We are celebrating a milestone in a long-term project to protect and restore the forests along I 90 as the U.S. Forest Service prepares to acquire 4,814 acres of the Central Cascades forest with the support of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Just east of Snoqualmie Pass, north and south of I-90, stretch hundreds of thousands of acres of forest encompassing fragrant green valleys and high peaks with views in every direction, challenging hiking and biking trails, elk, deer and salmon, cool clear streams and the headwaters of the Yakima River.
Five years ago, The Nature Conservancy secured about 48,000 acres of these forests, land that had been owned and managed as industrial forest by Plum Creek Timber. We made a promise to the local community and to all of Washington that we would pause the threat of development and work with the local community as well as regional, state and federal stakeholders to identify the forest ownership models that are best for forest health and fire resilience, recreational opportunities and conservation value, and for local communities.
Views go on forever in the Central Cascades Forest. Photo ©Benj Drummond, aerial support from LightHawk.
At the same time, we began an ambitious restoration project in collaboration with state, federal, tribal and local landowners on these lands and across 100,000 acres of forest in the region.
This month we’re celebrating a milestone with the U.S. Forest. The Forest Service acquired 4,814 Oct. 16, with another 1,550 acres expected to transfer in the spring. This builds on previous acquisitions by the Forest Service in 2016 and 2018, bringing the total to just under 10,000 acres, all funded by the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.
These new additions to the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest are lands where people hunt, hike, bike, ride horses, camp, snowmobile and ski the backcountry. The acquisitions protect views from the Pacific Crest Trail, popular trailheads for hikes to Mount Margaret and Mirror Lake, access to the historic Naches Pass four-wheel-drive trail and access to public campgrounds and other popular hiking trails. It also encompasses a portion of the headwaters of the Yakima River, crucial for supporting salmon runs and nourishing the rich agriculture of the Yakima Valley.
The region is also included in the newly designated Mountains to Sound Greenway National Heritage Area, recognized by Congress as a place where historic, cultural, and natural resources combine to form a cohesive, nationally important landscape.
Conservancy scientists Emily Howe and Ryan Haugo monitoring stream conditions in the Central Cascade Forest. Photo © Zoe VanDuivenbode/TNC
Consolidating ownership within the National Forest is also an important step toward solving the crisis of the checkerboard forest – a legacy of the 19th-century when the federal government gave alternating square-mile parcels to railroad companies to encourage development of the West. But the checkerboard pattern of ownership makes the forest difficult and costly to manage, increasing the threat of fire, and impeding wildlife migration patterns.
Other lands in the Central Cascade Forest will have different futures. A new local effort is launching, the Checkerboard Partnership, to explore the potential to incorporate another 26,000 acres of the Central Cascades Forest into a community forest that reflects local values and supports forest health, fire resilience, economic vitality, recreational opportunities and conservation. Look for more on that effort to come.
A big thank you to our partners for supporting this Land and Water Conservation Fund project: Yakama Nation, Tapash Sustainable Forest Collaborative, Washington Trails Association, Mountains to Sound Greenway, Washington Off Highway Vehicle Alliance, Blue Ribbon Trail Coalition, Pacific Crest Trail Association, Conservation Northwest, Kongsberger Ski Club, Central Cascades Winter Recreation Council, Kittitas Chamber of Commerce, Yakima Basin Fish and Wildlife Recovery Board, American Rivers, I-90 Wildlife Bridges Coalition, and the Kittitas Field and Stream Club.
