BILL REQ. #:  S-0355.1 

Read first time 01/12/09.   Referred to Committee on Natural Resources, Ocean & Recreation.

     AN ACT Relating to wildlife conservation in Washington's portion of the Yukon to Yellowstone Rocky mountain ecosystem; adding a new section to chapter 77.12 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that Washington state comprises a great diversity of biota and landscapes. Under widely accepted scientific classifications, there are nine ecoregional areas lying wholly or partially in Washington: Northwest coast, Puget trough, northwest Cascades, west Cascades, east Cascades, Okanogan highlands, Blue mountains, Columbia plateau, and Canadian Rocky mountains. The Canadian Rocky mountains ecoregional area is a vast region of the Rocky mountain chain stretching from the Yukon Territory in Canada into the south central United States, encompassing all or portions of three provinces and seven states. The Selkirk mountains in the northeast portion of the state and the north-flowing Pend Oreille river are the two dominant features of this ecoregion in Washington state, with the Selkirks providing a transition between the rolling Okanogan highlands to the west and the higher Rocky mountain ridges and mountains interlaced with wide valleys to the east.
     While the portion of this region lying within Washington state is relatively small, it is an important component for conservation initiatives involving the unique biota of this ecoregion. Within the Rocky mountains ecoregional area there are landowners, communities, wildlife management agencies, and wildlife conservation organizations beginning to work together in a coordinated manner to consider this region as a whole. These groups seek to combine science and stewardship to ensure that the world-renowned wilderness, wildlife, native plants, and natural processes of the region continue to function as an interconnected web of life, capable of supporting all of the natural and human communities that reside within it, for now and for future generations. This effort is commonly referred to as the Yukon to Yellowstone conservation initiative.
     Within the Yukon to Yellowstone ecoregion are hundreds of small communities, and two major metropolitan regions, Calgary and Spokane. As the largest city within the Yukon to Yellowstone region in the United States, the city of Spokane should be recognized as the United States' capital of the Yukon to Yellowstone ecoregion.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 77.12 RCW to read as follows:
     The department shall participate with wildlife management agencies and conservation organizations in other states and provinces, comprising the Canadian Rocky mountains ecoregional area, in the cooperative programs of the Yukon to Yellowstone conservation initiative. Where the Yukon to Yellowstone conservation initiative has identified priority species, habitats, or landscapes lying within Washington state, the department shall actively seek to involve local governments, landowners, and local conservation organizations in the initiative. The department may integrate these activities with its cooperative work with other states and provinces sharing ecoregional areas with Washington state.