Dreams on the River of Restoration

The conservation dreams about the Chehalis River in southwestern Washington state continue to grow bigger with more and more groups and organizations supporting preservation and restoration projects in the river's basin.

At first, conservation projects on the river popped up piece by piece. For instance, I previously blogged about the plan by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to purchase the Davis Creek Addition, which sits along a portion of the Chehalis in eastern Grays Harbor County. Then, a larger conservation framework began to develop in the form of initiatives like Conservation Northwest's Cascades to the Olympics program.

Another part of the framework is taking shape under the restoration program orchestrated by Pacific Northwest conservation group Forterra. By specifically focusing on the Chehalis River Basin, Forterra is bringing the river to the forefront of Washington's conservation efforts. A recent announcement of the organization's purchase of a 23-acre property along the Satsop River, a tributary of the Chehalis, demonstrates the far-reaching nature of the dreams to protect and restore the latter river. What these conservation groups are doing goes well beyond the banks of the Chehalis, linking the river to mountains and other streams in the watershed.

Although these different projects and programs come from various organizations and have some unique objectives, they also have the potential to combine for a massive and profound conservation effort. Each piece helps, and the gathering momentum points toward a lot more possibilities in the future. It's the kind of scale on which all dreams of conservation must be executed.

Perhaps the best part of this work is that it's no longer just a dream. The reality is beginning to match the visionary ideal.