Conservation Northwest

Our national forests need clear, responsible rules for motorized recreation.

Conservation Northwest opposes rescinding the Forest Service’s Travel Management Rule, which provides a sensible framework for deciding where motorized vehicles can travel on national forest roads, trails and other areas based on the premise that routes are closed unless designated as open.

Public lands should serve many people and many kinds of recreation, including motorized access. But it should be thoughtfully managed to protect wildlife habitat, water, soils, other recreation, and sensitive landscapes.

The photo here, from the Naches Ranger District on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, shows how unmanaged motorized use can damage meadows and other sensitive landscapes.

This current comment period is essentially the kickoff to a larger rulemaking and environmental review process. The Forest Service is asking for early public input now as it develops the proposal and Environmental Impact Statement. USDA says it expects to publish a proposed rule and draft EIS in spring 2027, when there will be another opportunity for public review and comment.

For now, you can tell the Forest Service that you support keeping the clear, science-based system for designating where motorized recreation is appropriate.

>>Submit comments by Wednesday Sept. 23rd through the federal rulemaking portal under docket FS-2026-0100: Comment at Regulations.gov

If you have visited our website recently, you probably noticed it looks a bit different. Conservation Northwest is excited to announce our new website! We may have a new look, but we are serving the same mission: to protect, connect, and restore wildlife and wildlands of the Northwest.

Our new website offers new features to keep you informed on all things Conservation Northwest. Be sure to check out our Action Center, News Hub, Charitable Giving Page, Volunteer Page, Advocacy Page and Events Calendar.

In addition to improving user experience, we have also taken measures to ensure a more sustainable website to reflect our work as conservation champions.

Visit conservationnw.org to see what's new!

This summer, wildfire followed Conservation Northwest's Dan Wilson from his own neighborhood to the Colville Reservation.

First, he evacuated his Spokane home as fire threatened his community. Not long after, he was helping deliver supplies to people facing the same fear and uncertainty elsewhere in Washington.

Those experiences left him reflecting on wildfire, conservation and what it really means to care for a place.

What does conservation look like when people are evacuating their homes? And what happens when community becomes part of the conservation work itself?

In Part 1 of our new three-part series, Dan reflects on fire, resilience, and what he learned from the people who showed up for one another.

Read his story:

Wildfires, Community and Conservation in the Summer of 2026 - Conservation Northwest An unprecedented fire season strained our staff, battered our networks, and reshaped ecosystems. Across three blog posts, we’ll take a look into the last few months for Conservation Northwest and ...

This map shows something pretty striking: roads are already almost everywhere (yes, those black lines are roads).

That’s part of what makes our remaining roadless national forest lands so valuable. These large, relatively intact landscapes provide connected habitat for wildlife like wolverine and Canada lynx, protect clean, cold headwaters and offer some of the best wild backcountry we have left.

The U.S. Forest Service is now proposing to rescind the Roadless Rule, which could open 44.7 million acres nationwide, including roughly 2 million acres in Washington, to more road construction and development.

At a time when the Forest Service already manages roughly 380,000 miles of roads and faces a massive maintenance backlog, cutting new roads into some of our last intact forests simply doesn’t make sense.

These places belong to all of us, and right now we have a chance to speak up for them.

Submit a public comment by September 21 and tell the Forest Service to keep the Roadless Rule in place.

Take action with Conservation Northwest: https://conservationnw.org/advocacy/comment-to-save-the-roadless-rule/

What does the clean energy transition actually look like when you get off the map and onto the ground?

That was one of the questions we spent time with during a Central Washington field tour earlier this summer.

Conservation Northwest convened landowners, Tribal staff, county officials, community members, conservation partners and people working in the energy sector to visit places across the Columbia Plateau and hear from people who are living with these decisions firsthand.

The conversations were complicated, in a good way.

Farmers talked about the economic pressures shaping decisions about their land. Tribal staff talked about cultural connections and responsibilities that aren’t always visible on a project map. Local officials described trying to keep up with increasingly large and complex proposals. Community members talked about supporting the transition away from fossil fuels while also feeling overwhelmed by the pace and scale of development.

And all of this is happening in a landscape where nearly 80% of Washington’s historic shrub-steppe has already been lost.

We don’t think the answer is to choose between clean energy and healthy landscapes. But getting both requires doing the hard work early: listening, planning together and steering development toward places where it can do less harm.

That’s the focus of our latest Wild NW story. Read more: https://conservationnw.org/connected-landscapes-and-clean-energy-responsible-clean-energy-planning-starts-on-the-ground/

A wildlife crossing only works if wildlife feel safe using it. 🦌🐻

Just outside North Bend, the Milepost 27 undercrossing has helped deer, elk, black bears and other wildlife cross I-90 safely for nearly 50 years.

But in recent years, human use of the crossing has increased dramatically, especially from bicyclists traveling to and from the Raging River trail system. From 2021–2023, more than 90% of detections at the crossing were people.

We love getting outside too. But this particular tunnel needs to belong to wildlife.

🚲 If you’re headed to Raging River, please drive to the south side of I-90 rather than biking through the Milepost 27 wildlife crossing.

🦌 Giving wildlife a little space here helps keep animals off the highway and keeps an important habitat connection working as intended.

Please help us spread the word with your riding friends and local trail community.

Learn more in our latest blog: https://conservationnw.org/milepost-27-needs-your-help/

📸: Entiat Roadless Area, Liz Tanke

Across Washington and the country, roadless forests hold cold, clean water, give wildlife room to move, store carbon, and offer us places to hunt, hike, fish, gather, explore, and simply be outside.

They also give landscapes room to stay resilient in a changing climate. Keeping big, connected places healthy and intact is one of the best investments we can make in the future, for wildlife and for ourselves.

The federal government is considering rescinding the Roadless Rule, which could open millions of acres of national forest to new roadbuilding and development, including roughly 2 million acres here in Washington.

If you love these places, now is a good time to speak up. Public comments are open through September 21. We’ve made it easy to learn more and submit a comment:

👉 https://conservationnw.org/advocacy/comment-to-save-the-roadless-rule/

And please share this post. The more people who speak from their own connection to these lands, waters, wildlife, and communities, the harder that love of place is to ignore.