Why PDX’s new terminal is a gamechanger for sustainability [Video]

The designers of the remodel didn’t just want a terminal that looked different; they wanted one that was built differently, too, so they turned to the Yakama Nation.

WHITE SWAN, Wash. —

Christy Fiander has been around timber since she was a kid.

As a member of Yakama Nation, she cultivated a reverence for the towering trees that grow in central Washington.

“When I was a young child, my grandfather was the first Native American, Yakama-owned logging business,” she said.

Now, Fiander is the resource manager for Yakama Forest Products, and her connection to the trees has only grown.

“Most of our people here on this reservation, we utilize this forest not only for recreation but a lot for gathering foods and medicines,” she said.

Yakama Forest Products was one of a handful of suppliers who contributed wood to the new terminal being constructed at Portland International Airport, touted as the largest sustainable mass timber project in the country.

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Tags Native American, Native American Small Business, Native Woman Entrepreneur, Women Owned Small Business