Our Mission
To produce and supply locally grown, essential indigenous Pacific Northwest plant stock for land restoration and conservation plantings.
Our Story
Healthy land starts with stewarding the plants that belong there.
In the Pacific Northwest, native plants are more than beautiful — they are essential to resilient ecosystems and healthy communities. They hold soil in place, maintain waterways, support native pollinators, and create habitat that sustains life well beyond a single growing season. Despite the vital need for native plants, we have seen that many restoration and conservation projects struggle to access locally grown indigenous plant stock adapted to this region.
Big Leaf Nursery exists to meet that need. As a nonprofit nursery rooted in Whatcom County, we grow conservation-grade Pacific Northwest native plants specifically for land restoration. Every plant we cultivate is selected for its role in rebuilding and maintaining healthy, interconnected landscapes.
Our work is local by design. We prioritize regional genetics when harvesting seeds, local sources for propagation, and commit to partnerships with nearby land managers, conservation groups, and community members who care deeply about the history and future of this work. We commit to following the leadership of local First Nations, Lummi Nation and Nooksack Tribe, the original stewards of this land.
Whether a plant we grow ends up along a stream bank, in a forest, or on restored public land, it carries with it a commitment to sustain and protect a healthy future.
Our Work
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now!
Our work this year focuses on supplying and cultivating over 10,000 native plants for local planting projects, large and small. Each plant is destined to protect fish and wildlife, strengthen the soil, restore local wetlands, and more.
Maples dominate the charts for deciduous carbon sequestration, large growing, native species of maple to be exact.
Each Big Leaf Maple sequesters 25,000 pounds of CO2 over 55 years. We grow over 2,000 Big Leaf Maples a year, that's 50 million pounds of CO2 sequestration over 55 years, or the equivalent of burning 2.5 million gallons of gasoline.
In North America 75% of bird populations are in critical decline. The solution? Native plants.
90% of plant-eating insects require native plants to survive. This is critical to the 96% of land birds that only feed native insects to their young! For example, the Oregon White Oak tree supports over 550 species of butterflies and moths, while the non-native Ginkgo tree supports only 5.
Salmon feed forests, forests grow into salmon habitat, a keystone nutrient cycle compared to no other.
About 70% of the nitrogen found in plants near salmon bearing streams comes from decomposing salmon at the end of their life cycle, each salmon bringing a massive pack of nutrients up to the far reaches of the forests.
Board of Directors
Meet the people who keep us on track.
Avery Wolfe
Executive Director, Nursery Manager
With a career background in horticulture, Avery lends his expertise to all aspects of our nursery. Propagation, planting seeds, and seedling saving are just a few of his favorite roles. “Protecting our native ecosystems is more important now than ever. That's what drives me to work hard every day in the nursery.” You can find Avery at any hour of the day or night working in the nursery, helping cultivate the future plant heroes of local restoration efforts.
Lauren Boushey
Executive Director, Nursery Operations
Lauren has 15 years of non profit experience, specifically with groups focused on animals and the environment. “When you care about animals, all roads lead back to habitat restoration and conservation. Every native plant we grow directly supports the wildlife I’m passionate about!” Lauren’s background helps manage all administrative aspects of running a non profit native plant nursery.