Keeping the Northwest wild Fall 2014 17
Volunteers
restore I-90
Crossings
Habitat
CoNNeCTING WIlDlIFe
As we watch wildlife crossing struc-
tures on I-90 slowly come to life, we
remain dedicated to ensuring the habitat
on either side of the highway is con-
served and restored so wildlife are drawn
to these safe passageways.
As we prepare for construction to be-
gin of the first wildlife overpass on I-90
next year, we are leading the contract-
ing and coordination to restore a square
mile section of forest held in conserva-
tion ownership by Forterra. is sum-
mer we hired Morgan and Sons Inc. of
Ellensburg to decommission eight seg-
ments of road crisscrossing this parcel;
some of those roads had been placed for
potential cabin development on sites
now no longer slated for construction.
is fall, we'll plant hundreds of native
shrubs on these newly restored roadbeds
before snowfall; and in 2015, we'll begin
designing the process of restoring the re-
maining road segments in 2015.
With the help of volunteers, at Gold
Creek pond just a few miles west of this
road restoration, we continue to restore
native vegetation and remove invasive
plants adjacent to the two wildlife
underpasses already constructed and
being used by wildlife. is summer,
a dozen fourth to sixth graders from
YMCA of Shoreline joined us for a
day of weeding at Gold Creek to help
prepare for more fall planting parties.
We've ordered over 2,500 native shrubs
and groundcovers that we'll plant this
October.
Every weed pulled, shrub planted
and mile of road restored makes a differ-
ence to improve habitat in the I-90 cor-
ridor for wildlife from large to small. As
we celebrate the tangible differences we
are making this year, we are also working
with partners, including the Okanogan-
Wenatchee National Forest, to design a
60,000 acre restoration blueprint. at
blueprint outlines the work we'll need
to see through over the next decade, in-
cluding several thousand acres of plan-
tation thinning, floodplain restoration,
invasives management and hundreds of
miles of road restoration and road to
trail conversion.
If you'd like to donate to a restoration
project or get your hands dirty in the
field with us, contact us to get involved.
Volunteers restoring habitat near wildlife crossing structures under I-90. Photos: Jen Watkins
Jen Watkins Conservation associate,
jwatkins@conservationnw.org
Cascades connections
