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/122775
Getting wilder Special wild places More than 1,000 people have written recent letters to the Forest Service urging wilderness recommendations for wild, roadless areas in the Colville National Forest. Dave Braun was one of those who attended a summer letterwriting event in Spokane that drew 170 people: "Conservation Northwest put on an outstanding event. It was great to see so many Inland Northwest hikers show up and share their thoughts on the Colville National Forest revision plan. Makes me smile, all the avid recreationists and conservationists who really care." Message sent from Thirteenmile Canyon, one of the places left out of the Forest Service's wilderness recommendations. Steve Schubert For Columbia Highlands Derrick Knowles Columbia Highlands wilderness director, derrick@conservationnw.org The secret is out This summer we made encourag- ing progress towards protecting special places in the Columbia Highlands: the movement just happens to be playing out locally and not yet at the legislative level in Washington, DC. Most notable was the release of a "proposed action" for a revised forest plan for the Colville National Forest, recommending permanent wilderness protection for parts of the forest. Hall Mountain campsite. Aaron Theisen Though the recommendations left out more than half of qualifying wilderness acreage we've proposed in the Columbia Highlands Initiative, they are a step in the right direction and an important step toKeeping the Northwest wild wards eventual, permanent protection by Congress. The Colville National Forest is a paradise for recreation and secret is out: There were more cars at trailheads and more hikers out on the trails this summer and an increase in visitors, from cyclists to bikers to road trippers, flocking to Sherman Pass, the Kettle River Range, and the town of Republic. From Colville to Bellevue, awareness is growing around the Northwest of how special, beautiful, and important the Columbia Highlands are for wildlife and our quality of life and economy. That rise in appreciation can only help catalyze local pride and interest in making sure it stays that way for the future. Finally, reports from the field of signs of rare wildlife are encouraging, from the new Smackout wolf pack near Abercrombie Mountain, to increasing sightings of wolves in the Selkirks and Kettles, great gray owls near the Kettle Crest, and grizzly bears in Pend Oreille County. So, while our ongoing efforts to see legislation introduced to permanently protect special places and significant wildlife habitat in the Columbia Highlands may be stymied for the time being by political forces largely out of our control, we continue to work locally and on the ground to make gains for wildlife and wildlands that still matter. Join us! Room to roam Northeastern Washington for- ests are important to a rich and diverse array of wildlife, from grizzly bears and wolves to elk and mule deer, providing habitat and room to roam between the Cascades and Rocky Mountains. Yet today, just 3% of the Colville is protected as wilderness—one of the smallest amounts of any national forest in the West. Innovative work by the Columbia Highlands Initiative has led to onthe-ground conservation successes in a proposed management plan that balances local economic, recreation, wilderness, and access needs. The recommendations for wilderness and restoration in the proposed forest plan for the Colville National Forest are a nod toward that progress. Great gray owl with vole. © Paul Bannick Fall 2011 19