Habitat is home to plants and animals

Conservation Northwest makes sure that wild animals from the Washington Coast to the BC Rockies have intact and functioning places to live. Wildlife make our region vibrant. They are also excellent indicators of the health of our forests and water. Protecting wildlife means protecting their homes, and helping ensure safe passage between wild places.

We work with local land managers to encourage practices that benefit threatened and endangered wildlife. We also use existing laws such as the Endangered Species Act to ensure better protection of wildlife and critical habitat. Our volunteers monitor forest wildlife throughout the state using cameras and wilderness tracking.

Much of Conservation Northwest's work helps protect Northwest wildlife, including mountain caribou, grizzly bear, Canada lynx, Pacific fisher, gray wolf, and wolverine.

Protecting these larger carnivores near the top of the food chain benefits many other plants and animals that also depend upon little-disturbed landscapes, such as northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet, and runs of wild salmon throughout the Northwest.

Supporting a wealth of plants and animals and providing priceless ecosystem services like clean water; native ecosystems are worth protecting. For example, the native woodland prairies remaining today in Washington harbor Taylor’s checkerspot butterflies as well as the rare western gray squirrel.

Some native animals can and should be returned to their original home ranges. In western Washington, for example, we've partnered with others to successfully reintroduce fisher to the Olympic Peninsula. In eastern Washington, we're helping create a wolf management plan anticipating the natural return of gray wolves to Washington.

In eastern Washington we work with hunters and anglers on conservation strategies to best protect habitat for elk, deer, moose, and native trout, like bull trout, as well as carnivores and other imperiled wildlife. We're cooperating collaboratively to protect the lands wild animals rely upon for survival.