Contents
- Purpose
- Methodology
- Governance & Sensitive Documents
- Personnel & PII Exposure
- Financial Documents
- Infrastructure Exposure
- Wayback Machine Archive
- Certificate Transparency
- Funding & Contract Records
- Legal & Regulatory Records
- Infrastructure & Technical Surface
- Disaster & Environmental
- Media & Public Narrative
- Risk Summary
- Recommendations
- What This Means
Purpose
This audit maps the publicly indexed digital footprint of Forterra NW across federal transparency platforms (USASpending, ProPublica, GuideStar), certificate transparency logs, the Wayback Machine, state charity registrations, court records, and the entity's own web properties.
What can anyone with a search engine learn about your organization in 30 minutes?
Donor and grant transparency means your funding portfolio, tax filings, and program outcomes are publicly assembled in ways that shape how funders and the public perceive your organization. For a land trust managing 275,000+ acres and operating investment subsidiaries, the digital footprint extends well beyond the main website.
Methodology
Data was collected exclusively from publicly indexed sources using standard search engines and open APIs. No unauthorized access was performed or attempted. Sources queried:
- Google dorking — advanced search operators targeting governance, financial, personnel, and infrastructure documents
- Wayback Machine CDX API — historical document archive for forterra.org
- crt.sh certificate transparency — SSL/TLS certificate history and subdomain discovery
- USASpending, ProPublica, GuideStar, Charity Navigator, Cause IQ — federal funding and nonprofit transparency platforms
- Washington Secretary of State, Attorney General — state charitable registration and corporate filings
- Justia, CourtListener — federal and state court records
- DNS records — infrastructure analysis via dig queries
- FEMA, EPA, USGS — disaster and environmental records
- News media — Seattle Times, KUOW, Everett Herald, tribal press
Governance & Sensitive Documents
No confidential, internal, or restricted-distribution governance documents were found in public search indexes. No contracts, MOUs, bylaws, or board minutes are exposed.
Assessment: CLEAN
Summary: The organization maintains proper controls over internal governance documents. No inadvertent exposure detected.
Personnel & PII Exposure
| # | Document | Hosted On | Risk | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forterra Employee Directory | contactout.com | LOW | Third-party scraped directory (~30 employees) |
| 2 | Forterra Employee Directory | zoominfo.com | LOW | Business intelligence aggregator |
| 3 | Forterra NW Email Format | leadiq.com | LOW | Exposes email naming convention pattern |
| 4 | Our People - Forterra | forterra.org | LOW | Self-published staff page (expected for nonprofit) |
Assessment: LOW
Summary: No raw CSV/XLSX files containing donor, member, or employee rosters were found. Multiple third-party business intelligence platforms have scraped aggregated employee information. This is universal for organizations of this size.
Financial Documents
| # | Document | Hosted On | Risk | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FY2024 Consolidated Financial Statements | forterra.org | LOW | Self-hosted audited financials |
| 2 | FY2022 Consolidated Financial Statements | forterra.org | LOW | Self-hosted audited financials |
| 3 | 2011 Form 990 (Public Copy) | forterra.org | LOW | Includes officer compensation data (required disclosure) |
| 4 | ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer | propublica.org | LOW | Multi-year 990 filing history |
| 5 | Charity Navigator Profile | charitynavigator.org | LOW | 4-star rating (95/100) |
| 6 | Climate Commitment Act Grants 2024 | rco.wa.gov | LOW | State grant listing; Forterra Yakima program: $1.43M |
Assessment: LOW
Summary: Forterra self-publishes audited financial statements and annual reports — standard practice for a 501(c)(3) of this size. No unexpected financial documents found on third-party servers.
Infrastructure Exposure
No open directory listings, administrative interfaces, backup files, or login portals were found indexed. WordPress admin paths are not indexed.
Assessment: CLEAN
Wayback Machine Archive
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Total unique pages archived | 38,430 |
| Total unique PDFs archived | 279 |
| Earliest snapshot | 2012-01-10 |
| Most recent snapshot | 2025-02-01 |
| Hosting platform detected | WordPress (migrated from ASP.NET pre-2015) |
Notable archived documents
| # | Document | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Working with Sovereign Tribal Governments | Tribal sovereignty engagement framework | |
| 2 | Forterra-Tulalip Tribe Resolution | Tribal resolution and acknowledgments | |
| 3 | The Cascade Agenda (2012) | Foundational regional planning document | |
| 4 | Alternative TDR Transaction Mechanisms | Transfer of Development Rights policy paper | |
| 5 | Pacific NW CLT Demand Study (2016) | Cross-laminated timber market study | |
| 6 | Evergreen Carbon Capture Annual Report | Carbon offset program report | |
| 7 | login.aspx (legacy) | Page | Legacy ASP.NET login page from pre-WordPress era |
The archive preserves a full decade of IRS Form 990 filings (2010–2020) and multiple years of audited financial statements. 37 legacy PDFs from the pre-WordPress /files/ directory remain accessible.
Assessment: MEDIUM-HIGH
Summary: Substantial archive footprint spanning 13 years. Policy papers, tribal engagement frameworks, carbon program reports, and financial filings are all preserved. Legacy documents from the ASP.NET era remain accessible even if removed from the current site.
Certificate Transparency
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Total certificates found | 13 |
| Certificate issuers | Let's Encrypt, Google Trust Services, GoDaddy, COMODO, GeoTrust |
| Earliest certificate | 2014-01-08 |
| Most recent certificate | 2026-02-14 |
| Wildcard certs | Yes (*.forterra.org via Google Trust Services, June 2025) |
| Renewal pattern | Automated 90-day Let's Encrypt (since late 2023) |
Subdomains discovered via SANs
| # | Subdomain | First Seen | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | www.forterra.org | 2020-01 | Standard www (active) |
| 2 | webmaps.forterra.org | 2020-02 | GIS/mapping application — land conservancy mission |
| 3 | remote.forterra.org | 2018-08 | Remote access portal (retired) |
| 4 | rews.forterra.org | 2015-01 | Exchange Web Services — past on-prem Exchange |
| 5 | autodiscover.forterra.org | 2015-01 | Microsoft Autodiscover — Exchange auto-config |
| 6 | fozzie.forterra.org | 2015-01 | Named internal server |
| 7 | my.forterra.org | 2014-01 | User-facing portal or intranet (retired) |
Assessment: LOW
Summary: Clean modernization arc from on-prem Exchange (2014–2018) to cloud and automated certificate management. Subdomain surface area contracted from 7 to 2, indicating consolidation.
Funding & Contract Records
USASpending Recipient Profile: Not found. Despite $7.1M in government grants (FY2024), no dedicated USASpending page exists.
Key financial data (FY2024)
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Total Revenue | $12,806,098 |
| Total Expenses | $10,896,768 |
| Total Assets | $45,479,506 |
| Government Grants/Contracts | $7,100,000 (55% of revenue) |
| Government Grants (FY2023) | $2,700,000 (+157% YoY) |
Specific awards identified
| # | Award | Amount | Agency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | USDA Climate-Smart "Forest to Home" | Up to $20M | USDA |
| 2 | EPA Brownfields — Roslyn Mine | $1,780,000 | EPA |
| 3 | WA Dept. of Ecology — Floodplains by Design | $3,500,000 | WA Ecology |
| 4 | Gates Foundation — Port Gamble Forest | $100,000 | Gates |
Subsidiary entities discovered
| # | Entity | Relationship | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forterra Strong Communities Fund Manager, LLC | Wholly controlled subsidiary | WA #603615035. Social impact investment fund manager |
| 2 | Forterra Strong Communities Fund I, L.P. | Investment fund | $10.25M closed first round |
| 3 | Forterra Strong Communities Fund II, LP | Investment fund | WA #604360788. MultiCare invested $5M |
| 4 | Forterra, Inc. | Related corporation | WA #602541349. Different governing persons |
| 5 | Forterra Battleground LLC | Subsidiary (dissolved) | Administratively dissolved Jan 2022 |
Assessment: MEDIUM-HIGH
Summary: Complete federal funding portfolio is reconstructable. Heavy government grant dependency (55% of revenue), for-profit investment subsidiaries, and a dissolved LLC. Absence of USASpending profile despite $7.1M in government grants suggests hard-to-trace funding channels.
Legal & Regulatory Records
State filings
| # | Resource | Source | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forterra NW — UBI #601185304 | WA SOS | Active since June 12, 1989 |
| 2 | Forterra Battleground LLC | WA SOS | Administratively dissolved Jan 5, 2022 |
Accreditation
| # | Resource | Source | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Land Trust Alliance Accreditation | Land Trust Alliance | Accredited Feb 2023 – Feb 2028. 280,240+ acres |
Litigation and disputes
| # | Case | Source | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S. 212th Street LLC v. Forterra — #18-2-55191-9 | King County Superior Court | Negligent misrepresentation | 27-acre Kent parcel; allegations of inflated easement valuations |
| 2 | Tobias Levey prior civil lawsuit (2017, NY) | Seattle Times | Fraud/self-dealing | Former VP accused of transferring $100K+ to sham entities |
| 3 | Snoqualmie Indian Tribe dispute | Snoqualmie Tribe / Seattle Times | Grant misrepresentation | Investigation confirmed Forterra "acted inconsistently" in $20M USDA application |
Assessment: MEDIUM-HIGH
Summary: Properly incorporated and accredited through 2028. However, the 2022 governance crisis — confirmed USDA grant misrepresentations, fired VP with fraud history, mass staff revolt — represents significant exposure. No formal regulatory enforcement actions filed.
Infrastructure & Technical Surface
| Record | Value | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| A | 66.42.77.201 | Vultr VPS (The Constant Company) |
| MX | forterra-org.mail.protection.outlook.com | Microsoft 365 |
| NS | ns59.domaincontrol.com | GoDaddy DNS |
| SPF | include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:_spfprod.ngpvan.com | M365 + EveryAction/Bonterra CRM |
| DMARC | Not configured | Missing |
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Hosting platform | Vultr VPS |
| Domain type | .org |
| Email provider | Microsoft 365 |
| CDN/Proxy | None detected |
| Subdomains discovered | 7 (historically), 2 active |
| Security headers | Partial (HSTS, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type; CSP missing) |
Assessment: LOW
Summary: Straightforward nonprofit web stack. Security headers are above-average for a nonprofit but absence of DMARC and CSP are gaps. No CDN/WAF protects the origin server.
Disaster & Environmental
No FEMA declarations, EPA enforcement actions, or USGS records reference Forterra directly. EPA records surfacing under the name "Forterra" belong to Forterra Inc., a Texas-based building materials manufacturer — an entirely different entity.
Forterra served as an EPA Smart Growth grantee (2012–2017). Recent FEMA disaster declarations affecting their operating area include DR-4906-WA (flooding, Dec 2025) and FM-5614-WA (wildfire, Sep 2025).
Assessment: CLEAN
Summary: Zero environmental enforcement actions. Conservation lands face real climate exposure, but this is landscape-level mission risk, not organizational liability.
Media & Public Narrative
| # | Article | Date | Publication | Key Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Snoqualmie Tribe says Forterra misled it, feds | 2022-09 | Seattle Times | Unauthorized timber volumes and match funding in USDA application |
| 2 | 80 ex-staffers demand new leadership | 2022-10 | Seattle Times | Seattle Foundation + Greater Tacoma Community Foundation |
| 3 | Forterra fires executive | 2022-10 | Seattle Times | VP Tobias Levey terminated "with cause" |
| 4 | Investigation validates tribe's claims | 2022-11 | Snoqualmie Tribe | Investigation confirmed discrepancies |
| 5 | Yakama Nation ancestral lands returned | 2025 | Apple Valley News | 180-acre "Frog's Home" — Forterra provided $1.3M financing |
| 6 | Dakota Homestead — West Seattle | 2026-02 | West Seattle Blog | Forterra took over project; funding gap remains |
Leadership identified
| # | Name | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michelle Connor | President & CEO | 28-year tenure. Survived 2022 crisis |
| 2 | Ruth True | Board Chair | Co-founded Western Bridge |
| 3 | Gene Duvernoy | President & CEO Emeritus | Founder. Retired April 2018 |
| 4 | Tobias Levey | VP Real Estate (terminated) | Fired Oct 2022 for cause |
Assessment: MEDIUM
Summary: Media narrative dominated by 2022 governance crisis. Recovery arc emerging with Yakama Nation land return and strong FY2024 revenue growth.
Risk Summary
Scorecard
| Category | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Governance & Documents | CLEAN |
| Personnel & PII | LOW |
| Financial Documents | LOW |
| Infrastructure Exposure | CLEAN |
| Wayback Archive | MEDIUM-HIGH |
| Certificate Transparency | LOW |
| Funding & Contracts | MEDIUM-HIGH |
| Legal & Regulatory | MEDIUM-HIGH |
| Infrastructure & Technical | LOW |
| Disaster & Environmental | CLEAN |
| Media & Narrative | MEDIUM |
Forterra NW presents a mixed digital footprint. Operational security is strong — no sensitive documents, PII, or infrastructure are exposed. However, the organization's public profile carries significant weight: a complex subsidiary structure, $7.1M in government funding, a confirmed 2022 grant misrepresentation finding, and extensive media coverage of the resulting governance crisis.
Recommendations
Immediate Actions
- Configure DMARC for forterra.org. Email authentication is incomplete — SPF is configured but DMARC is missing.
- Implement Content-Security-Policy headers. Good baseline security headers exist but CSP is absent.
- Add a CDN/WAF layer. The origin server has no proxy protection. Cloudflare free tier would provide DDoS protection.
- Review Wayback Machine archive. 37 legacy PDFs from the pre-WordPress era remain accessible. Evaluate for exclusion.
Ongoing Monitoring
- Monitor ProPublica, GuideStar, and Charity Navigator for 990 filing updates.
- Track certificate transparency logs for unauthorized certificate issuance.
- Set Google Alerts for "Forterra" combined with "grant," "lawsuit," "audit," and "Snoqualmie."
Strategic Considerations
- USASpending visibility gap. $7.1M in grants with no USASpending profile creates perception issues.
- Subsidiary transparency. The Strong Communities Fund LLCs create governance complexity. Consider voluntary disclosure.
- Tribal partnership narrative. The Snoqualmie dispute dominates search results. The Yakama land return provides a counter-narrative.
What This Means
Donor and grant transparency means your funding portfolio, tax filings, and program outcomes are publicly assembled in ways that shape how funders and the public perceive your organization. For Forterra, the digital footprint reveals not just a land conservation nonprofit, but a complex organizational structure with for-profit subsidiaries, significant government funding dependency, and a recent governance crisis that produced extensive public documentation. The footprint is not dangerous — but it is substantial, and anyone preparing for a meeting, grant review, or partnership evaluation can reconstruct a detailed picture in minutes.