It’s a proven, successful equation: vision plus work plus innovation plus patience equals more public access. That equation holds true in southwest Washington.
From 2010 to 2020, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation worked alongside PacificCorp, an electric utility company, to complete four different land conservation and access projects that protected and opened public access to 5,110 acres between Mount St. Helens and Swift Reservoir.
Two separate projects by the longtime partners, one in 2009 and the other 2010, conserved another 542 acres near the Yale and Merwin Reservoirs.
The properties provide crucial habitat for elk, blacktail deer, mountain lions, black bears and other bird and animal species.
Specifically, they serve as elk winter range, plus a migration corridor to higher elevation summer range on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and the Mount St. Helens Volcanic National Monument.
According to PacifiCorp, RMEF was instrumental in making it happen by providing innovative strategies to overcome challenges.
The result is a 15,000-acre swath of fully accessible land that was originally a confusing and inaccessible checkerboard ownership pattern of alternating private and public land.
Today, it is all open to non-motorized public access including hunting and other recreation.
ONE SQUARE MILE A DAY. OVER 10 MILLION ACRES BY 2030.
At RMEF, we’re not just conserving what’s here today, we’re creating what’s possible for tomorrow. That means more access, healthier habitats and a stronger future for all big game.
Join the movement at RMEF.ORG
