Columbia Highlands: Exploring Washington's Last Frontier

Columbia Highlands is a portrait of this-little known corner of the American West. It reveals its function as an important wildlife bridge between the Rockies and the Cascades for animals--including wolves, bears, moose, and lynx--who must roam to survive. It reveals the surprising coalition of people--hunters, hikers, loggers, business owners, Native people, and more--united in their love of the land and working to protect and restore it. Theirs is a new kind of conservation plan, one that preserves the health of the ecosystem while sustaining a viable rural economy and lifestyle. The Columbia Highlands Initiative calls for a long-term plan for restoration, conservation, sustainable forestry, and for designating some of the first new wilderness areas in the state since 1984.