Conservation Northwest

CNW Overview Description_FINAL 6.2019

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

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for wolf recovery and sustainable wolf management. Finally, we are protecting critical habitat and working with law enforcement to fight poaching. North Cascades Grizzly Bear Restoration: Restoration of a viable grizzly bear population in the North Cascades has been a priority since our founding; finally, key progress is being made. In 2014, the National Park Service (NPS), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the WDFW began a new multi-year Environmental Impact Statement planning process for restoring a healthy grizzly bear population in Washington's North Cascades ecosystem. We administer an informal coalition of groups and businesses to advocate for restoration (www.northcascadesgrizzly.org). Grizzly bears have been an important part of the North Cascades ecosystem for thousands of years. They play a vital role for the health of the environment and other wildlife species, figure prominently in regional Native American and First Nations' cultures, and contribute to the richness of our natural heritage in the Pacific Northwest. Now is the time to restore a healthy grizzly bear population to the North Cascades. We also support grizzly bear recovery efforts in northeast Washington's Selkirk Mountains and nearby areas. Fisher Reintroduction: In 2002, we began a partnership with WDFW, NPS and other federal, tribal and non-profit allies to restore fishers to Washington. We have successfully reintroduced fishers to the Olympia Peninsula and Washington's South and Central Cascades! Next up: the North Cascades, with releases expected in the winter of 2018/19. Mountain Caribou Recovery and Inland Temperate Rainforest: We're a leading organization in the fight to save the critically endangered caribou of the Inland Northwest and the imperiled ecosystem that sustains it. Caribou are tough enough to thrive in the planet's harshest environments, but not tough enough to survive the fragmentation of the old-growth forests on which they depend for food and security. As a member organization of the Mountain Caribou Project (www.wildsight.ca/programs/mountaincaribou/), Conservation Northwest works closely with WildSight and other conservation groups in Canada to protect mountain caribou and their unique forested habitat. Our staff and British Columbian allies support recovery planning and habitat conservation. We also actively communicate about mountain caribou and issues related to their recovery to ensure the public stays informed about these critically-endangered Northwest natives. Citizen Wildlife Monitoring Project: We engage people tracking wildlife in key areas like the I- 90 corridor, Kettle Range and North Cascades, documenting the presence of wolverines, wolves, grizzly bears, lynx, fishers and other species. Now in its 11 th year, our Citizen Wildlife Monitoring Project is one of the largest citizen-science efforts in North America, working to extend and enhance the scientific research capacity of our organization and our colleagues. The Project functions as a partnership among our staff and state, federal, tribal and independent biologists to improve knowledge about wildlife presence and distribution that is vital to informing recovery planning and policy. It also helps guide our conservation programs and priorities, and those of state and federal agencies. We harness the power of more than 100 volunteers each year to maintain dozens of remote camera sites in Washington and southern British Columbia, as well as to conduct winter snow-tracking in the I-90 corridor near Snoqualmie Pass to inform wildlife crossing projects. Reward Fund to Help Stop Poaching: Whether its deer, elk or rare carnivores like wolves, lynx and grizzly bears, poaching is an abuse of our shared natural heritage. No matter how one

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