Submitted by Capitol Land Trust and Nisqually Land Trust
Olympia, WA – Capitol Land Trust and Nisqually Land Trust announced that each organization has received a bequest of $270,000 from the estate of the late Jane Willits, sister of Olympia-based conservation leader and estate trustee Ward Willits.
The bequests are among the largest private gifts either organization has ever received. The Willits family has a longstanding commitment to protecting wildlife habitat in western Washington and a history of strong support for both land trusts.
“We are humbled by the generosity and foresight of Jane Willits and her entire family,” said Capitol Land Trust Executive Director Eric Erler. “By including Capitol Land Trust in her estate planning, Ms. Willits could take comfort in knowing that she was leaving the most tangible of legacies, conservation of southwest Washington’s essential natural areas and working lands.”
“The Willitses have long been visionary conservationists,” said Nisqually Land Trust Executive Director Joe Kane. “What sets them apart is that they’ve always been willing to back good ideas with support on a scale that can make those ideas real. We make a commitment to the public to steward our lands in perpetuity and to pursue cutting-edge conservation strategies. This is the kind of support that makes that possible.”
Together, Nisqually Land Trust and Capitol Land Trust conserve strategically-important wildlife habitat and working timber and farm lands across a region that includes Pierce, Thurston, Lewis, Mason, and Gray’s Harbor counties. “This is a gift that will do a lot of good in a lot of places,” said Kane.
