North Cascade Mountains Essay

The North Cascade Mountains are a vital part of Washington’s environmental function and beauty. They are being threatened by deforestation and mining. The clear-cutting of the forest would result in loss of wildlife and biodiversity due to loss of habitat and environmental “disruption”. Mining is potentially dangerous to water supplies which in turn affect the animals that live in and drink from them. Washingtonians are attempting to preserve two hundred thousand acres of land surrounding the North Cascades National Park. Numerous studies have been done zoning in on the impacts of certain forest practices, human impacts, and mining hazards to the environments that can aide in the quest for protection.
A big environmental issue in Washington State right now is in the protection of the North Cascade Mountains. With miles of hiking trails, secluded camp sites, and all sorts of wildlife to be found throughout the range, preservation is a serious matter. There are over hundreds of different animal species –from cougars to butterflies to fish, or an occasional gray wolf- that reside in these mountains. Between the wet west side of the range, and the drier east side, there are also over 1600 different plant species.
Clear cutting
and mining are threatening critical habitats for bears, elk and salmon in the area. Chinook salmon (which are endangered) use the Skagit River for spawning; in the Baker Rainforest, there are old growth trees in that are 15 feet wide. Mining has already caused severe environmental problems in Washington with acid mine drainage and heavy metals from abandoned mines in the Okanogan County area affecting fish, vegetation, and domestic water supplies. (Center for Streamside Studies, November 2000).
A major problem lies in the fact that if the state allows for deforestation, biodiversity and unrefined wilderness with be diminished even more.
It will take away shelter and protection, food and water sources, for the numerous species that rely on that environment. Clean, reliable water sources are vital in the overall health and wellness of any ecosystem. A study was done on Western Washington watersheds determining the effects certain forest practices had on stream water temperatures (Reiter, Maryanne, Robert E. Bilby, Storm Beech, and John Heffner, 2015). Samples were collected from various basins to determine the effects on water quality from forest management, which then led to required buffers to enable the protection of streams and
rivers.
Mining can contaminate clean drinking water and the headwaters where fish spawn. The University of Washington College of Forest Resources did a study that found that “lactating mammals drinking from creeks contaminated by acid mine drainage concentrate heavy metal in their milk” (pg.2). Acids and toxic metals leak and can result in poisoned streams where not much can survive within them. The Iron Mountain Mine in California, for example, (which has been closed since 1963) has required constant maintenance for the last few decades to prevent additional contamination of drinking water sources (Ground Truth Trekking). Near the site, large areas of streams have been sterilized due to the toxicity provided by the mine, and have occasionally killed off large quantities of migrating salmon. In the North Cascades, this same effect is taking place with local aquatic life.
The only solution for this issue is for Washington to pass a bill that protects 200,000 acres from devastation. Environment Washington (“keep our public lands in public hands”) is an organization that allows everyone to take a higher stand for nature, and have a voice to our elected officials. For everyone to stand together against the clear cutting and mining of the North Cascades, we might be able to ensure its protection and preservation against human hands.