmon recovery through adjacent tools (legal advocacy, regulatory comment) that often complement LLTK's science and restoration programs.

Emerging players

• Herring Research Trust / Pacific Herring Research and Restoration: Emerging regional effort to recover Puget Sound herring as forage fish that support salmon survival. Comparable because LLTK's own Recovering Herring to Support Salmon project (with Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe) runs adjacent science and traditional-ecological-knowledge work, making this a peer in the same niche.

Regional players

• Puget Sound Partnership: Washington state agency coordinating Puget Sound recovery including salmon, funded by the state legislature and federal partners. Comparable because it operates at the same regional policy table—LLTK's Executive Director sits on its Salmon Recovery Council—and shares governance over the same multi-year recovery strategies.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/longlivethekings
• Facebookfacebook.com/longlivekings
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lltk
• Instagraminstagram.com/longlive.kings/?hl=en
• Xx.com/longlivekings

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Long Live the Kings