Key headwaters of the Yakima River Basin can be found in the Taneum Watershed, making it important to water quantity and quality throughout the basin. Additionally, the Taneum provides critical habitat for fish and wildlife.
The watershed also offers excellent recreation opportunities. People from Washington State and beyond travel to the Taneum to enjoy time with their friends and family on the trail—an exceptionally popular activity in this area is motorcycle riding.
Whether any person recreating in the Taneum knows it or not, they are likely crossing between Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest lands and lands managed by The Nature Conservancy while out on an adventure. This is a result of a checkerboard pattern of property management found here and elsewhere throughout the western United States; the checkerboard pattern creates various challenges for land managers striving towards differing goals.
On top of that, the trails in the Taneum Watershed are majority user-built trails inherited by the Cle Elum Ranger District and The Nature Conservancy upon acquiring the land. Trail design takes a lot of effort and planning to ensure there aren’t negative impacts to the surrounding environment, which was not considered when these trails were originally created. As they are now, the trails face degradation from erosion, which increases sedimentation in streams and decreases the quality of aquatic habitat.
Map of the Taneum Watershed Trails restoration project.
Previously, people from the Forest Service and TNC put their heads together and identified trails in need of restoration within the Taneum watershed. Through their Title II grant program, the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest granted The Nature Conservancy funds to tackle the restoration work needed. TNC used these funds to hire a young adult crew from the Northwest Youth Corps and a heavy equipment operation crew from the Northwest Motorcycle Association (NMA) to do the restoration work. This opportunity gave the young adults a chance to gain job training, resource management skills and leadership development. The Northwest Motorcycle Association completely redesigned and rerouted the Lightning Point trail, which originally was very steep, incised/cut down, and eroded.
This project is still underway. The crew with NMA will finish the Lightning Point Reroute during the summer of 2023. In the end, thoughtfully and professionally designed trails will reduce the amount of sedimentation in nearby streams by ensuring there are flat spots within every 100-foot section of trail to shed water. The decrease of water carrying rocks, silt, soil, and other sediments to the bottom of the trail and into adjacent streams will increase the quality of aquatic habitat in the watershed.
Check out the video below to see how these partners from various backgrounds came together to work toward a common goal:
We look forward to continuing work with these partners in the Taneum Watershed on the other trails listed in this project for the benefit of natural resources and enhanced recreation opportunities. We are also working hard to transfer these lands to the Forest Service through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which would eliminate the checkerboard pattern in this area and make management of natural resources and recreation less challenging.
To learn more about The Nature Conservancy’s work in Central Washington, visit our Central Cascades page.
