Homecoming for wildlife
Planning for future
Jen Watkins Conservation associate,
jwatkins@conservationnw.org
Home ranges
Conservation Northwest is part of two major efforts
to expand options for wildlife in the Cascades by connecting
habitat and engaging people: Restoration of habitat in the
critical I-90 wildlife corridor and an exciting new Cascadia
Partner Forum.
One of the most important ways that animals will adapt
to changes wrought by climate change is to move. Some will
move up in elevation to stay with the cold and snow. Some
will shift in latitudes moving south to north to follow climate
patterns. And some may expand their home ranges to take in
more diversity and new niches.
The first meeting of the Cascadia Partner Forum occurred at last year's Wild
Links conference held at the North Cascades Institute. Erin Moore
Just how can that movement for wildlife be made easier
and possible? Using conservation and restoration we connect
a habitat network to improve the lives of animals now and
maintain options for wildlife in the years to come. We're doing this by connecting habitats and engaging people.
fall with 6,000 native plants, and weeding out invasive plants
growing up in the snowmelt. This fall, with the help of a
hundred volunteers, we're planting more shrubs, ground cover,
native flowers, and willows to continue this powerful work. To
see this year's restoration in action and learn how you can take
part, visit flickr.com/conservationnw and conservationnw.org/
calendar
Engaging people
The Cascadia Partner Forum is a new collaboration addressing climate change and effective solutions for wildlife
in Washington and British Columbia's Cascade mountains.
The forum fosters a network of natural resource practitioners
working within the Great Northern and North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (partnerships themselves
between government and non-governmental groups) to build
the adaptive capacity of the landscape and plants and animals
living within it.
This first year was a pilot effort to see if this new means of
bringing people together across boundaries and borders in the
Cascades can better help us and wildlife adapt to a changing
climate. The forum aims to:
• identify and prioritize science and management needs
and resources to increase adaptive capacity in the Cascadia
landscape,
• highlight successes and challenges in implementation of
adaptation actions,
• facilitate communication to share ideas and expand implementation of adaptive actions including identification of
new approaches,
• and draw attention to this unique landscape.
At our annual 2013 Wild Links conference on October 1819, we'll be reporting on key findings from the forum's pilot
year with partners as we chart a path forward for our Cascadia
wildlife and habitat. Visit cascadiapartnerforum.org
Sketch of the Easton wildlife overpass planned for I-90. WSDOT
Connecting habitats
Volunteers returned to the Gold Creek valley, just east
of Snoqualmie Pass in the I-90 corridor, to restore native
plants in habitat adjacent to two newly constructed wildlife
underpasses. This critical movement pathway connects
habitat south to north in Washington Cascades. They spent
the summer spreading mulch and straw over areas planted last
Keeping the Northwest wild
Fall 2013 7
