Category Overview
Urban Wildlife Habitat projects fund close-to-home places to play and explore nature. As our urban areas are increasingly expanding and densifying, these grants protect important fish and wildlife habitat within five miles of densely populated areas, creating green refuges that help keep our ecosystems healthy and provide places to enjoy nature right in our backyards.
Project Highlights
The Department of Natural Resources will use this grant to buy 891 acres in east King County – 632 acres in the Mount Si Natural Resources Conservation Area, 179 acres in the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Natural Resources Conservation Area, and 80 acres in the Rattlesnake Mountain Scenic Area. The land includes key areas in the Mountains to Sound Greenway that are threatened by residential development and provide crucial wildlife habitat in an urban area. The greenway is a 100-mile corridor of forests, wildlife habitat, and open areas along Interstate 90, a National Scenic Byway. Distinctive features include talus, high and low elevation lakes, numerous streams, wetlands, old-growth and mature forests, cliffs, and landscape connections for wildlife. Wildlife at these sites include a variety of animals, including cougars, bobcats, mountain goats, black bears, coyotes, elk, red-tailed hawks, osprey, barred owls, pygmy owls, and pileated woodpeckers. The department will allow low-impact public use and outdoor environmental education on the land.