In the Okanogan and Similkameen

Just west of the Columbia Highlands and to the east of the North Cascades are the ranches of the Okanogan and Similkameen valleys in central Okanogan County. These valleys are beautiful, ranging from dry, sage grasslands to forested mountain views. They are rich in wildlife diversity, from Canada lynx to sharptail grouse to bighorn sheep.

In the big picture of sustaining safe passage for wildlife across the broader lanscape, the Okanogan-Similkameen is vital. Two large-scale landscapes intersect here:

• The grasslands of south-central BC, home to highly diverse wildlife, some of it threatened, depends on maintaining a connection to the much larger expanse of habitat in Washington.
• The mixed forest and grassland private lands ranches that lie between the North Cascades and Okanogan Highlands. 

Keeping key ranches in open space is important not just for wildlife conservation, but also to sustain the history and unique lifestyle of the Okanogan. Keystone ranches still held by pioneer families and are rich in lore and custom.

All this is threatened by a real-estate boom that is driving subdivision and development throughout Okanogan County, much of it fueled by Canadians buying second homes. The economy of Canada is surging on oil revenues, generating a wave of new wealth. The Okanogan is where Canadians seek warmth, and their dollar (now rivaling the US Dollar in strength) buys more on the US side of the border that it does in towns like Osoyoos or Kelowna north of the border.

Many of the old ranchers loath to sell to developers. But with commodity (mainly, beef) values outpaced by rising costs of ranching and booming real-estate values, tough choices are being made. Conservation Northwest is working with partners—including Trust for Public Land, Okanogan Valley Land Council, The Nature Conservancy, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife—to give ranchers better choices, including marketing key ranches to interested buyers who want to keep the land in open space and wildlife habitat. Many ranchers, if having to sell, prefer to see the land they love kept whole rather than diced up into smaller, 5 to 20 acre, ranchettes.

For ranchers who want to remain on the land, we're helping with conservation easements. Such easements can be donated, with tax benefits, to entities such as the Okanogan Valley Land Council. The Department of Fish and Wildlife is also sometimes able to purchase easements from ranchers for a substantial portion of the total value of the property. Our coalition is helping the state find the capital to make these purchases.

A conservation easement is a restriction placed on a piece of property that is either voluntarily donated or sold by the landowner and constitutes a legally binding agreement to protect associated resources in perpetuity while the land remains in private hands.

Presently the department is seeking both a $5 million federal grant and $5.5 million in matching funds from the state legislature. Conservation Northwest actively supports these requests, which would allow the agency to acquire (and retire) development rights on more than 10,000 acres. That would be a pretty good start on a project that will take several years and tens of millions of dollars to keep growth and development from destroying the values that make the Inland Northwest so great.