Columbia Highlands Initiative in Washington State an attempt at connecting the Cascades and the Rockies--rewilding to follow........working Ranches to be preserved

Groups announce new effort for wilderness and working lands in Washington Innovative partnership draws on ranching, timber, and conservation interests to keep Cascades connected to the Rockies The Columbia Highlands Initiative, unveiled today at simultaneous press conferences in Spokane and Seattle, seeks to maintain an important habitat connection between the Cascades and Rockies by protecting wild places and sustaining working ranches and jobs in the woods in the Columbia Highlands region of northeast Washington. Abercrombie Mountain is being proposed for wilderness designation   Jul 28, 2010 Spokane and Seattle, WA – A partnership of conservationists, timber industry leaders, recreationists and ranchers announced today a new collaborative initiative aimed at addressing threats to wildlife as well rural economies posed by pressures from overdevelopment and climate change. The Columbia Highlands Initiative, unveiled today at simultaneous press conferences in Spokane and Seattle, seeks to maintain an important habitat connection between the Cascades and Rockies by protecting wild places and sustaining working ranches and jobs in the woods in the Columbia Highlands region of northeast Washington.  Over the last eight years, timber industry and conservation leaders, collaborating through the Northeast Washington Forestry Coalition, have produced a national success story in simultaneously advancing forest stewardship and timber harvest on the Colville National Forest. The Columbia Highlands Initiative, led by Conservation Northwest and The Lands Council, seeks to extend that collaborative success by promoting thoughtful recreation access, sustaining working ranches and advancing a plan for national forest management that includes a balance of uses including new wilderness areas.  "The pressures and changes of the modern world require us to take a new, collaborative approach to conserving our wildlife, natural areas, and traditional rural lifestyles," said Tim Coleman of Conservation Northwest. "We can't do it without working together on the big picture: maintaining wildlife pathways and healthy forests, also means that we need to maintain our timber jobs and the large habitat-rich ranches."  The key elements of the group's proposal includes: 1) the designation of new national conservation, national recreation and wilderness areas in the Colville National Forest, 2) support for ongoing national forest stewardship projects, and 3) collaborative work with ranchers, including raising private funds for easements, to keep several key ranches in operation for cattle production and that provide essential habitat for wildlife.   Ultimately, formal designation of Wilderness, National Conservation Areas, and National Recreation Areas will require an act of Congress.  Additionally some funding may needed as well.   "We're deeply appreciative that members of our state's congressional delegation, particularly Senator Cantwell and Rep. McMorris Rodgers, have been closely following our outreach efforts," said Coleman.    "They have consistently voiced their support for our consensus-building approach.  We look forward to working with them on our ultimate goal of moving legislation through Congress."  "My grandfather started our family milling business and my dad followed in his footsteps and now I follow in his," said Russ Vaagen, manager of Vaagen Bros. Lumber . "Community collaboration has worked for our business, and in these tough economic times, that has helped keep our workforce on the job. There's an acceptable balance in both sustaining jobs in the woods and protecting some special places," Vaagen said.  Some local ranchers have gotten involved in the effort because they recognize that changes to the land threaten their cattle business and the open spaces that enhance their lifestyle. They are collaborating with conservation groups to permanently commit key ranches to agriculture, open space and wildlife habitat, preventing real estate and mining developments that break up operations and harm the natural and agricultural heritage. "When the property around us starts growing houses instead of grass and trees, that hurts us and the wildlife," said Ferry County rancher Bryan Gotham. "This partnership is helping us keep the land the way it was in my grandfather's time, with a quiet backcountry that we can access by horse and a means to keep our ranch economically viable so I can pass it on to my children when the time comes."  The Columbia Highlands Initiative also aims to increase recreation access and tourism in the region by convincing Congress to pass legislation that would establish National Recreation Areas, National Conservation Areas, and new trails for mountain bikes and off-road vehicles. New wilderness areas proposed in the package would also be an added tourism draw to the region.  "We want a balance where wildlife and wildlands can contribute economically," says John Eminger, owner of 49 Degrees North Ski Area and a partner in the effort. "Wildlife and wilderness is an important part of the overall reason why people enjoy coming to recreate here. We want it to stay that way."  Wilderness is seen by many traditional backcountry enthusiasts who enjoy the slower, quite pace of hiking or horseback riding as a way to keep a little piece of northeast Washington the way its always been. Many hunters also see wilderness as a way to maintain opportunities for pursuing deer, elk, bear and other game away from roads and crowds where hunting success can be greater and the size of some game bigger. "Wilderness areas ensure that those of us who prefer putting in the effort for a traditional hunt on foot or horseback will still have places like the Kettle Crest or Salmo Priest area to share with our children and grandchildren even with ever expanding development pressures," said Joe Mirasol, a resident of Elk, WA, and chair of the WA chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers.  The northeast corner of the state still exemplifies the mystique of the western frontier: local, family-owned mills still thrive, many family ranches still make their living off the land, and wild mountains and forests still provide habitat for a wide range of wildlife – from caribou to grizzly bears to Canada lynx – found few other places in the U.S. outside of Alaska. Scientists have also identified the Columbia Highlands region with its intact wild areas and open space as an important region for wildlife to travel between the Cascades and Rocky Mountains.  This is particularly important as development continues to encroach on the remaining intact wildlife habitat.  "If we are proactive now, our efforts to conserve crucial wildlife habitat here will be considerably more productive in both sweat equity and financial investment. Waiting or doing nothing will only bring the inevitable: loss of important wildlife habitat and greater, more expensive efforts to protect what is left," says Mike Petersen of The Lands Council.  "Avista has a long-standing commitment to balancing environmental stewardship, economic development and supporting our communities. We support the efforts of the Northeast Washington Forestry Coalition because we believe working together is key to building a better energy future," said Ron Gray of Avista's Kettle Falls Generating Station, who serves on the board of the coalition. "This collaboration is an example of taking care of our natural resources so that those resources will continue to take care of us."