Protecting key ranches and recovering wildlife

To connect lands important to both people and wildlife between the Cascades and the Rockies, Conservation Northwest works to connect not only public lands, but private lands as well.

Keeping key ranches in open space is important, not just to conserve wildlife like lynx and wolves between the Cascades to Rockies, but also to sustain the heritage and unique lifestyle of the Okanogan and Columbia Highlands. All over the West, America is losing its working farms and ranches to global price competition and real estate development. Sustaining ranches maintains rural character, wildlife habitat, and quality local farms and food.

In the Columbia Highlands, Conservation Northwest is raising private capital and leveraging public funds working to keep several ranches from falling to mining and/or development, including the Dawson and Gotham properties.

The Gotham Ranch

Bryan and Deb Gotham own 2,200 ranch and tree farm in the western foothills of the Kettle River Range, east of Republic. Scientific modeling shows the Gotham Ranch to be critical to wildlife movement between the Cascades and Rockies. Sure enough, lynx and wolverine have been seen in the area. While the Gotham’s dream is to preserve the ranch, business realities force them to consider mineral and real estate options.

In late 2011, Conservation Northwest purchased a conservation easement on 303 acres of the Gotham property. This transaction permanently dedicates these acres to open space, agriculture, and wildlife habitat. It will forever prevent residential development and extraction of minerals from a vein that underlies the property. The purchase included an option for Conservation Northwest to later acquire a conservation easement on another 200 acres.

The easement was purchased entirely with private dollars raised by the non-profit wildlife conservation organization Conservation Northwest, and will soon be reassigned to the Okanogan Land Trust, based in Tonasket.

Conservation Northwest and Okanogan Land Trust are also partnering with the Gothams on an application to the Forest Legacy Program administered by the state Dept. of Natural Resources. The application, recently judged in the top three in the state, has now moved forward to compete nationally for federal funds. If successful, this program would put the balance of the Gotham’s 2,200 property under conservation easement.

The Gothams are superlative stewards and publicly support designation of the San Poil Wilderness Area, where they lease grazing rights. Bryan and Deb, along with the company that purchases and market their beef, Ameristar Meats, have stated that wilderness not only wouldn’t harm their operation, but is actually a marketing opportunity to increase their profit for appealing to environmentally conscious consumers.

The Dawson Ranch

John and Melva Dawson own 504 acres north of Colville and lease substantial additional pasture on both private and public lands, including the Abercrombie-Hooknose Roadless Area, which Conservation Northwest has proposed for wilderness designation and which the Smackout wolf pack, one of just five packs in Washington, is known to roam.

When the Dawsons found themselves at risk of bank foreclosure, Conservation Northwest reached out to help them retire their loans through revenue achieved by actualizing their dream of committing their ranch to a conservation easement. That easement was finalized in August 2011 and is held by the Inland Northwest Land Trust, which purchased it using funds raised by Conservation Northwest and partially matched by the Farm and Ranch Protection Program, administered by the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service.

We hope to achieve a similar outcome for Jeff Dawson, their son who lives just down the road.

Capital goal

To accomplish all the work described above, Conservation Northwest seeks to raise $1.25 million by the end of 2012. We already have $550,000 pledged. Note that these funds go far, as they leverage public dollars from the Farm and Ranch Protection Program and hopefully Forest Legacy Program. And this capital work is also multiplied many fold in impact by our work through the Northeast Washington Forestry Coalition to gain wilderness, forest restoration, and overall balance on federal lands in the Columbia Highlands.

Please contact Paul Bannick for more information, 206-675-9747 x207.

It all adds up to safe passage for wildlife between the Cascades and Rockies.