Conservation & Advocacy

By Marlies Wierenga, Pacific NW Conservation Manager for WildEarth Guardians and WWRI Coordinator

Passage of the Northwest Forest Plan in the mid 1990s was a turning point for conservation. Not only did spotted owls and salmon begin to have a chance at survival but the land and water they depend on were given the ability to heal. Federal, state, local, private landowners across the state stepped up to do their part and everyone lived happily ever after. Right? Read more…

As winter is still in full effect in most of our mountains, access for recreational opportunities in ONP continues to be a priority for many folks. Read more…

It’s in!

Last year, the Washington Climbers Coalition, the American Alpine Club and The Mountaineers, with support from the Access Fund, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Spokane Mountaineers and the entire Northwest climbing community, raised $50,000 for the installation of a toilet at the Frenchman Coulee climbing area (better known as Vantage) in Central Washington. Read more…

There is Big News for outdoor recreation from Olympia! On February 13th Governor Inslee announced the formation of a Blue Ribbon Task Force on Outdoor Recreation in Washington State. Read more…

We are thrilled to hear that biologists have observed the largest Chinook salmon run since 1992 in the Elwha River and that dam removal is back on schedule. Biologists counted 1,741 adult Chionook and mapped 763 redds (salmon nests) between the mouth of the river and Glines Canyon dam. Of the total salmon counted during the one-day survey, 75% were observed upstream of the former Elwha Dam site. Read more…

The Forest Service is holding their final public meeting for the Sustainable Roads Project in Everett on November 13 (rescheduled due to government shutdown earlier in October). Read more…

Congressman Norm Dicks and Senator Patty Murray recently introduced the Wild Olympics Wilderness & Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to permanently protect more than 126,500 acres of Olympic National Forest as wilderness and 19 rivers and their major tributaries, a total of 464 river miles, as Wild and Scenic Rivers. If enacted, the legislation would designate the first new wilderness on Olympic National Forest in nearly three decades and the first-ever protected wild and scenic rivers on the Olympic peninsula. Read more…