Part of the Okanogan National Forest, the Meadows Roadless Area is home to the largest lynx population in the lower 48 states.

The Canadian lynx - elusive, secretive, wild - was widespread at the time of Lewis and Clark. The lynx made its home in Alaska, across Canada, and throughout the northernmost states, especially in the Cascades, the Rocky Mountains, the Great Lakes region and the Northeast. Even though Lewis and Clark traveled through lynx habitat, only a couple of brief notes about lynx were made in their journals - testament to the elusiveness of the cat.

Today the vast domain of this close kin of the bobcat has shrunk to a mere shadow of its former range, a fact which, in 1998 prompted the proposed listing of the lynx in the Lower 48 as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. South of the Canadian border, reproducing populations are known to exist only in Washington and Montana; they barely hang on with populations numbering less than 50 animals each in several other states.

What's at Stake

Extending toward the Columbia River from the Pasayten Wilderness Area of north central Washington is a series of roadless areas, separated by a few rugged roads, known collectively as The Meadows. This 128,000-acre wildlands complex is a center of biological diversity, where dense ancient forests in moist valley bottoms give way to drier, park-like forests on sunny steep slopes, then to fire-influenced spruce and pine communities at still higher elevations. Individual trees in some of the older groves of ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir may reach up to seven feet in diameter and range between 250 and 700 years old.

The rolling, forested plateau of The Meadows with its steeply incised valleys provides some of the finest forest habitat for rare wildlife in the North Cascades. Black bears, grizzly bears, fishers and wolverines have been sighted there, while the area also provides potential habitat for wolves. Two rare birds found in this region, the great gray owl and the Franklin's spruce grouse, referred to by Lewis as the "large black and white pheasant," were both first discovered by Lewis and Clark during their expedition. The high density of Franklin's spruce grouse in The Meadows is attributed to its stands of older, larger spruce and pine trees with abundant downed logs - the characteristics of mature forests.

The boreal-type forests of The Meadows are also the home of the highest concentration of lynx in the continental U.S. The lynx is superbly adapted for life in snowy, mountainous terrain with long legs and snowshoe-like furry feet. Its habitat needs are quite specific. It needs mature and old-growth forests to provide cover for dens and enough younger growth to provide food for the snowshoe hare, the main prey of the lynx. Just east of The Meadows is the Loomis State Forest and its 24,000 roadless acres of pristine lynx habitat, which is soon to be protected through an innovative conservation purchase.

The Threats

The forested habitat which provides specialized resources necessary for the survival of viable populations of Canadian lynx and Franklin's grouse is greatly endangered by a number of major timber sales proposed by the Okanogan National Forest. Appeals and court action so far have held off the most egregious of these sales, but smaller incursions have reduced the roadless acreage repeatedly over the past two decades. The 1989 Okanogan Forest Plan dedicated almost the entire area to timber production, so the pressure will continue to push roads and logging deep into the heart of The Meadows.

The Meadows region also is one of the Okanogan's most important watersheds. Logging would remove forest cover, which would increase spring melt, contribute to flooding and result in dry creek beds by summer - disrupting the flow of water for local farmers when it is needed most.

The Solutions

Only a few roads penetrate this area, and except for limited past logging along the roads, this is one of the most pristine unprotected areas left in Washington State. Keeping a sharp eye on Forest Service plans for roads and timber sales - and acting through appeals and court action when required -is an integral activity necessary to keep The Meadows intact. Permanent wilderness status would safeguard the area for future generations and allow the forest mosaic of The Meadows to continue to support the largest lynx population in the Lower 48.

Photo by Mark Lawler

Background | 33 Places to Protect | Rivers, Prairies, Forests What's been Lost, What's Left  | Lewis & Clark Main