Agriculture and Forestry Education Foundation / AgForestry Leadership Development Program

It all began after the “Fish Wars” of the 1960s and 1970s between the sport and commercial fishing industries and Native American Tribes of Washington state. To create a new way for tribes, foresters, environmentalists, and agencies to work together to manage natural resources, the Timber/Fish/Wildlife Agreement (TFW) was signed in the early 1980s. It is credited to two strong leaders, Billy Frank Jr., a Nisqually tribal leader and Stu Bledsoe, an Ellensburg rancher turned politician. It was Stu Bledsoe who drove the first efforts to build a natural resources leadership development program in Washington state, which is now known as the AgForestry Leadership Program (AgForestry), funded through the Agriculture and Forestry Education Foundation (Foundation).

Today, AgForestry is recognized as the premier leadership development program in Washington State offering hands-on learning experiences for adult professionals in the agriculture, forestry, and other natural resources-based businesses to cultivate leaders who communicate, collaborate, inspire, and serve.