Nils Christoffersen

Executive Director, Wallowa Resources

East Moraine Community Forest, Wallowa County, WA

September 21st, 2025

The westies arrived at the Wallowa Community Forest on a rainy morning already a bit damp from our night. We were greeted by Nils Christoffersen, the executive director of Wallowa Resources, a non-profit with what he describes as the lengthy mission statement of creating strong economies and healthy landscapes through land stewardship, education, and job creation. We start our hike up the east moraine of Wallowa Lake as Nils describes how at one point this land we are walking on was going to become a site for apartment buildings and large homes. Wallowa resources was able to come in and create this idea of a community forest, bringing together many ideas and viewpoints from the community. Currently on the board of the community forests there are ranchers, the US Forest Service, several environmental non-profits, and tribal members from the Nez Pierce tribe. Nils also discussed their focus on boosting the town's economy. This county used to be more populated when there were active mills and lumber coming from nearby forests, yet as mills closed due to logging regulations changing, people began to move out. He now works to create a stronger, more diverse economy for the town and create a draw for people to move there whilst still making it a viable economy for those who already live there.

by Katharine Graham