Over the past 20 years we’ve led coalitions that successfully protected more than 45,000 acres of forestland in the Central Cascades and smoothed the way for dozens of wildlife crossings over and under I-90, fulfilling a major ecological need to restore habitat connections between the North and South Cascades.

And yet, from decades of excessive logging and misuse, much of the forestland that comprises this vital wildlife corridor is just a shadow of its former self and in serious need of restoration.

A flagship program since our founding, through our Forest Field Program we advance the use of the latest scientific research and engage collaboratively with other stakeholders to promote landscape-scale restoration of forests and watersheds. We apply our field experience to shape national and regional policies through forest collaboration, lobbying, media exposure, and public support and involvement.

We maintain forest staffers for the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie, Okanogan-Wenatchee and Colville national forests, as well as tracking projects on nearby state forests, including State Trust Lands. Our Central Cascades Watersheds Restoration program also conducts focused work between the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and Mount Rainier.

By supporting our Central Cascades Watersheds Restoration Program, you help to heal these forests so that they once again can flourish as part of one large, connected ecosystem teeming with diverse populations of wildlife and clear-flowing streams, all while sustaining healthy communities.

At the same time, you’re helping to increase their resilience and capacity to store carbon, helping to stem atmospheric climate change and enabling our forests to better cope with rising temperatures.

Learn more in our graphic below, and please consider supporting this work!

There are so many ways your gift goes to work when you support our forest restoration programs:

• Powers our work as watchdog and partner of the U.S. Forest Service ensuring that our national forests are managed using sustainable forestry practices with ecological health in mind.
• Funds essential hydrology studies that allow the Forest Service to remove dozens of culverts, improving watershed health for vulnerable creek-dwellers like bull trout, not to mention downstream communities in the lower Puget Sound.
• Allows us to rip out miles of old unneeded roads, reducing erosion and runoff into streams so that Chinook and other salmon species can spawn safely in them again. 
• Helps us restore mismanaged lands, like the overplanted Douglas fir forest below, so they can recover as mature, healthy forests and allows us to protect remaining old-growth and wild-forest habitats.
• Helps us advocate for the restoration of huckleberry patches and elk forage areas that increase the abundance of First Foods, sustaining the culture and traditional diets of local tribes.
• Puts dozens of volunteers in the field planting thousands of native trees and shrubs to restore habitat in critical areas near wildlife crossings and winter feeding grounds.
• Lets us be a powerful voice countering interests that want to open up these lands to excessive recreation and other harmful uses. At the same time, it funds innovative collaborations with responsible recreation groups ensuring that restoration efforts have strong buy-in from local communities so that we can all enjoy the land responsibly.

Altogether, our Central Cascades Watersheds Restoration Program will reconnect healthy habitat across the Cascades, restore vital Puget Sound watersheds and serve as a model for future forest and watershed restoration in Washington State and beyond.

Not just in the Central Cascades, but all throughout the Northwest where our forest conservation staff are working diligently as watchdogs, advocates, coalition-builders, scientists and educators helping to shape pro-forest policies and restore thousands of acres of prime habitat for lynx, fisher, bighorn sheep, wolverine and other iconic species.