Karen M. Fant Award
Jeff Lambert

Washington Wild is proud to honor  Jeff Lambert as our 2025  Karen M. Fant Award winner. Jeff has been a conservation leader and activist in the Spokane area for 40 years. During that time, Jeff has worked with Washington Wild on several issues including supporting roadless area protections, federal watershed restoration funding, and state forest land protection as a volunteer for the Spokane Mountaineers, Friends of the Bluff, and Dishman Hills Conservancy.

Over the past year, Washington Wild has worked closely with Jeff to advocate for the protection of a WA DNR property called Thorpe within the Spokane City limits that was slated to become a housing development. Jeff initiated efforts to work with the Spokane Parks Department to support a Trust Land Transfer proposal so it could be managed as a city park. When the previous WA DNR Land Commissioner pushed through transferring the land to a developer instead, Jeff led local opposition in the Spokane Community and the local media and reached out to Washington Wild for statewide help. Together, we lobbied the state legislature, bult a coalition of nearly 100 statewide supporters, generated hundreds of individual comments and a dozen local media stories on the issue.  

Conservation Voices Award
Kathryn Brigham

Washington Wild is proud to honor  Kathryn ‘Kat’ Brigham as our 2025  Conservation Voices Award  winner for her work with the THIS IS INDIAN COUNTRY and their partnership with Washington Wild as part of the Indigenous Climate Project.

Kat is an enrolled member and former Chair of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Kat has worked with Washington Wild and our board member Steve Robinson closely to support efforts to share traditional ecological knowledge from Pacific Northwest tribal leaders about the impacts and potential solutions to climate change as part of the Indigenous Climate Project. She is a featured voice as part of the oral history video project and prominently featured in the full-length documentary “Climate Story.” She has been especially active as a participant and advocate of the series of teachers training workshops around the “Tribes and Climate Change” curriculum. She was a key participant at the workshops held at the Tulalip Tribes and Quinault Indian Nation and is working to plan two workshops in eastern Washington next year in Umatilla and Yakima.  

Brewshed® Alliance Award
No Boat Brewing Co.

Washington Wild is proud to recognize No Boat Brewing of Snoqualmie as the 2025 Brewshed® Alliance Award winner, honoring their commitment to clean water, healthy watersheds, and community stewardship. Cofounder and head brewer David Skiba brought his vision to life last year with the inaugural Lagerhead festival—a celebration of lagers, the brewing community, and environmental protection—partnering with Washington Wild from the very start.

No Boat’s location offers the perfect backdrop for this work: a lush beer garden with sweeping mountain views and the Snoqualmie River just steps away. From their brewhouse doors, they can see the Alpine Lakes Wilderness—protected in part through Washington Wild’s efforts—which provides the pristine water that defines the unique character of their beer. Skiba has explained, “This water is key to our ability to be a minimum intervention brewhouse”.

To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Additions, Washington Wild teamed up with No Boat Brewing to release a special WA Brewshed® Alliance beer last summer. The 2014 expansion safeguarded 22,000 acres of Wilderness and designated nearly 40 miles of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie and Pratt Rivers as Wild & Scenic. No Boat’s leadership and dedication to both craft and conservation make them a deserving recipient of the 2025 Brewshed® Alliance Award.

Supporter of the Year
Leilani Balais

Washington Wild is proud to honor Leilani Balais as our 2025 Supporter of the Year. For over a decade, Leilani has been a steadfast champion for Washington’s wild lands and waters, inspiring others to take action and stand up for the places that make our state special. Her love for our wild places shines through in everything she does—whether exploring the great outdoors or enjoying a well-earned pint from one of our Brewshed® Alliance partners.

In addition to her generous support, Leilani has volunteered countless hours of her time to table at Brewshed® Alliance events and other outreach opportunities, including Wild Night Out—connecting with community members, sharing our mission, and empowering people to get involved. Her dedication, advocacy, and passion have helped strengthen the movement to protect and defend Washington’s wild places for future generations.

We are deeply grateful for her years of support, leadership, and friendship. Please join us in celebrating Leilani’s remarkable contributions to conservation and the positive change she has sparked in our community.