Conservation Northwest

Keeping the Northwest wild Spring-summer 2014 5 Milestones in our quest to keep the Northwest wild. In 1989: e Ancient Forest Rescue Expedition introduces America to a tan- gible piece of a disappearing heritage by touring an 8-foot-wide Douglas fir log on a semi-truck trailer through 28 states in 29 days. Our adventure is recounted in William Dietrich's Pulitzer-winning book, e Final Forest. In 1990: We mail a Special Report on the Greater North Cascades Ecosystem to various lists, framing our landscape ap- proach and generating our initial mem- bership. In 1991: Mark Skatrud and I submit a petition to the US Fish and Wildlife Service to protect Canada lynx under the Endangered Species Act. We host a conference series in Seattle, including, "Of Wolves and Washing- ton" (at which we proposed a distinct recovery effort for wolves in the Pa- cific Northwest), "Biodiversity and the Greater North Cascades Ecosystem," "Clearcuts and Condos," "Old Forests or New Forestry," and other timely topics. We publish the classy pamphlet, At the founding of Conser vation Northwest, I was a 25-year-old kid with a head of curly hair and big ideas picked up at the University of Washington from the newly minted scientific discipline of conservation biolog y. I was ready for a change in tactics from the Earth First! protest movement to which I'd dedi- Mitch Friedman and Mary Humphries, 1991. Conservation NW files Questions and answers about biodiver- sity in Northwest forests, which helped reframe the old-growth forest issue to a biological high ground. In 1992: We launch our Regional Biodiversity Initiative, applying best available science to produce conserva- tion proposals for the transboundary greater North Cascades and Columbia Mountains ecosystems, and hire our first biologist (not counting me), creat- ing our British Columbia field office. We distribute a gorgeous set of postcards promoting awareness of lynx and the logging threat in north-central Washington, including the Loomis State Forest. In 1993: With peers in the Cascades International Alliance, we propose a Cascades International Park, invoking conspiracy theories that live on to this day. In the aermath of President Clin- ton's Northwest Forest Plan, I hire Dave More Big deeds, next page 25th anniversary In 2012, a Teanaway wolf pup was caught on film for the BBC's "Land of the Lost Wolves," featuring Conservation Northwest. cated three years. So I called some friends and together we launched a group called Greater Ecosystem Alliance. Dream big dreams, they say. And our merry band dreamed the big dream of a Northwest landscape with large, inter- connected, wild areas, where old forests and roadless areas were protected. And in our dream, the Northwest supported populations of all native species, includ- ing wolves and wolverines. is dream didn't just come true; it was brought into reality as with your help we pro- tected millions of acres connecting the Washington Coast to the British Co- lumbia Rockies. What news will we report on our 50th Anniversary? It will honestly be hard to beat the positive changes we've seen over the last quarter century, with substantial protection of the core wild ecosystems of the Northwest, the linkages between them, and return of fisher, wolves, wolver- ines, and, hopefully soon, grizzly bear. But the effects of a rapidly changing climate and growing human population in our increasingly attractive region will stress all of our core values and accomplishments. e need for Conservation Northwest is as great now and looking forward as it was on our first day. Werntz to guide our national forest en- gagement to gain the best possible plan implementation. is forest field pro- gram thrives to this day. In 1996: When the Okanogan Na- tional Forest auctions logging rights to the under Mountain Timber Sale, we are the high bidder, making national news and opening alliances with fiscal conser- vatives in Congress against below-cost logging.

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