About Forever Our Rivers Foundation
Forever Our Rivers Foundation concentrates philanthropic support on river and watershed protection in the American West, funding organizations that do on-the-ground restoration, watershed stewardship, and protection of public-land river corridors. They favor place-based conservation efforts (e.g., Verde River, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Gila watershed) while also backing larger national conservation practitioners that can deploy labor and programs across multiple river basins. Grants emphasize practical restoration, stewardship capacity, and protection of river-dependent public lands rather than purely policy or research work.
Focus Areas
River and watershed restoration projects in the Colorado Plateau and SouthwestConservation and stewardship of Grand Staircase-Escalante and adjacent public-land river corridorsRiparian habitat protection and community-based watershed partnerships (e.g., Verde River, Gila)Operational support for conservation corps and national restoration implementers
Who They Fund
youth and students (scholarships, kids education)rural Western US communities and landowners (Gunnison Valley, western Colorado, Grand Staircase–Escalante, Verde River)
About Forever Our Rivers Foundation
A $318,731 restoration grant to Conservation Legacy in 2024 signals the scale of Forever Our Rivers Foundation’s work: they back river and watershed protection through on-the-ground conservation in the American West. Their giving ties together restoration, stewardship, and protection of river-dependent public lands, with recurring support for projects in the Colorado Plateau and Southwest. The foundation’s recent grants also include $88,278 to Grand Staircase Escalante Partners for conservation of Grand Staircase Escalante Monument and $50,008 to Friends of the Verde River for conservation of the Verde River, showing a pattern of place-based funding anchored in specific watersheds and public-land river corridors. The foundation’s portfolio also reaches beyond single-site projects. It has funded larger conservation implementers that can work across multiple basins, alongside regional groups focused on watershed outcomes, riparian habitat, and river access. In that mix, grantmaking consistently favors practical work: restoration, monitoring, habitat protection, watershed stewardship, and operational support for organizations doing field implementation. The result is a profile centered on rivers as living systems, with grants aimed at keeping water, habitat, and stewardship capacity aligned in the same places over time.
What Forever Our Rivers Foundation Funds
River restoration is a core thread. In 2024, Forever Our Rivers Foundation gave $76,677 to RiversEdge West for restoration, and it later backed Colorado West Land Trust with $8,000 for restoration in 2024 and $2,475 in 2023 for the same category. Watershed-specific conservation also appears repeatedly. The foundation awarded $39,898 to Gila Watershed Partnership for restoration, while Grand Staircase Escalante Partners received $39,408 in 2023 for restoration and $88,278 in 2025 for conservation of Grand Staircase Escalante Monument. Their support extends to water management and river function. Colorado Water Trust received $7,000 in 2024 for instream flows, and Rio Grande Headwaters Restoration Project received $8,000 in 2024 for irrigation improvements. The funding pattern shows an emphasis on keeping water in place, maintaining habitat, and supporting organizations that work directly in river basins.
How Forever Our Rivers Foundation Gives
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$354K
Total Assets
$725K
Total Revenue
$282K
Total Expenses
$590K
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $4K and $32K, with a median of $6K.
25th Percentile
$4K
Median
$6K
75th Percentile
$32K
Geographic Reach
Local3 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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