Why Bears in the North Cascades?

January 25 
Join us on for a discussion about grizzly bears and the EIS process to potentially return these majestic animals to our own North Cascades Ecosystem.  Presentation is with Joe Scott of Conservation Northwest, and he will be joined by Scott Fitkin WDFW Biologist to answer additional questions.  

This Thursday, 5:30pm homemade soup and bread at the North Cascades Basecamp lodge, 6:00 presentation in the Classroom. Cost: $7/person.  255 Lost River Rd, Mazama.  509/996-2334.  info@northcascadesbasecamp.com

Thursday Community Soup and Presentation Series

Its that time of the year again!  We are looking forward to another great season of natural history lectures and good soup and company at the North Cascades Basecamp this winter!  Please join us for the following:

Jan 14,  Beaver Project- 10 Year Update, with Kent Woodruff, USFS. 

Jan 21,  Campfire, Song and Drum Circle, Celeste and Kip Roberts.

Jan 28, Why Grizzly Bears in the North Cascades, Joe Scott, Conservation Northwest. 

Feb 4,  Loons of Eastern Washington, Jeff Heinlen, WDFW. 

Feb 11, Wolf Predation in Livestock Occupied Areas of Washington         State, Gabe Spence, WSU.  

Details:  Each of these Thursdays at 5:30pm we'll be serving homemade soup and bread at the lodge.  At 6:00pm will begin our natural history presentation in the Ecology Center Classroom.  Call or email with any questions.

255 Lost River Rd, Mazama.  509-996-2334. Cost: $7/person.  

Restoring alpine vegetation in the Cascade mountains

 We kicked off a Treasured Landscapes Volunteer Vacation this summer with citizen scientists, National Forest Foundation's  (NFF) Kathleen Dowd-Gaily, the North Cascades Basecamp's Bondi family, and Therese Ohlson (retired USFS botanist) as they hiked the Maple Pass Loop to enjoy the wildflower display and learn about alpine ecology and restoration as part of a week long program to explore areas that are a part of the NFF’s Treasured Landscapes, Unforgettable Experiences conservation campaign.

The Maple Pass Loop is a great example of a trail being over-loved in our eastern Cascades mountains.  The views are incredible of Black Peak, Cutthroat Pass, Golden Horn to the north, and Glacier Peak to the south.  It is a strenuous but satisfying 8 mile round trip loop.  This beloved trail has earned its popularity with over 10,000 visitors /year (explained T. Ohlson), and it is written up in many of our North Cascades hiking guide books.  However its abraided trails through the mountain heather, the bare soil on every potential overlook, and the lack of vegetation at Maple Pass show its high volume use.

The US Forest Service and NFF are working to change over-loved trail with restoration of the alpine plant communities.  The Treasured Landscapes Initiative is collaborating its efforts with citizen science volunteers and forest service employees to designate a sound user path along the trail, plant and restore native plants outside the newly designated paths, and gently block off restored areas for future generations to enjoy.   The outcome will be incredible if folks respect the efforts and take charge of their actions on this and other trails above treeline.  A grand hope is that if this restoration effort is successful, it will lead to a greater understanding of how to love and protect our alpine trail systems.

If you'd like to be part of this effort, please contact Kathleen Dowd-Gailey by email at kdowdgailey@nationalforests.org or phone at 206/832-8280.  Or let us know if you'd like to partake in the project as part of a North Cascades Basecamp citizen science effort and we can help organize a summer project for 2015. 

Pygmy Rabbit Recovery in Washington

A group of us from the Pateros-Methow Valley area headed to Sagebrush Flats
near Ephrata, WA to help WDFW biologists with pygmy rabbit recovery efforts this week.  Arriving at 6:30am on the site, we spent the day rounding-up pygmy rabbit kits born just weeks to a month ago in their naturalized captive facility.  Those that had Columbia Basin genes were put back into the captive facility to become breeders for the upcoming seasons.  All others (given they were old enough and weighed enough) were released into the captive nursery for relocation into the wild in a week or so. 

Emmet, our 5 year old, was more than excited to help transport and release the kits into the nursery.  He also had the best views under the sagebrush, and therefore was a great spotter for finding the kits as they scrambled into their burrows (both artificial and natural).  We had a great day, even with the
wind, cooler temperatures, and dust blowing in every direction.  The rabbits in their burrows sure didn't seem to notice!

Habitat for the Birds

 

At the North Cascades Basecamp in Mazama, songbird habitat along the Audubon Certified trails to the Methow River is native and wild and the upper bench surrounding the lodge and cabin feel naturalized and cared for.  However we realize the parking areas and the grass/tree component of the facility was missing some critical habitat for birds, SHRUBS!   So, we gathered root balls of native plants from our own property, used our kids and wheelbarrows to haul plants up the hill, and marked out the areas of interest.   

With the help of Pacific Crest Outward Bound students this October, they volunteered 50 person hours to turn a gravel parking area into a bird sanctuary for years to come.  Together we made this happen by ridding the parking lot of gravel, tilling the site and digging holes in hard-panned earth, laying down compost, creating a walking path, and planting and mulching native shrubs throughout the area.  We are extremely pleased on how quickly a parking lot has transformed into a new native shrub area to welcome the birds back in the spring! 

Plants we collected and used for our restoration site include:  

* spirea * mountain ash * serviceberry * oregon grape * kinickinick * boxwood * ocean spray * chokecherry * hawthorne * woods rose * sitka rose * red-osier dogwood

Home for the Birds

The Methow Valley Community School 3-4th graders were at the Basecamp for their outdoor education day and helped hang songbird-sized birdhouses throughout the upper portion of the property.  We decided not to put any in the lower wetland and cedar grove areas because there is so much habitat already available to our cavity nesters. The true need was on the grounds near our infrastructure.  We took note to hang the boxes on trees where disturbance is minimal, they can be seen easily from the hot tub, cabin and lodge breakfast areas, and adjacent to our home/garden.  We placed them on the south to east side of the trees where the sunshine can warm their cold little bodies early in the mornings on these still so chilly nights.