Nisqually Glacier to Sound Conservation Corridor

The Nisqually River Council, the Nisqually River Basin Land Trust, the Nisqually River Interpretive Center Foundation, the Nisqually Indian Tribe, the National Park Service's Rivers and Trails Conservation Assistance Program and Stewardship Partners have joined forces to develop a conservation corridor that links Mount Rainier National Park to the Nisqually River Wildlife Refuge.

The Stewardship Corridor will:

· Provide a Habitat Management Plan for terrestrial and aquatic species and help landowners voluntarily implement the plan on their property.

· Work with landowners to conserve water quality and habitat.

· Conserve working forests and agricultural lands.

· Provide landowners with incentives to protect designated view/landscape areas.

· Help counties, towns, and landowners develop voluntary community development standards, and develop incentives for those who adopt these standards.

The Stewardship Corridor will serve as a model for how landowners and communities can link "islands of habitat" (such as parks and refuges) and can conserve watersheds through community developed voluntary initiatives, rather than through regulation and "locking up" the land.

The Stewardship Corridor will NOT impose standards or new regulation on landowners. To be successful, this corridor plan must be community based and voluntarily implemented.

The first steps in developing the Stewardship Corridor are:

· Update the 1987 Nisqually River Management Plan
· Define the corridor boundaries
· Gather existing GIS data so that important habitat areas may be identified
· Prioritize stream restoration projects within the Corridor.

Those who would like to help with any of these activities or have questions regarding the project are encouraged to contact the Nisqually River Council at (360) 407-6784 or visit www.nisquallyriver.org and click on programs.

The first phase of this project was made possible through the generous support of the Apex Foundation, the Russell Family Foundation, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the National Park Service's Rivers and Trails Program.