Washington shellfish growers receive funding from the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration (SOAR) program’s Shellfish Growers Resiliency Fund, investments in new and more sustainable solutions to common aquaculture practices.
Earth Day was born out of a movement to improve the lives of people and nature, inspiring sweeping legislative action and investments. Today, federal infrastructure funding and WA Climate Commitment Act are a continuation of this movement, investments making a tangible impact locally. As an example, Washington’s historic funding of the Floodplains by Design program is contributing to nature-based floodplain management across the state to reduce flood risk, protect communities and protect salmon habitat. These state and federal dollars are just the start of local climate action that will improve the daily lives and the future of all Washingtonians.
Meet DeAnne Hamilton: Learn how the general manager of Tacoma’s KBTC Public Television and TNC in Washington trustee, uses the power of storytelling to engage people in conservation and create a better future for the next generation.
Nestled in the cliffs in Moses Coulee is an import desert water sources that every springs attracts thousands of Pacific Tree frogs. I came to Whisper Lake for a night concert. It was anything but quiet. The chorus of frogs was soothing, calming—the quintessential sound of spring.
The Cle Elum Wildlife Project is improving our understanding of how wildlife use and move through protected forest landscapes, providing us with an opportunity to test how forest management practices impact wildlife and building an evidence base for permanent protection.
Four major landscape restoration projects in central Washington are in planning and environmental analysis and will be ready for implementation in 2021 or sooner. These projects span from the north to the south of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest and encompass approximately 400,000 acres of high-priority restoration areas under the 20-Year Forest Health Strategic Plan led by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
Written by Emily Howe, Aquatic Ecologist
Photographed by Hannah Letinich, Volunteer Photgraphy Editor
Graphics by Erica Simek-Sloniker, Visual Communications
Boots. Any aquatic ecologist worth their salt needs a collection of boots. Rubber knee boots, lug-soled hiking boots, felt-soled stream boots, chest waders, and caulks. Caulks? Before last week, a sturdy pair of spike-soled logging boots had not made my inventory list as a fisheries biologist. Flippers, yes. Wet suit booties, sure. But generally speaking, spikes are left to those scaling glaciers or trees.
My recent trip to Washington’s coastal rainforests changed my footwear paradigm.
After a 3-day four-wheel drive tour of Ellsworth Creek, the Hoh, Quinault, and Clearwater Rivers, it is clear that active forest management goes hand in hand with salmon and river recovery. Rolling back a century of damage from industrial logging requires active logging operations to thin and replant monocultural tree plantations, decommissioning and rerouting roads, and reintroducing large wood into streams and rivers. The caulks come in handy on that last one.
You see, to enhance natural river processes critical to salmon and watershed recovery, The Conservancy and its partners are reintroducing fallen trees to streams and floodplains throughout coastal Washington, Puget Sound, and the Central Cascades. This restoration technique ranks as one of the most urgent actions needed for the recovery and future resilience of salmon because it promotes a complex portfolio of aquatic habitats. Once in the water, large wood initiates log jams that in turn increase natural scour, create new pools and deepen existing ones, provide slow-water refuge for juvenile fish, create gravel beds for nesting, trap nutrients in streams, and increase food availability.
The Conservancy’s coastal forest preserves embody the integration of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems- right down to the boots.
Cle Elum —The Nature Conservancy has sold two sections totaling 1,164 acres of its Central Cascades Forests to the Forest Service, to be managed as part of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.
The two sections are within a half mile of the Pacific Crest Trail, are visible from the trail, and have long been part of the vision for protecting the trail and the experience of hiking it. In addition, they encompass the headwaters of Cabin Creek, an important tributary to the Yakima River and habitat for salmon, steelhead and bull trout.
The $1.1 million purchase will be funded from a special Land and Water Conservation Fund program to protect the Pacific Crest Trail.
“We are fortunate to live in a region that is home to some of our nation’s most breathtaking natural treasures,” said Rep. Dave Reichert, who represents Washington’s 8th District in Congress. “Now through the tools of the LWCF and the partnership of the U.S. Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy, we can rest assured that this area of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest and the experience of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail will be preserved for recreational visitors, the wildlife that calls it home, and for future generations to enjoy.”
“The U.S. Forest Service and its partners have been working for over a decade to help consolidate the checkerboard lands along this section of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail,” said Megan Wargo, Director of Land Protection for the Pacific Crest Trail Association. “We are grateful to The Nature Conservancy for their work to permanently protect these two parcels, ensuring an outstanding recreational opportunity for hikers and equestrians along the PCT for generations to come. “
These sections are within an area designated by the Forest Service as the Snoqualmie Pass Adaptive Management Area, where ecological and economic factors are considered, while managing for high quality forest habitat and habitat connectivity along the Cascade Range.
“This important acquisition connects gaps in National Forest surrounding the Pacific Crest Trail and the headwaters of Cabin Creek,” said Mike Williams, Forest Supervisor of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. "It enhances the recreational access and scenic quality of the trail experience. Additionally, the acquisition increases our ability to continue restoration efforts in the Yakima Basin."
“This is a win for the land and the people who love it, and assures long term conservation protection and public access for these sections of forest,” said Mike Stevens, the Washington state director of The Nature Conservancy.
These two sections are part of the nearly 48,000 acres the Conservancy purchased from Plum Creek for $48 million in December 2014. Proceeds from the sale will be used to repay some of the financing for the original purchase.
The Conservancy continues to manage its remaining 46,281 acres for healthy forests, clean water, wildlife habitat, and preserving public access, while seeking the best possible conservation outcomes for the land.
This summer, the Conservancy is planning several restoration projects:
· Planting 66,000 trees in two locations --Douglas-fir and white pine in an area south of Easton, and ponderosa pine in an area of South Cle Elum Ridge that burned in 2014.
· Thinning trees for forest health and fire resiliency on 380 acres on Cle Elum Ridge above Roslyn.
· Stream restoration by the Yakama Nation on the North Fork of Taneum Creek.
The Conservancy is also engaged in planning a 100,000-acre cross-ownership restoration project in the Manastash-Taneum area with the U.S. Forest Service, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington Department of Natural Resources and the Yakama Nation.
For more about these forests, please go to washingtonnature.org/centralcascades.
Photography by John Marshall
Once again our state has set a grim record. For the second summer in a row, we are experiencing the largest wildfire in our state’s history. Nearly 1 million acres have burned, hundreds of homes have been lost, and, most devastating, three firefighters lost their lives fighting the blazes that blanket North Central Washington.
Read our Board Chair Byron Bishop’s guest opinion column about actions we can take now to reduce the threat. It appeared in the Seattle Times, Sunday, Sept. 6
The Conservancy has been advocating for and working on strategies to improve our resilience to these megafires.
Seattle Times, Nov. 9: Legislature needs to provide the funding to pre-empt wildfires
Seattle Times editorial on the need for Legislative funding for fire solutions
Seattle Times, Nov. 9: Congress needs to address wildfires like any other disaster
Seattle Times editorial in support of the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, which is a Nature Conservancy priority for Congress. It would bring funding stability to the Forest Service, which has to spend money designated for improvements on fighting fires.
KING-TV, Oct. 15: Forest restored to pre-wildfire condition
KING TV’s new environmental reporter, Alison Morrow, did a feature story on the collaborative restoration project at Oak Creek Wildlife Area, designed to make the forest more resilient in the face of wildfire.
Seattle Times, Oct. 11: Fighting Fire With Fire
Front-page storyon the importance of controlled burning in fighting wildfire, and the barriers to getting more done in Washington:
“We have a set of regulations that are fairly outdated,” said Reese Lolley, director of the Nature Conservancy’s Eastern Washington Forest Program. “More and more, I think we are looking at how do we better live with fire, and how do we use it as a tool.”
Our forest scientists played a critical role in helping the reporters develop the story.
The Olympian, Sept. 27: Dramatic climate shifts require attention to forests, water
Guest opinion column by Washington State Director Mike Stevens and Public Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark.
Wenatchee World, Aug. 30: Preparing for the next megafire
“The federal and state agencies, local government, and stakeholders through groups like the Nature Conservancy and the North Central Washington Forest Health Collaborative, know what to do and are ready to go.”
Tri-City Herald, Aug. 28: Wildfires should have natural disaster status
“Federal Agencies have run short of wildfire suppression money eight times since 2002, according to The Nature Conservancy in Washington State.”
Seattle Times, Aug. 26: Why we have such large wildfires this summer
“Analysis by the Nature Conservancy and U.S. Forest Service found that about 30 percent (2.7 million acres) of Eastern Washington federal, state, tribal and private forestland needs some kind of thinning or treatment to reduce the risk of wildfire. That could include cutting smaller trees or using planned fires to thin the forest.”
Wenatchee World, Aug. 19: We burn, but we have initiative
“‘We need to be proactive in reducing these hazardous fuels,’ said Lloyd McGee of the Nature Conservancy. That requires controlled burns and mechanical treatment.”
Yakima Herald, Aug. 19: New tools needed to improve wildfire prevention
“Collaborative efforts between the state, the Forest Service and the Yakama Nation at thinning fuel and restoring forest health have reduced fire risks, said Mary Sutton Carruthers, coordinator of the Tapash Sustainable Forest Collaborative.”
Wenatchee World, Aug. 18: Leaders search for solutions for wildfire management
“‘We’re fighting a war. To win a war sometime we have to learn how to live with the enemy,’ said Lloyd McGee, Eastern Washington Forests Program manager for The Nature Conservancy.”
Yakima Herald, Aug. 6: Advocating for the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act
“‘We’re going to fight these fires and pay for them one way or another, but this sets up a more rational way of funding that doesn’t impact other programs,’ said Cathy Baker, governmental relations director for The Nature Conservancy in Washington. ‘We’re really pleased with the strong bipartisan support for solving this. They just haven’t gotten there yet.’”
Written by Carrie Krueger, Director of Marketing
Photographed by John Marshall
As the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee meets in Seattle to examine this summer’s disastrous fires, The Nature Conservancy encourages the Committee to focus on two solutions the organization believes can provide relief from the worst of today’s megafires:
1. Support and fund the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy: The Cohesive Strategy is the result of a five-year collaborative planning effort that aligns governments at all levels to help develop fire-adapted communities, resilient landscapes, and to improve wildfire operations. It provides an approved mechanism to get all layers of government working together, including cities, counties, states, Tribes and Federal Departments of Agriculture, Interior, Defense, and Homeland Security. The Cohesive Strategy works to:
2. Fix the way emergency firefighting is funded by passing a fire-funding solution such as the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act (WDFA): As the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior suppress the emergency fires, they have to dip into funds set aside for other projects—including some of those that can help reduce the risk of fires in the first place. This is different from how other natural disasters are paid for, such as hurricanes, tornadoes or floods. The Nature Conservancy encourages Congress to continue its work to find a bipartisan solution to fix the fire-funding problem, like the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act (WDFA) that creates a disaster funding process for emergency wildfires. WDFA has the support of hundreds of conservation, forestry, outdoor industry, sportsmen’s organizations and more.
“Today the Forest Service has already spent close to all of its firefighting budget for the year, so we know they will need to transfer money away from other programs soon—affecting programs that conserve the water, wildlife and wood resources our forests provide,” said Cecilia Clavet, Senior Policy Advisor at The Nature Conservancy. “We need a solution now to stop crippling the federal agencies managing our natural assets with disruptive funding shortfalls.”
“Climate change, drought, and insects and disease, and more people living closer to forests have created an urgent need for restoration,” said Mike Stevens, Washington State Director for The Nature Conservancy. “Only a commitment to restoration and the funding necessary to make it happen at scale can break the cycle of catastrophic fires that are taking such a tremendous toll on our state.”
America’s forests are the source of half our nation’s water; support one million forest product jobs; grow the largest and oldest trees in the world; are home to thousands of American wildlife species; and generate more than $14 billion of recreation and other economic activity on Forest Service lands alone.
Today these essential benefits are in jeopardy, due to the unhealthy state of our forests and the dangerous megafires that result from these conditions. For example:
