YAKIMA – A project to preserve thousands of acres in the Tieton River Canyon on the east slope of the Cascades is complete.
The Nature Conservancy, along with state and federal agencies, worked for four years to bring 20,000 acres into public ownership and protect it from development.
The nonprofit group transferred its final parcel in the area to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife last week. The area 20 miles northwest of Yakima includes nearly eight miles of the Tieton River and the adjacent uplands.
“This is a really good thing, ensuring the long-term survival of a diverse ecosystem,” said Betsy Bloomfield, the Nature Conservancy’s south-central Washington program manager.
The land had been a checkerboard of public and private ownership before the conservancy acquired land from the Plum Creek Timber Co. It will now be part of the state’s Oak Creek Wildlife area.
As the conservancy bought up land over the past four years, it transferred it to public control. The group will recover its cost of $7.5 million through donations but isn’t making a profit.
Instead, the conservation group also is donating $400,000 to the Yakima Valley Community Foundation to use for grants to complete environmental projects in the area.
Foundation president John Colgan said the donation is one of the largest in its two-year history and the first to focus on the environment.
“This brings in more local people to be involved in preservation,” Bloomfield said.
The Tieton River Canyon has a variety of habitats and includes migration corridors for deer, elk and bighorn sheep. It also provides habitat for at least 15 species on the state’s endangered species list and four on the federal list, including spotted owls, steelhead and bull trout.
“This is a dream come true,” said Ken Bevis, a habitat biologist with the Department of Fish and Wildlife. “This is the best thing I’ve worked on in my whole career.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
