More streams for fish, hiking trails for people and habitat for wildlife. That is just some of what we are getting after the newest purchase of land for people and nature .
The latest addition to the Heart of the Cascades project is 1,280 acres of timberland in the Manastash, west of Ellensburg. The decade-long effort to weave together a checkerbaordof public and private lands in the East Cascades takes another step forward, adding to more than 25,000 acres of private timberlands brought into public ownership.
In this case, The Nature Conservancy has purchased 1,280 acres of timberland from Plum Creek, and transferred it to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to be managed as part of the L.T. Murray Wildlife Area.
Working with partners including the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Yakama Nation and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the Conservancy continues to secure public access and protect this vital resource for our communities. The Tapash Sustainable Forests Collaborative, which includes public, non-profit and tribal landowners, is working together across in this region to restore a much larger forest landscape.
Water for the Future
Why does it matter? These particular sections of forest are full of streams and tributaries that flow into the Yakima River. Conserving this forest will protect valuable river habitat for wildlife as well as ensure water downstream for people, fish, and the rich agriculture of the Yakima Valley. Protecting these forests is an important part of the Yakima River Basin Integrated Plan, a coordinated effort by farmers, conservationists, tribes, and governments to ensure water for the Yakima Valley as climate change threatens increasing drought.
Rich Wildlife Habitat
Washington’s Heart of the Cascades is a multi-phased project designed to protect, connect, and restore the most biologically rich forests in the Western United States.
From high mountain snowfields descending to the arid sagebrush steppe of the Columbia Plateau, the Cascade forests span rugged and beautiful country that supports a diverse variety of habitats and, in turn, a broad array of species. In addition to amazing abundance of birds, mammals, fish, trees, and flowers, these forests are home to federally protected populations of grey wolf, spotted owl, ferruginous hawk, northern goshawk, and Pacific salmon. People across the region prize these forests for their many recreational activities.
Your Support will Help Save Forests for Nature and People
Today, we have a remarkable opportunity to invest in the future of this place and to protect what we love about it – lush alpine meadows, clean cold mountain streams, and the unfettered access that comes with a connected and protected landscape. We have this opportunity because tens of thousands of acres of private commercial timberlands are for sale. These lands, privatized in the 1800s to bring the railroads to the Pacific, disconnect our federal forestlands from our state Wildlife Areas. Their sale to development threatens access and opportunity for people and wildlife on this landscape.
The Heart of the Cascades project is a cooperative effort by conservation groups, tribes, residents, and public land management agencies to accomplish the following:
- Protect 110,000+ acres of forests that will reconnect a four million acre landscape
- Protect access and open space for people and wildlife
- Restore the natural functions and processes that sustain these forests, including reintroducing beneficial fire and restorative thinning where needed
- Support local economies working in a compatible way with the natural resources and values of the region
