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introducing the green river valley alliance
Mount St. Helens: No place for a mine
The Green River Valley lies at the doorstep of Mount St. Helens (Lawetlat’la). It is no place for a mine. Cascade Forest Conservancy has been fighting proposals to construct a dangerous open-pit mine in this unique corner of the Cascades for more than 15 years.
A mine could devastate an area important to many Tribes, local communities, and people who value outdoor recreation. The mine would replace a place loved by hunters, anglers, hikers, cyclists, backcountry horseback riders, and others, with a permanent scar on the landscape.
Impacts from the mine would threaten forest health, local biodiversity, fish populations, and even the human communities living near the Green, North Fork Toutle, and Cowlitz Rivers.
We have successfully challenged prospecting permits multiple times in Federal court, but after each victory, the mining corporation has tried again.
We won’t be able to hold them off in court forever. That is why CFC founded the Green River Valley Alliance campaign–a new coalition working towards a solution that can end the threat of a mine here once and for all. Join us today!
PROTECTING THE MOUNT ST. HELENS PUMICE PLAIN
Cascade Forest Conservancy is involved in a lawsuit to protect the the Pumice Plain created in the aftermath of the famous 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens (Lawetlat’la). Essentially baked clean by a blanket of superheated rock and ash, the Pumice Plain provides scientists and researchers an unprecedented chance to study ecosystem formation after a cataclysmic event. Congress protected this landscape and the work being done by designating the area a Class I Research Area within the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. Life here is bouncing back far faster than expected, and important discoveries are still being made.
For 40 years, the Pumice Plain has remained a pristine roadless area. In addition to its value as a research site, it provides visitors from around the world a unique opportunity to see the power of a Cascade volcano and the stubborn resilience of life up close.
This place and the scientific opportunity it holds are now being imperiled by a US Forest Service plan to build a road through the heart of this landscape. The plan is a threat to research, fragile habitats, newly forming watersheds, and the public’s right to this place for themselves.
The Instream Wood Bank Network
A combination of factors like streamside logging have left many waterways unnaturally free of fallen logs and woody debris. Many species, including salmon, trout, and others, need the deep cool pools and habitat diversity downed wood in waterways create.
The Instream Wood Bank Network was designed to address two challenges faced by restoration professionals throughout the West; the lack of wood and streams and the difficulty of sourcing the wood needed for restoration efforts. The network sources non-salable wood, then employs local contractors to move wood to a series of wood banks that are set up across the region. These banks then provide logs to restoration groups throughout southwest Washington.
The network also advances restoration in new areas by helping to prioritize, design, and coordinate the installation of wood structures in critical habitat areas.
The Climate Resilience Guidebook
In 2017, we published the Climate Resilience Guidebook—a detailed look at the ways climate change is likely to impact the unique species, watersheds, and ecosystems of the southern Washington Cascades at the local level. The guidebook also suggests location-specific strategies and restoration priorities designed to preserve biodiversity and rebuild ecosystems to ensure our region is made as resilient as possible to the accelerating impacts of climate change.
An updated and expanded version of the Climate Resilience Guidebook will be released in 2022.
SPEAK UP FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Since 1985, Cascade Forest Conservancy has been your voice speaking for the areas in and around the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in southwest Washington. Join the 12,000 other members who support Cascade Forest Conservancy and are making a difference now.
News & updates
Halfway through a day of collecting seeds from native plant species from forests north of Trout Lake, volunteers and CFC staff enjoyed a break with a unique view. Pahto (Mt. Adams) towered above an expanse of charred snags arranged among a green carpet of wildflowers, shrubs, berries, and new saplings flourishing in the abundant sunlight....
At the beginning of June, CFC hosted a virtual training session to teach volunteers how to survey for pika in the talus slope areas of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Pika survey efforts have been going on for years in the Columbia Gorge, Mt. Rainier, and other locations within the Cascades, but there’s a gap...
Instead of lots of statistics and charts, this year’s annual report is a collection of narratives told by our staff about just a few of the advocacy, conservation, and restoration successes of last year. Together, these stories demonstrate how CFC continued to achieve positive impacts for the forests, rivers, wildlife, and communities throughout the southern...
It’s been a busy season for the Instream Wood Bank Network. We have a lot of plans in the works and a few big movements of wood now under our belt. THE INSTREAM WOOD BANK NETWORK Across the Pacific Northwest, many fish populations are struggling due to compounding challenges, including degraded habitats lacking...
Two weeks ago, I participated in my first project in the field with CFC staff and volunteers in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Beavers were previously introduced to specific sites, and our goal was to revisit these locations to identify any signs of beaver habitation and survival. As a native southside Chicagoan who has never...
At the end of June, CFC staff and volunteers visited two South Fork Toutle River tributaries to survey for the presence or absence of lamprey–an ancient and relatively understudied keystone species. Excellent reporting in an article by Brian Oaster, an award-winning journalist, staff writer at High Country News, and member of the Choctaw Nation, explains...