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/542690
In the dry forests of eastern Wash- ing ton, ponderosa pines rise in thick spires like sentries looking over the coun- tryside. In the understory, thick brush and a tangle of adolescent Douglas-fir trees block light from reaching young pine saplings. The parched ground is covered in brittle needles and sparse in natural forage. A stray lightning strike and the dense, hot-burning firs can spread fire through the undergrowth, into the upper canopy and across the dry landscape. Where the thick trees break, oen the roads begin. ousands of miles of poorly maintained and unsustainable roads snake through our public forests and wildlands, relics of an age of indus- trial extraction. Some of these roads pro- vide access for those enjoying the great outdoors, but they also oen fragment critical habitat, creating a patchwork of isolated safe havens for elk and other wildlife. With each passing rainstorm roads collect and consolidate run-off, driving sediment into nearby streams, choking fish eggs and aquatic insects, and filling pool and channel habitat. Champions for our forests for local jobs anD wilDlife Dealing with this mess is all in a day's work for Jen Watkins, George Woo- ten, David Heflick, Dave Werntz, and contract forester Derek Churchhill of the Conservation Northwest Forest Field Program. Supporting restoration tools—from selectively thinning forests to closing and replanting unnecessary roads—the team works to restore our na- tional forests and increase their ecologi- cal resilience. In turn, they're improving forest management and making forests healthier and more sustainable for peo- ple and wildlife. Even 20 years aer the breakthrough Northwest Forest Plan was adopted, the forests that Conservation Northwest's Forest Field staffers work on still need attention. e group recognizes the importance of responsible timber jobs for local, state and regional economies. ey're dedicated to managing forests so they can provide family-wage jobs, healthy fish and wildlife habitat, and a variety of recreational and public uses. In doing so, "we collaborate with the people working in the forests as well as local communities," said Werntz. Each forest is different, and conser- vation priorities are identified based on landscape conditions, its history of use and the needs of the wildlife living there. But Watkins recommends what she calls the magic four, restoration solutions that carry into nearly every forest: selective thinning, managed fire, rehabilitating unsustainable roads, and improving wa- tershed management. Watkins and the forest team are cur- rently working in the Little Naches area east of Mount Rainer. Plans are in the works to reintroduce fishers to nearby national parks. Members of the weasel family, fishers need older, mature trees for their dens. But years of extensive tim- ber harvest in the nearby national forest have le stands homogenous and clut- tered, thick with skinny trees and under- brush. To recreate a habitat suitable for fishers, old forest plantations need to be thinned, burned, and given time to ma- ture, Watkins said. "When we reintroduce this native an- imal by choice, we have a responsibility to do so in viable habitat," said Watkins. As an added bonus, trees that are thinned to make way for mature forest growth and improved habitat can oen be harvested, supporting local econo- mies. Removing unnecessary roads requires a skilled and well-paid work force. It's one of the hidden benefits of ecological improvements: a restoration economy. Resource-dependent econo- mies and restoration can coexist. In the Forest Field team's opinion, our North- west forests are big enough for local jobs and wildlife alike. To read an expanded version of this article online, please visit conservationnw. org/news/scat/forest-and-field-program mikey moran Communications Intern Forest Field update Top: Conservation Associate Jen Watkins talks to supporters about improving watershed conditions and habitat connectivity around Snoqualmie Pass. Kent Sullivan Side: Conservation Associate George Wooten records data on native plant restoration efforts at Gold Creek near the new I-90 wildlife overpass now under construction. Chase Gunnell 14 Spring/Summer 2015 conservationnw.org