Forterra facing pressure to change leadership

Pressure is mounting for Seattle-based land-conservation group, Forterra, to change its executive leadership team. This comes after concerns were raised by investors, 80 former employees, and the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe.

This article has been updated to include information from a statement released by Forterra on October 24th, 2022 .

In September, Forterra was selected to receive a federal grant of up to $20 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for their Forest to Home project. The Snoqualmie Indian Tribe was initially a key partner on the grant. After the grant was announced, tribal officials wrote a letter withdrawing their support of Forterra and their project.

According to the letter obtained by KUOW from the Snoqualmie Indian tribe, they claim “the Tribe reasonably believes that Forterra has knowingly made material misrepresentations of fact in the grant application to receive federal dollars.”

After the tribe’s letter, 80 former employees penned a statement expressing “solidarity and support for the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe.”

The Greater Tacoma Community Foundation and The Seattle Foundation, investors of the Forest to Home project, also wrote a letter detailing concerns surrounding other projects they say Forterra struggled to develop.

They’re asking Forterra, among other things, to “[replace] Forterra’s executive team with an experienced team that can restore trust with partners.”

In response, Forterra’s board of directors wrote “it has retained outside counsel to conduct a review of the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe’s recent claims,” and that they have “confidence in Forterra’s executive leadership and stands behind its leadership team.” Read more from that response here.

UPDATE

On October 24, in the late afternoon, Forterra released a statement that they had fired their vice president of real estate transactions “due to concerns that he could not responsibly or effectively serve the organization’s mission.”

In the statement, Forterra said it has engaged outside legal counsel to investigate issues raised by the tribe and expects to share findings from the investigation later this week.

“We do not take our commitments to project partners, community stakeholders and the larger Forterra family lightly,” the statement said.