Cascade Checkerboard Project
By Charlie Raines, Checkerboard Project Director
Skykomish River valley and town of Skykomish from Maloney Rock (photo by C Raines)
The Sierra Club’s Cascade Checkerboard Project works to maintain and restore wildlife habitat and quiet recreation in the Central Cascades. In the past year, there have made considerable progress despite some disappointments and further delays on critical conservation planning.
This article first appeared in the chapter's Winter 2014 newsletter, Cascade Crest.
Conserving Lands in the Kittitas Valley
A major component of the project is the acquisition of checkerboard lands, once owned by the Northern Pacific Railroad. Reduced appropriations from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund have hampered our progress, but we have had some recent successes.
Over 47,000 acres of private timberlands in the upper Kittitas valley was recently acquired by The Nature Conservancy. This removes the threat of development spreading up the valley that would have impacted the rivers and forests. The Nature Conservancy is reaching out to conservation groups and the local community to prepare a management plan that will address recreation, watershed, and timber resources and uses.
With the assistance of the Trust for Public Land, the Forest Service acquired over 1,200 acres in the Manastash Ridge area in 2014, including 300 acres of old growth forest along the Little Naches River. We have been working with Forterra and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife on additional habitat acquisitions in the nearby Cabin Creek watershed.
Building Wildlife Bridges
Wildlife bridges are becoming a reality in the Cascades as part of the I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East Project. Recently completed bridges over Gold Creek at the upper end of Keechelus Lake have reopened the floodplain, providing improved spawning habitat for bull trout and Kokanee salmon as well as a safe path for terrestrial animals. Near Keechelus Dam, Washington State Department of Transportation is designing the first wildlife overpass in Washington. It is set to begin construction in 2015.
Protecting National Forest Lands
The Forest Service is updating their 23-year-old management plan for the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. This will determine the fate of a million acres of roadless land and is the first time in two decades that the agency is considering wilderness as an option. While the Forest Service suggested only 120,000 acres for wilderness in their “proposed action” in 2011, we have proposed designation of 800,000 acres of stunning wild country. This includes areas like the upper Teanaway as addition to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, wild lands in the Entiat valley adjacent to Glacier Peak Wilderness, and wild roadless areas adjacent to the Lake Chelan and Pasayten wilderness areas.
We will need help from all our members and partners to convince the Forest Service to fashion their plan on that alternative. We are reaching out to citizens and businesses on the east side to explain the value of wildlands to their communities. After repeated delays, the Forest Service now says it will issue a Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the plan in late 2015. One of the alternatives will be based on the Sierra Club proposal for protecting wilderness, wild rivers, old-growth forests, and trails free of motors.
Early in 2015, the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest will also issue a draft Travel Management Plan, which will determine which trails are open to dirt bikes and jeeps. These are important opportunities for Club members to express opinions about wildlife, old-growth forests and non-motorized trails.
Great Northern Corridor - Skykomish Initiative
Forterra, Sierra Club, other conservation and recreation groups, the town of Skykomish and King County have embarked on the Skykomish Initiative. It envisions additional land conservation, outdoor recreation and rebuilding the historic town to revitalize the local economy. This will include the purchase of old-growth forests on Windy Ridge and forested shores of the Foss River.
The plan envisions a new, easily accessible overlook on Maloney Rock with stunning vistas of the Skykomish valley. The Initiative is exploring ideas for bicycle and hiker trails connecting the town to that rocky promontory. Part of the vision is permanently protecting the roadless valley of Maloney Creek, adjacent to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, starting with acquiring a large parcel of timber company land straddling the creek just above town.
For More Information ...
About past project activities.