Big Things Coming from the Northwest

As a Pacific Northwest native, I grew up immersed in the natural environment. I was fortunate to have opportunities to be regularly out in the wild places of the region, hiking, camping, canoeing and backpacking.  Lush conifer forests, free flowing rivers, wide open sage grass prairies and rugged ocean beaches were the back drop for my childhood, heavily influencing my path into environmental advocacy as a career.

I’ve spent more than 20 years working on wildlife and public lands conservation, first as the Northwest Regional Director of Friends of the Earth and later as the Executive Director of Seattle Audubon Society.  One of my proudest professional achievements (so far) was helping lead the coalition of conservation activists, business interests, Native American tribes, fishing groups, and government agencies that successfully campaigned for the removal of the two antiquated dams blocking the Elwha River. This landscape-scale ecosystem restoration project is already showing strong results, with salmon migrating upstream past the former dam sites even as the final chunks of concrete were still being removed from the river this summer.

I’ve also been lucky to work together with government agencies and private landowners to protect and restore forest habitat vital for the recovery of threatened northern spotted owls and marbled murrelets.  These two species, listed under the Endangered Species Act as “threatened,” are key indicators of the overall health of our forests, which in turn are essential for protecting water quality and sequestering carbon.

Joining the Defenders’ team as the Director for the new Northwest Office in Seattle is an exciting opportunity for me to expand my work on wildlife and habitat issues. I am looking forward to being part of Defenders’ work on some of the most pressing conservation issues here in this region of the country I am so attached to.

In my first few weeks, I have been impressed with the passion, dedication and expertise of my new colleagues. Existing staff here in the Northwest, as well as strong advocates in the national headquarters office in Washington DC, have built an amazing foundation for expanding Defenders’ programmatic work in Oregon, Washington and Idaho.  One example is the exciting news we received last month when the National Park Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announced that after a 20 year delay (!), they will be moving forward with development of a strategy for grizzly bear recovery in the North Cascades. This has been a long-time priority for Defenders, and our new office will be working closely with our coalition partners as this moves forward.

Working on the ground to prevent conflicts between livestock and the slowly recovering wolf population has also been a top priority. Most recently, we’ve been involved in the events surrounding the Huckleberry wolf pack in eastern Washington.  Defenders staff here in the Northwest have worked every avenue possible to minimize further wolf-livestock conflict, including providing new nonlethal tools to keep wolves away, and we’re pressuring Washington state to rescind its kill authorization for up to four members of the pack.  In response to Defenders’ call for action, our members and supporters contacted Washington Governor Jay Inslee, who is now paying close attention to the situation.  While one wolf (sadly the pack’s alpha female) was shot from a helicopter and up to three additional wolves could still be killed if they approach the sheep flock, our collective pressure has helped get the state to back off some of the more aggressive lethal control measures such trapping and aerial operations.

We are still in the early stages of establishing the detailed agenda for this new office, but it is certain to include regional engagement on Defenders’ other core priority species as well as emerging opportunities to promote sustainable management of our public lands. Defenders has an impressive history of implementing proactive solutions to minimize conflict between predators and livestock in other states.  That approach is clearly needed here in Washington, where some ranchers continue to resist common sense measures that can help predators thrive while protecting sheep or other domestic animals.

I’m excited to be part of Defenders as we launch this major program expansion in the Northwest.  I hope to contribute to the pragmatic, science based conservation advocacy that will leave a legacy of abundant habitat and wildlife for my three children to experience like I did growing up.

Shawn Cantrell is the Director of the Northwest Program at Defenders of Wildlife