Gifford Pinchot National Forest Demonstration Project

At the heart of the Central Cascades lies the 1.3 million acre Gifford Pinchot National Forest (GPNF), nestled in volcano country-between Mount Rainer, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams. Pristine pockets of ancient forest stretch between and through the GPNF’s seven wilderness areas and vast roadless areas, like the Dark Divide and the Big Lava Beds.  The GPNF is crucial to habitat connectivity and species migration across the spine of the Cascades and is home to 51 documented or suspected threatened, endangered, or sensitive plant species (such as pale blue-eyed grass), 24 threatened, endangered, or sensitive animal species, and a host of rare and common wildlife ranging from jumping slugs and ensatina salamanders to coyotes, deer, songbirds, and hawks, and the elusive wolverine.  These attributes make the GPNF the ideal location to demonstrate that restored Northwest ecosystems and thriving wildlife populations can be good for the land, the land management agencies, and our communities.

The Gifford Pinchot National Forest is the ideal location to demonstrate that restored Northwest ecosystems and thriving wildlife populations can be good for the land, the land management agencies, and our communities.

To build a strong foundation for this work, the Gifford Pinchot Task Force created a restoration plan (Restoring Volcano Country) for the GPNF that prioritizes watersheds for key restoration activities like road removal to protect community water supplies and restore fish and wildlife habitat, control of invasive plants to protect natural habitats, and thinning to restore diversity to forests that were clear-cut in the last couple of generations. For example, in 2010 we removed eight miles of road to expand the roadless area around the Spencer Butte just east of Mount St. Helens to restore habitat for threatened fish and for wildlife species. We also completed planning to remove 22 miles of roads and thin 1500 acres of forest. The project will restore connectivity between fragmented habitats across two subwatersheds just south of Mount Rainier.