Conservation Northwest protects and connects old-growth forests and other wild areas from the Washington Coast to the British Columbia Rockies, vital to a healthy future for us, our children, and wildlife. Since 1989, Conservation Northwest has worke
Issue link: http://conservationnw.uberflip.com/i/104888
Conservation Northwest updates life underpasses at Gold Creek will be finished and ���wildlife ready,��� and restoration within the structures will be completed next field season. See sidebar on restoration work parties. Restoring wildlife habitat Most of the lands acquired during The Cascades Conservation Partnership were donated to new managers���the US Forest Service. Previously logged of old-growth forests, these lands begged for restoration to fix an overabundance of logging roads, invasive species, and monoculture plantations. The same creativity and vision that went into protecting these places from development next needed to be applied to restoring them for wildlife habitat and wildlife movement. First, we set up a partnership with the Forest Service to bring private funds to restoration activities on public lands and collaborate at the watershed scale to synergize wildlife protection and watershed restoration. We���ve raised private funding to close and restore almost 10 miles of roads in the I-90 corridor, leveraging funding to restore dozens more road miles. Next, we formed the collaborative Upper Yakima Watershed Action Group, meeting quarterly for watershed restoration. This winter, a design will be final for a restoration project between the watershed group and the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest on 60,000 acres of the watershed. It includes thinning on 2,000 acres of older plantations, floodplain restoration, recreation management and creation of some new routes, and possible closure and restoration of some 100 miles of roads. Restoring the Gold Creek crossing Sept 29 and Oct 13, join us for Saturday work parties to plant 5,000 native plants and seeds around Gold Creek pond, restoring habitat next to the new Gold Creek underpasses beneath I-90. We need you! Learn more at conservationnw.org/calendar. The Gold Creek valley is a vital movement corridor for wildlife north to south in the Cascade Mountains. Gold Creek is also a tremendous recreational asset, providing an iconic picnic spot, accessible trail around Gold Creek pond, and launching pad to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Writing the final chapters The story of the I-90 corridor is still being written. Two dozen planned wildlife crossing structures will each bear a first tale of wildlife crossing safely. These stories come to life through remote camera images and footprints left in the mud or snow. Changing climate and population dynamics will play important roles in shaping the plot line, and we await the surprising plot twists as species, such as wolverines, return to the Cascades landscape. I have had the fortune of seeing much of the story around the I-90 corridor unfold. I now walk on miles of former roads we are restoring with private funding on lands that we have protected. This fall, with volunteers, I���ll help plant 5,000 native plants on habitat adjacent to a newly constructed wildlife underpass under the freeway. This landscape is a conservation success story written daily by lead characters ranging from non-profit leaders, private donors, field contractors, and people who care, to four-legged critters of all shapes and sizes. We hope you will continue to contribute your part to the story. Microsoft employees, during their 2008 Day of Caring, worked at Gold Creek to help start the story of restoration for wildlife. Donate to restore road miles, write a letter to your legislator supporting protection of the remaining private lands and funding construction of the I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East Project. Volunteer for restoration work parties in the corridor, and get out to experience these lands yourself through hikes and restoration work. I think you will not be disappointed. Jen Watkins and former Secretary of Transportation Doug MacDonald standing under the partially completed I-90 Gold Creek underpass. ���Why did the chicken (or bear or deer or elk or wolverine) want to cross the road? The answer is ���biological imperative.��� I-90 is great for getting people across the state to visit family, to move goods, and to recreate. It is not so great for our woodland friends as they range north and south in the Cascades. But with the addition of a few thoughtful and reasonably-priced crossings, things are safer for both drivers and wildlife.��� ���Floyd Rogers, The Cascades Conservation Partnership (2000-2004) board member