Okanogan Working for Wildlife Initiative

Maintaining working lands and wildlife heritage

After decades spent protecting, connecting and restoring lands in the Cascades Mountains and Kettle River Mountain Range, in 2013 we began a new collaborative effort focused on the vital connection between these two landscapes where it crosses through the Okanogan Valley.

Funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and coordinated by Conservation Northwest, the Working for Wildlife Initiative is a coalition of state, federal, tribal and nongovernmental interests working together to protect wildlife habitat, working lands and natural heritage in the diverse landscape of the Okanogan Valley and Kettle River Mountain Range.

To date we have built strong partner capacity, invested in habitat restoration on public and private lands, secured key parcels under conservation easements, documented lynx presence in the Kettle Range, reintroduced sharp-tailed grouse, and initiated recovery planning for lynx.

News on the Working for Wildlife Initiative

• October 2021: Homesteading family’s lasting legacy realized in agreement to return nearly 10,000 acres of habitat to Colville Tribes in conservation deal, The Spokesman Review
• October 2021: Conservation groups assist Colville Confederated Tribes to acquire massive Okanogan land tract
• May 2021: Join our Cascades to Rockies Capital Campaign to preserve a critical piece of wildlands
• May 2021: $18 million for Safe Passage 97 included in transportation package, but no agreement reached on funding during 2021 legislative session
• November 2020 update: Working for Wildlife in the Okanogan Valley
• November 2019: Safe Passage 97 project moving forward despite setbacks from Olympia
• May 2019: Canadian sharp-tailed grouse find new home in Okanogan, WDFW
• November 2018: Restoring lynx habitat near Coxit Mountain and Loomis State Forest
• September 2018: Witnessing habitat return after South Summit restoration project
• May 2018: WDFW releases sharp-tailed grouse as part of Okanogan Working for Wildlife Initiative
• October 2017 Update: Protecting habitat, working lands and natural heritage in the Okanogan
• August 2017: Working with First Nations to reduce lynx mortality
• Working for Wildlife Initiative Business Plan from NFWF
• Information on Working for Wildlife from the Okanogan Land Trust
• Learn about the Working for Wildlife Initiative partners, including NFWF, Okanogan Land Trust, Okanogan Conservation District, Mule Deer Foundation, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, USFWS, USFS and BNSF Railway

This WORK is only possible because of generous donor and grantee support. Thanks to the Washington Women’s Foundation, The Orvis Company, New Belgium Brewing, and our other partners for making it possible!

 

Heart of the Okanogan Country

The Okanogan Valley has long been an important home and migration pathway for both people and wildlife in north-central Washington. Bordered to the north by Canada (where the valley continues and a new grasslands national park is in the works), to the west by the North Cascade Mountains, to the east by the Okanogan Highlands and beyond that, the Kettle River Mountain Range and Columbia Highlands.

This broad open valley of sagebrush grassland and Ponderosa pine forest is known for its special qualities: sparkling rivers and lakes, rocky outcrops and highlands rising above the valley floor, productive agricultural lands, and a wide diversity of wildlife and habitat. Generations have cherished the land and sustained themselves on what it offered.

Semi-nomadic First Peoples maintained camps in the valley through the winter, following the seasons, moving from place to place to hunt, fish and harvest food and cultural plants. The descendants of these aboriginal residents remain and continue their traditional and treaty-protected uses of the landscape.

Wildlife Heritage

Wildlife in the region remains abundant. Okanogan County is home to the largest mule deer herd in Washington state, and these ungulates migrate seasonally between winter and summer ranges. An average of 350 deer are killed in the valley each year by vehicle collisions along a 12.5 mile stretch of Highway 97 between Tonasket and Riverside, with an average societal cost of $6,500 per collision. We’re working with local Mule Deer Foundation chapters and other partners to advance solutions through the Safe Passage 97 project. This is just one example of the need for greater habitat connectivity and safe wildlife passage in the area!

One of the largest remaining Canada lynx populations in the continental United States is anchored in the high country of the western Okanogan around the Pasayten Wilderness and Loomis Forest. Though much of their habitat is now protected, these big cats are isolated, and better connections to additional habitat in the Kettle Range are critical for their survival.

One of the state’s only populations of sharp-tailed grouse lives within the sage-steppe lands of the Tunk Valley and surrounding areas in the central Okanogan. Recent wildfires have limited their habitat, breeding areas, and cut into their population, placing these amazing birds in urgent need of conservation support.

Mule deer, lynx and sharp-tailed grouse make-up the three priority species for the Working for Wildlife Initiative, but a wide range of other iconic animals call this region home. Wolves roam forests on both sides of the valley, with a few grizzly bears residing in the surrounding high country. White-tailed deer are also present, and elk in lesser numbers. Bighorn sheep herds call the rocky ridges around the north end of the valley home, while Shiras moose reside among wetlands and meadows at the foot of the surrounding mountain ranges. Cougars, bobcats, black bears and coyotes are relatively common. Many smaller animals, birds and fish also depend on this diverse landscape.

Working Lands

This wildlife diversity exists alongside the county’s rural agricultural character. Orchards, farms, ranches and sawmills are at the heart of the Okanogan economy and culture. Rivers and other natural obstacles to wildlife movement have always existed, but the additional effects of human development are raising concerns that must be addressed for long-term coexistence. The spread of invasive plant species and a legacy of fire suppression have also caused forest health problems that directly impact habitat function.

Continuing expansion of development into rural areas is fragmenting habitat, reducing agricultural production and diminishing the rural lifestyle of the Okanogan Valley. The resulting increase in traffic along Highway 97 has increased the risk to public safety from vehicle collisions with wildlife while making it more difficult for wildlife to safely move.