Conservation Note for February

Greater Hells Canyon Council

Every Trails Club member has had the good fortune to hike or camp or climb or swim/raft/canoe/kayak in one of the most beautiful places on Earth, the Pacific Northwest. Many of the places we enjoy remain vulnerable, or have newly become vulnerable. Each month we will have a note featuring one or two organizations working to protect our natural places, and ways to support them, or a note about conservation actions in one of these special places. We hope every Trails Club member will choose to participate in some conservation effort or activity that matches your time available and your interests. As climate change progresses, it is ever more urgent to “Love it (and fight to protect it) or Lose it!”

This month’s featured organization is the Greater Hell’s Canyon Council (GHCC.) This organization was born out of the 1960s fight to prevent a 670 ft dam from being built on the Snake River in Hell’s Canyon. The nine year battle was eventually won in the Supreme Court, and led to the establishment of the Hell’s Canyon National Recreation Area, and perhaps more importantly, broke the back of the movement to harness the power of the wild rivers of the PNW with dams, rather than protect them for their beauty, wildlife, and environmental value.

GHCC continues to watch over 400 million acres in NE Oregon, extending into Washington and Idaho, from Oregon’s Elkhorn Mountains to Idaho’s Seven Devils, from the Blue Mountains to the Wallowas, including Hell’s Canyon and the Snake River. This encompasses Wallowa Lake, LeGore Lake, Eagle Cap Wilderness, multiple mountain peaks higher than 9,000 ft, and the largest area of continuous alpine and subalpine terrain in Oregon. This area has some of the greatest geologic diversity and biologic
diversity in our state.

One of GHCC’s current focuses is their Wild Connections initiative, which focuses on the lands and waters between the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness and Hells Canyon. GHCC works with scientist partners to identify the most crucial corridors for wildlife movement and migration—both at present and in the face of climate change. They are listening to the concerns and priorities of collaborators old and new, including landowners, BLM, National Forest Service, Tribes and The Nature Conservancy, to put together an overall conservation
strategy, and provide for this crucial wildlife corridor.

What you can do to support GHCC:
First and foremost – just get out there and visit the region! As we see more and more of our beloved Cascade Range become crowded with outdoor enthusiasts, remember that we have another half of the state that has much less recreational usage. Appreciating the natural features of this region brings an appreciation for what we all have out here, and that in turn brings a sense that we need to protect it.

You can also:

• Report any damages you see in public lands – remember, 4 million acres is a huge area to protect, and they depend upon the eyes and ears of many to cover it for them. https://www.hellscanyon.org/report-damages
• Provide comment on issues that require an organized eco-defense effort – they provide a summary here: https://www.hellscanyon.org/what-we-do
• Support their new Wild Connections campaign.
• Join them! https://www.hellscanyon.org/join

Wishing you all a beautiful winter season, with much snow to replenish Oregon’s waters after our long drought! Do not forget you have the special opportunity to sponsor one or more trees for the reforestation of our own beloved Nesika property. You can make a donation for one or more seedlings for our March planting through Trees for Nesika.

For the love of our forests, streams, rivers, and wetlands,
Your Conservation Committee