The Wilderness Defense Fund Endowment

Through a generous $100,000 gift, the Pope family established Broads’ first-ever endowment, the Wilderness Defense Fund. Its purpose is to increase our capacity to initiate legal actions, arbitration, or mediation to protect the integrity of Wilderness.

The Pope family intends to build the endowment to $1 million over ten years, and Broads will draw annual income from these permanently invested funds to defend existing wilderness.

“Our father was a forester and mom an avid birdwatcher, so we grew up outside. As a young woman, my sister Ann owned three bush planes, filed a land claim, and built a log cabin in a remote part of Alaska,” shares Art Pope. As for his other siblings, he said, “Lyn worked at an Alaskan fishing lodge and became a permanent Alaskan resident. Gale works in range management for the Forest Service and is active in her local Backcountry Horseman chapter. I founded Northwest Youth Corps, an organization dedicated to getting youth and young adults into the backcountry. Our eldest brother Clem Pope served over 45 years as a wilderness ranger, animal packer, and Wilderness Program Manager in Idaho’s Selway-Bitterroot and Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness areas, and taught us all to appreciate the importance and fragility of Wilderness. Last fall, Clem’s two daughters continued this passion, completing a 12-day cross-country hike across the Frank Church.”