Keeping the Northwest wild Spring/Summer 2015 3
leaders and advocates
View from the Director
mitch Friedman Executive Director,
mitch@conservationnw.org
table of contents
4 What wildlife need
e case for habitat connectivity
5 Give to protect and connect
You make this possible
6 Feature: I-90 milestones
Groundbreaking and what's
next for wildlife
8 Feature: Okanogan milestones
Working for Wildlife Initiative
10 Interview series
Okanogan land conservationists
12 Wolf update
Stevens Pass wolf, range
riders
13 Grizzly bear update
Comments support
restoration
14 Forest Field update
Champions for our forests
15 Conservation gear
Sponsor a monitoring team
A rendition of elk crossing the Price/Noble I-90
Wildlife Overcrossing east of Snoqualmie Pass, which
broke ground in June after over a decade of advocacy
from Conservation Northwest. WSDOT
When it comes to promoting wildlife habitat connectivity in our region, Con-
servation Northwest was the first kid on the block. Few were even talking about this
stuff 26 years ago. Today, aer decades of advocacy and great partnerships, we're
reaching major milestones.
I was beaming on June 9th as the Washington State Department of Transporta-
tion ceremoniously broke ground on its next phase of reconstructing Interstate 90
east of Snoqualmie Pass, with plans that include our state's first wildlife overpass
bridging a major highway or freeway.
e reason for WSDOT's enthusiasm and investment in the new overcrossing
(as well as two previously completed major undercrossings) is that the project came
on the heels of e Cascades Conservation Partnership (TCCP), led by Conserva-
tion Northwest, which conserved over 45,000 key acres of privately owned industri-
al timber land. is land was transferred to public ownership under the U.S. Forest
Service for the primary purpose of keeping the North and Central Cascades linked
for wildlife. Still, I-90 cut down the middle of the corridor.
ankfully, determined advocacy and the success of the TCCP inspired Doug
McDonald, then the state's Transportation Secretary, to issue an executive order
making wildlife connectivity an objective of major transportation projects, includ-
ing I-90 renovations. We've coordinated closely with WSDOT staff ever since,
working toward the milestones we celebrated this June.
To the east, we have prominent partners focused on conserving and restoring
wildlife habitat linkages from the Cascades to the Rockies. e National Fish and
Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)—America's most esteemed conservation funder—
has a seven year plan to resolve the bottleneck, or fracture zone, in this east–west
corridor where it crosses Highway 97 and the Okanogan Valley north of Omak.
is initiative, called Working for Wildlife, has an A-list team including state and
federal agencies, the Colville Confederated Tribes, and several conservation and
sportsmen organizations. Under the leadership of NFWF and Conservation North-
west's Jen Watkins, the Initiative is making solid progress.
is issue focuses on those milestones in the I-90 Wildlife Corridor and the
Okanogan, but our work doesn't stop there. From conserving arid grasslands that
connect British Columbia's steppe with the Columbia Basin to linking grizzly bear
populations from the B.C. Coast Range to the North Cascades, protecting and con-
necting habitat across the regional landscape is a leading value of this organization.
It's a dream we've long held and promoted, and I couldn't be happier to share it with
so many friends and allies as success takes shape. anks to your support for making
it possible.
View from the director
