By Chase Gunnell, Communications Manager A decade after the U.S. Forest Service first began mandating that its national forests create motorized travel management plans for Off-Road Vehicles (ORVs) and dirt bikes, sensible regulations were recently announced for over-snow vehicles such as snowmobiles during the winter months. Under the new plan, announced in the federal register in January … Continued
By Alexandra Loeb, Conservation Northwest Board of Directors Conservation Northwest is excited to announce the creation of our new Board of Advisers. We have a wonderful staff and an excellent Board of Directors, and creation of the advisory board provides valuable experience and additional strategic input through new formal positions. The goal is to enhance engagement … Continued
By Alison Huyett, Conservation Associate Our spring-fall 2014 wildlife monitoring season has come to a close, and our 2015 winter tracking and remote camera season has kicked off in the New Year! Check out our new video about the Citizen Wildlife Monitoring Project! With major effort from our stellar volunteers and a little help from some AMAZING Washington wildlife, we … Continued
By Joe Scott, International Conservation Director 2015 got off to a great start for Northwest grizzly bears with the Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) Chiefs Executive Council passing a resolution calling for protection and recovery of grizzlies, known as kiʔlawnaʔ in the nsyilxcen language. Interestingly, kiʔlawnaʔ is the root word for the town of Kelowna, British Columbia. The ONA consists of the Okanagan Indian … Continued
By Mitch Friedman, Executive Director In late October, a poacher killed the most important wolf in Washington. The breeding female of the Teanaway Pack was pivotal in two ways. First, since the pack is strategically located just north of Interstate 90 in the Cascades and has been fertile the last few years, it’s the most likely … Continued
Videos of each panelist’s presentation and the Q & A session are now available on our YouTube channel! As wolves continue to recover in the Pacific Northwest, and as state agencies move towards the management phases of wolf recovery, Conservation Northwest, along with the Pacific Wolf Coalition and the University of Washington, had the opportunity to bring together some … Continued
When Bill Johnson signed up to help Ellensburg rancher Sam Kayser of SK Ranch, he never thought he’d be working with wolves. Johnson has a lifetime of experience herding cattle and traveling through the mountains of central Washington on horseback. “I love being on a horse,” he says. “To me, I can’t imagine changing the … Continued
This past August, Jay Kehne, our Conservation Associate and Range Rider Pilot Project manager, got a call from one of our ranching partners who grazes over two hundred head of cattle on an allotment in the Colville National Forest, within the territory of one of Washington’s wolf packs. With funding help from Conservation Northwest and … Continued
Finicky fall weather is no deterrent for ravens and sprouting willows, and it was no bother to Conservation Northwest and Forest Service volunteers as they worked to improve fish and wildlife habitat at Gold Creek near Snoqualmie Pass this past October. Armed with shovels and trowels, over 50 volunteers, including youth from Seattle Parks & … Continued
Mitch Friedman reflects on wilderness in a changing planet Fifty years ago, after a persistent bruising effort, Congress passed The Wilderness Act to set aside and protect areas “where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man.” You can use Google as well as me, so I won’t bore you with how many, how large, … Continued