Preserving the Forests and Rivers of the Upper Yakima River Basin
If our forests, rivers, wildlife and fish could talk, what would they say? Our conservation and habitat restoration work have given us a picture of what that might be. We give their important stories a platform through our blog and videos. We also share stories about the work we are doing to ensure critical habitat in Kittitas County remains accessible and healthy for wildlife, fish, and people.
Blog Posts
The Conservation of Eagle Bend
Many people don't realize that conserving land requires a lot of work and sometimes, a lot of time. This was true for the Eagle Bend Property, which took over 5 years to complete. But like all of our conservation projects, the results were worth the wait.
Out With The Old, and In With The… Nothing?
Fish passage barrier is anything that inhibits fish, from adults to small fry, from moving up or down stream. As you can imagine, they come in all shapes in sizes. On this project, the barrier came in the shape of a ford. Working with our partners, we were able
Gold Creek Pond Restoration FAQ
Gold Creek once was home to a thriving population of bull trout and salmon. However, today salmon no longer live here and bull trout numbers are rapidly dwindling. The past 5 years we and our partners have collected data in Gold Creek Valley to understand the causes of bull
Gold Creek Pond: Changing the Dynamics of a Watershed
We're sure you are familiar with flying drones, but have you heard of a floating drone? As part of the Gold Creek Restoration Project we used a boat drone to gather the floor topography (bathymetry) of Gold Creek Pond. Why do we need to know that? We will be using
River Detectives: Trying to Solve the Mysteries of Kachess
We spent some days in October in the field with Inter-Fluve to collect information on the upper Kachess River. Our staff conducted survey work, gathered GPS points, took flow measurements, conducted gravel counts and collected stream bed samples. We also gathered LiDAR data that will be used in conjunction
Tis the Season for Salmon Spawning!
Starting in September, a stroll across Cooper Bridge off Highway 903 will reveal lots of spawning sockeye salmon. These fish, which used to run up to the Cle Elum River every year in the tens of thousands have only recently returned to these waters. Prior to 2009, they had been