Funding will protect 100+ local jobs and vital habitat for steelhead and bull trout
Sens. Cantwell and Murray sent letters to U.S. Forest Service Chief in support of project
WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) announced that the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) will receive $15.3 million for the Cle Elum Ridge Large Landscape project from the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program.
“With this funding, we’re protecting the stunning forest at Cle Elum Ridge and ensuring these lands they can be enjoyed by the public in Washington state for decades to come,” said Sen. Murray. “Not only will this project boost recreation opportunities and local economies throughout Kittitas County, but it will preserve precious fish and wildlife habitats, improve community wildfire resilience, and safeguard the Yakima River Basin. This is the culmination of so much hard work and it’s gratifying to see it becoming a reality with money from the Inflation Reduction Act we worked so hard to pass in the Senate.”
“This investment completes the missing link in a chain of protected land at the irreplaceable headwaters of the Yakima River,” said Sen. Cantwell. “Securing this 9,700 acres of working forest land on the Cle Elum Ridge is a win-win-win: It will help conserve critical steelhead and bull trout, guard public access to over 40 miles of recreational trails, and protect forest jobs.”
Both Senators Murray and Cantwell submitted letters of support to U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore in support of the project.
This funding will allow WDNR to acquire 9,700 acres of forest land adjacent to the Teanaway Community Forest, preventing housing or resort development on the Cle Elum Ridge. The acquired lands are the last piece in a chain of lands to be protected. The protection of the forest lands is part of the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan, a water resource management plan for the Yakima River Basin. The Ridge and its habitat are important to protecting endangered gray wolf and threatened steelhead and bull trout. In addition, the land acquisition will include over 40 miles of trails benefiting the Kittitas tourism economy and ensure the Ridge will continue to be sustainably managed as working forest lands, which will allow the local timber industry to operate and provide over 100 good-paying jobs.
Earlier this year, Sens. Murray and Cantwell announced $19 million total for the Yakima River Watershed Project and the Upper Wenatchee Watershed Community Lands Plan, two key Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) projects included in the final Department of the Interior funding bill for Fiscal Year 2024.
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