The Mountaineers Foundation
The Mountaineers Foundation is a philanthropic arm of The Mountaineers, focused on raising funds for and awarding grants to organizations supporting the environment, conservation, outdoor education and recreation, and natural history.
The Mountaineers Foundation was originally created by The Mountaineers board of directors in 1968 as our nonprofit fundraising arm. Throughout its history, The Mountaineers Foundation has made grants to both Mountaineers programs and to other organizations that work to advance priorities such as conservation education, youth outdoor education programs, and protecting air and water quality, natural areas, and threatened habit.
In 1985 The Mountaineers transferred ownership of 170 acres of pristine, lowland virgin forest in Kitsap County to The Mountaineers Foundation. This property, known as the Rhododendron Preserve, is home to ancient western red cedar and pine trees as well as salmon spawning and rearing habitat on Chico Creek. Over the years, the Rhododendron Preserve has grown to more than 468 acres, largely due to the generosity of Mountaineers members. The Mountaineers helps steward the Preserve by providing an onsite caretaker, meeting and education space, parking and a trailhead on its adjacent property.
In 2018, as The Mountaineers Foundation celebrated its 50th anniversary and to better reflect its new focus and revised mission statement, the organization changed its name to the Keta Legacy Foundation.
The Keta Legacy Foundation operated under license to use The Mountaineers name for many years. Moving forward, The Mountaineers no longer requires the services of a separate licensee as a fundraising and grant-making agent and will use The Mountaineers Foundation name exclusively.
It is important that our members and supporters of our mission understand that gifts and bequests intended for The Mountaineers Foundation be directed to The Mountaineers at our Seattle address: 7700 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115. Similarly, those wishing to support the Rhododendron Preserve or the new mission of The Keta Legacy Foundation should direct gifts or bequests to their address in Bremerton, WA.
We wish the Keta Legacy Foundation success in its new direction. The Mountaineers intends to honor the shared history with the Keta Legacy Foundation by continuing to partner in stewardship of the Rhododendron Preserve and ensuring that gifts made to The Mountaineers Foundation are directed appropriately, according to donors’ intended purposes.
The Mountaineers FoundationTM is a philanthropic arm and trademark of The Mountaineers®, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, tax ID: 27-3009280, 7700 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115.