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Forests

PROTECTING FORESTS IS at THE HEART OF OUR WORK

We work with partners and communities to maintain and strengthen existing environmental protections and oppose harmful federal legislation.

We conserve mature forests and the healthy aquatic habitats within them by monitoring timber sale proposals, participating in forest collaborative groups, and working with local stakeholders to advance sustainable, science-based forest management strategies.

We bring people together to better understand and speak for the forests.

We know these forests and the threats they face

Cascade Forest Conservancy has been defending, restoring, and advocating for the forests of the southern Washington Cascades for more than 35 years. We know and care for this landscape and utilize the latest science in our work to protect and restore it.

CFC works to influence, improve, and sometimes stop proposed timber sales and other projects that would negatively impact species and habitats in our region.

We are working to ensure that the current and future management of our forest is informed by climate science, both to slow ongoing climate change and to build resilient ecosystems.

With the help of supporters, volunteers, and partner scientists, CFC works to better understand and restore our forests while continuing to protect them.

Our approach to sustainable forest management

A collaborative approach to sustainable forest management

We believe in sustainable forest management that supports thriving, diverse forests and healthy human communities.

Cascade Forest Conservancy is a founding member of both the Pinchot Partners and the South Gifford Pinchot Collaborative. These groups are made up of various stakeholders, including environmental organizations, timber companies, outdoor recreation groups, and community leaders.

Both collaboratives meet with the U.S. Forest Service regularly to discuss proposed projects like timber sales. Pinchot Partners focus on projects in the Cowlitz Valley Ranger District, while the South Gifford Pinchot Collaborative’s focus is the Mount Adams Ranger District.

By working within the collaboratives, we voice concerns and identify solutions early in the planning stages of forestry projects, which saves time, energy, and resources and allows us to help shape the projects that are later released to the public.

Advocating for management strategies informed by climate change​

Local and global concerns related to climate change are a growing focus of sustainable forest management strategies. Healthy and biodiverse forest systems capture and sequester significant amounts of carbon. We study the effects of proposed timber sales and other actions using the latest climate science and raise the alarm when actions threaten to accelerate the ongoing global crisis.

At the local level, CFC has been studying and analyzing the effects of climate change here in southwest Washington. In 2017, we published the Wildlife and Climate Resilience Guidebook outlining strategies and priorities for fostering climate resilience in the southern Washington Cascades. Ancient forests, riparian corridors, and connectivity among critical habitats will all become increasingly important to many forest species in the years to come. We work to ensure that timber sales are in alignment with climate resilience priorities for the region.

Featured forest projects

Yellowjacket Timber Sale

CFC is closely monitoring plans for the Yellowjacket timber sale. We support some aspects of this plan, like instream restoration, forest road decommissioning, and others. However, we are concerned about high amounts of aggressive regeneration harvests in 100-year old, naturally-regenerated stands, harvests near streams and rivers in areas within riparian reserves, and cutting in areas known to be habitat for rare or endangered species like the northern spotted owl and fisher.



Improving forest management on state and private lands

CFC helped end an era of old-growth clearcuts and unsustainable logging practices in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Now, to become more resilient to the impacts of climate change, the management of state and privately managed forests in southwest Washington also needs to improve dramatically. We work to ensure timber projects in southwest Washington state and privately managed forests do not involve the logging of old forests, harvests near rivers and streams, or cutting on steep, erosion-prone slopes.

Monitoring huckleberry production in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest

CFC is helping the Forest Service monitor the impacts, successes, and needed modifications to ongoing efforts to increase the distribution and growth of huckleberries in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. You can read our report covering the first three years of the study below.







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

HISTORIC NEW PROTECTIONS FOR THE GREEN RIVER

On December 18, the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) announced new rules designating portions of three waterways, the Cascade River, Napeequa River, and Skamania County’s Green River, as Outstanding Resource Waters (ORWs). The new designations are the end result of a multi-year effort by several organizations, including Cascade Forest Conservancy, to safeguard some of Washington’s...

SALMON ARE ALREADY BENEFITING FROM HABITAT ENHANCEMENT AT STUMP CREEK

After building instream structures in a dry creek bed this past summer, we headed back to Stump Creek in early November to see how the structures faired following the first bout of rain. As we headed down to the project site, we saw new channels that had formed, sediment had built up behind structures, and...

SPEAK UP FOR MATURE FORESTS: COMMENT ON PLANS FOR THE YELLOWJACKET TIMBER SALE

The Forest Service released a Revised Draft Environmental Assessment (Revised EA) for the Yellowjacket planning area on Oct. 31st, 2023. We had raised concerns about aggressive timber treatments in mature forest stands, among other issues. The Revised EA incorporated some of our recommendations but failed to address all of them. The Revised EA is an...