North Cascadia Adaptation Partnership

NCAP Partners (Core Team)

US Forest Service
USFS Pacific Northwest Research. NCAP is facilitated by David Peterson and Crystal Raymond of the USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station in Seattle, WA. The partnership includes two national forests: Mt Baker – Snoqualmie and the Okanogan – Wenatchee.
 

• Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest is located along the western slopes of the Cascade Range. The forest extends from the Canadian border south to Mt. Rainier National Park. The forest is characterized by a wetter and more maritime climate than the eastern Cascades, and is home to mountain meadows, old-growth forests, and glacier-covered peaks. Mt. Baker itself is a hub of recreational activity and holds the world record for highest recorded snowfall at 1140 inches, or 95 feet. Approximately one half of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest is designated as wilderness.
   
• The Okanogan–Wenatchee National Forest extends from the crest of the Cascade Range eastward to the Okanogan Highlands, and from the Canadian border south to the Yakima River Valley. Located in the rain shadow of the Cascade Range, this east-side forest covers a large elevation gradient and a variety of vegetation and forest types, including high elevation alpine ecosystems that transition to drier, ponderosa pine forests at low elevations. Lush meadows, dense forests, shrub-steppe communities, high elevation lakes, and volcanic peaks represent the variety of landscape characteristics that are featured in the Okanogan–Wenatchee National Forest.

National Park Service
Regina Rochefort is the primary contact for the NPS. The NPS partners include two national parks: North Cascades National Park Complex and Mount Rainier National Park.
 

• North Cascades National Park Complex straddles the Cascade Crest from the Canadian border south to the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. The park captures the transition from a wet, maritime climate in the western Cascades to a drier, continental climate in the east. Rain and snowfall gradients, in addition to varied elevation, slope and soil types lead to diverse vegetation across the landscape and more recorded plant species than any other U.S. national park. The North Cascades National Park, with over 300 glaciers, also contains more glaciated area than any park in the lower 48 states.
   
• Mount Rainier National Park was established in 1899 and it encompasses 235,625 acres comprised almost entirely of wilderness area (approximately 97%). Located in the Cascade Range about 50 miles southeast of Seattle, Mt. Rainer is the tallest volcano in the contiguous United States and the most heavily glaciated of any single peak. Existing vegetation patterns in the park are largely shaped by climatic variation and a 12,800 ft elevation gradient over a relatively small geographic extent. Forest cover at the lower elevation park boundary transitions to subalpine parkland at mid- to high-elevations and to an alpine zone from treeline up to the snow and ice covered summit of Mt. Rainier.

Climate Impacts Group

Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington is the primary science provider for the partnership.

University of Washington
College of the Environment

NCAP Collaborators

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

While climate change is inevitable, the long-term amount of change is not yet set and is partly under mankind's control. While we work to reduce the causes of climate change both locally and globally, in many cases we may be able to help fish, wildlife, plants and ecosystems be more resilient to the changes that may occur.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is taking action to assess the impacts of climate change for fish, wildlife, plants and ecosystems; and to moderate those impacts through strategic conservation efforts such as habitat restoration and other actions. We are also joining forces with others to seek solutions to the challenges and threats to fish and wildlife conservation posed by climate change.

Several FWS offices are participating in the NCAP effort. These include:

• The Washington Fish and Wildlife Office, located in Lacey, Washington and one of its sub-offices in Wenatchee (Central Washington Field Office) will contribute to the terrestrial wildlife and aquatic species portions of the project. Together these offices manage fish and wildlife issues under the Endangered Species Act and other federal authorities. This also includes the Western Washington Fishery Resources Office, located in Lacey, with expertise in fish and other aquatic resources.
   
• The Mid-Columbia River Fishery Resource Office, located in Leavenworth, Washington on the grounds of the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery, will contribute to the aquatic species and roads/culverts portions of the project.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station
(Olympia and Wenatchee Labs)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Contact:  Crystal Raymond, NCAP Coordinator, craymond@fs.usda.gov, 206-732-7809