MISSOULA, Mont. Several partners including the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation have completed a 2,675-acre first phase of a three-year project to protect wildlife habitat and public access in the Cascade Mountains near the Naches River in Washington.

 

By 2011, the entire project will transfer more than 10,000 acres in Kittitas County from Plum Creek Timber Co. to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).

 

First-phase partners included The Nature Conservancy, Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, WDFW and RMEF. A broad coalition, including the Kittitas County Commissioners, Yakama Nation, U.S. Forest Service and Washington Department of Natural Resources, supported the project.

 

We’re proud to be a part of this unique partnership that is generating permanent benefits for wildlife and sportsmen. The first phase of this project has moved a significant piece of critical elk range and calving grounds into public ownership, said David Allen, president and CEO of the Elk Foundation.

 

Habitat includes alpine areas home to mountain goats, shrub-steppe and basalt cliffs for elk, mule deer and bighorn sheep, and streams used by bull, cutthroat and rainbow trout as well as salmon. The diverse landscape hosts a wide variety of other species including several classified as sensitive or threatened.

 

The area, called Rock Creek, also is a popular recreation and scenic destination.

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