Clearwater Forest Reserve

Work in the Clearwater Forest Protects Salmon

Work in the Clearwater Forest Protects Salmon

Justin Urresti, Conservation Forester knows his work must take place in harmony with community members. This dynamic is especially true in the Clearwater Forest Reserve, acquired by The Nature Conservancy in 2011, as sometimes TNC appears to be opposed to industries that profit off the land. Justin’s forestry methods exist somewhere in the grey. He aims to both rehabilitate a forest that’s been logged since the late 1800s and support a local workforce within a changing economy.  

When the Forest Flies

When the Forest Flies

In September 2020, thanks to the funding from the state Washington State Coast Restoration and Resilience Initiative, The Nature Conservancy completed a step towards whole system restoration of our coastal streams on our Olympic Forest Reserves. The grant funded a series of thinning, planting of native riparian trees, weed treatments, and, most impressively, the installation of large woody debris jams "log jams" in Shale Creek, a tributary of the Clearwater and Queets River. See helicopters placing log jams in the river