Wenatchee-Okanogan Forest Plan Revision

Responsible protection for eastside forests

The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest is revising its forest plan to guide management of millions of acres of forest land in the Washington Cascades. There are steps in this process open to the public. And during the plan revision, Conservation Northwest has been part of a collaborative effort hosted by the Forest Service through the Provincial Advisory Committee (PAC). The group has spent a year identifying common ground and addressing the tough issues facing our eastside Washington national forests.

In our comments, we've encouraged the Forest Service to restore our dry forests and make them more resilient to fires, disturbances, and climate change as the agency lays out for the forest over the next 15 years.

Together with other conservation groups as part of the Environmental Task Force, Conservation Northwest has also been hard at work statewide, identifying common themes, fielding new ideas, and working collaboratively to find solutions to important issues about how the national forests of Washington's central Cascades will be managed for the coming two decades. The Q&A below speaks to our approach in the planning process.

Q.  During the forest plan revision process I hear Conservation Northwest is focusing wilderness recommendation attention on the eastern Okanogan – what approach are you taking?
A.  Conservation Northwest has worked for years to protect the Wenatchee-Okanogan National Forest and will continue this effort through the forest planning process. We’ve conducted an analysis of threats to roadless areas and advocating for the full protection of inventoried roadless areas. For wilderness recommendations, we will be focusing our attention on the high priority and biologically diverse roadless lands in the eastern Okanogan that lie outside of current Northwest Forest Plan coverage. Within our role on the PAC, we will examine the suitability of all roadless areas across the forest for wilderness but will maintain our advocacy role for wilderness recommendations focused on the eastern Okanogan area.

Q.  With that approach, what areas are you recommending for wilderness in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest?
A.  During forest plan revision the Forest Service must review and make recommendations (or not) for future wilderness. Only inventoried roadless areas are eligible. Conservation Northwest is lobbying the Forest Service to recommend for wilderness IRAs in the eastern Okanogan including Clackamas, Jackson Creek, Mount Bonaparte, and Bodie Mountain.

• Clackamas Mountain Roadless Area, located six miles northwest of the city of Republic on both the Colville and Okanogan national forests, provides some of the last unroaded wildlife habitat in this portion of the Okanogan National Forest. While roads have fragmented much of the surrounding forest, the Clackamas Mountain roadless area provides excellent habitat for wildlife common to the area, including important winter range for both white tail and mule deer, and is also reported to be home for the State listed great gray owl.  The area was considered for Wilderness designation during discussion of the 1984 Washington State Wilderness Bill, but was not protected.  The area’s rugged, solitary terrain, critical wildlife habitat values and proximity to the city of Republic justify wilderness protection for this wild, roadless forest.
• Jackson Creek Roadless Area straddles the Canadian Border and the Colville and Okanogan National Forests. The Jackson Creek proposed wilderness contains centuries-old forests of western larch, Douglas fir, and western red cedar. Like much of the Kettle River Range, Jackson Creek represents an ecological system that is not well represented in the National Wilderness Preservation System.  The area is a mixing zone for warmer, drier interior and cooler, wetter coastal forest types. As such, Douglas fir is a predominate species.  The forests throughout the proposed wilderness are open, park-like, and easily negotiated cross-country on foot. There is one trail in the area that follows Jackson Creek. Unique features of the area are its open, park-like forests; open, grassy southern slopes; and deeply incised and rocky northern slopes and creek bottoms.
• Mount Bonaparte Roadless Area is located north of SR 20 and northwest of Wauconda Pass and approximately 15 miles east of Tonasket. Located entirely within the eastern Okanogan National Forest, its lone 7,257 foot summit is the highest in the Okanogan Highlands. For Canada lynx, Mount Bonaparte provides good breeding, rearing, forage, denning, and travel habitats (and was included in the Lynx Conservation Area Status Report). The mountain is known as a breeding hotspot for the great gray owl, listed as a species of concern in Washington State. It also provides important habitat for northern goshawk, interior songbirds, and important migratory habitat for a variety of raptors. The Bonaparte area was identified as having a high potential for use as dispersion habitat for several focal wildlife species, according to a research study by the Pacific Northwest Research Station. A large area of the western and northern flanks of the mountain are covered by old-growth forest, in particular western larch. The largest western larch in Washington is located just outside this inventoried roadless area. Mount Bonaparte has several beautiful recreation trails including two to the historic fire lookout located at its summit.
• Bodie Mountain Roadless Area, located northeast of the city of Tonasket in the northeast and northwest portions of the Okanogan and Colville National Forests, provides important wildlife habitat, including critical winter range for white-tail and mule deer. Hundreds of acres of mixed conifer old-growth in the area also provide some of the regions last productive habitat for old-growth dependent species.  The Bodie Mountain Roadless Area is also an important water source to local residents for domestic, irrigation, and stock water uses. The area contains several intermittent and perennial streams that drain directly into Toroda Creek, from which many local residents draw their water. Wilderness designation in the Bodie Mountain Roadless Area will help maintain the high quality of pure, clean water flowing from the area by limiting roadbuilding and logging projects that may affect streambeds and downstream water quality.

Q.  What about other inventoried roadless areas in the Okanogan National Forest – why is Conservation Northwest supporting recommended wilderness only for inventoried roadless areas in the eastern part of the forest?
A.  We recognize that other roadless areas within the national forest may be suitable for wilderness recommendation, and will be involved reviewing these areas through the collaborative Forest Planning process.  We support protection of all inventoried roadless areas across the forest by managing them to retain their roadless character under the regulations of the 2001 Clinton Roadless Conservation Rule. We are focusing our wilderness recommendations on lands outside of the area already managed under the Northwest Forest Plan, as we see the risks greater in this area due to a lack of old growth and riparian reserves, protective guidelines, and scientific planning. Roadless areas in the eastern part of the forest, though not well known outside the immediate area, are unique, ecologically diverse, fragmented and threatened by unsustainable logging. Rapidly increasing use of off-road motorized vehicles threaten the future of these areas. These wild forests of ponderosa pine, fir, red cedar, western larch, spruce, and alpine fir connect the Rocky and Cascades Mountains providing unique wildlife habitat important to the health of lynx, grizzly bear, wolverine, and gray wolf.

Q.  What can I do to help protect the eastern Okanogan roadless areas?
A.  In addition to other comments you send to the Forest Service, ask that all inventoried roadless areas are protected and that Clackamas, Bodie, Mt. Bonaparte, and Jackson Creek inventoried roadless areas be assigned "recommended wilderness" status in the revised Okanogan National Forest plan. Personalize your comments to the Forest Service by stating why these wild areas are rare jewels that should be protected and why they are important to your family.