Widely identified as globally significant, the North Cascades is a wild and complex region bounded in the north by the U.S.-Canadian border, in the south by the Interstate-90 corridor, in the west by the Puget Lowlands and in the east by the Columbia River. The North Cascades region is a critical landscape for both people and wildlife. The area provides important fisheries and wildlife habitat and provides water, hydropower, and a place to recreate for people all over the Northwest. Our goal for the region is to strengthen the intersection of ecosystems and communities in the North Cascades, as local people build support for conservation in the region based upon the importance of the natural landscape to their economies, quality of life, and culture.

The basis of the foundation's strategy in the North Cascades is an investment in building community awareness and support for the benefits of wildlands, wildlife, and fish protection within the region's communities. The foundation seeks opportunities to build collaboration and synergies among conservation groups, recreation groups, business interests, federal land agencies, and new conservation advocates to develop a widely supported comprehensive vision for the North Cascades that includes a broad range of protections to safeguard this landscape.

Our specific goals for the North Cascades

• Creation of the Mountains to Sound National Heritage Area

• Permanent protection of roadless areas and low elevation habitat on both sides of the Cascades

• Increased protection of Illabot Creek and the Nooksack, White Chuck, South Fork Stillaguamish, Pratt, and Middle Fork Snoqualmie rivers