Tweeters,

Yesterday afternoon, Jim Stephenson (Yakama Indian Nation
Timber/Fish/Wildlife Biologist) showed me a unique parcel of virgin
ponderosa pine not far from Robinson Canyon, a well-known eastside birding
site. Reach it by going 7.1 miles west from the S. Thorp Hwy/Robinson
Canyon Jct. off I-90, keeping left at the only fork (Ainsley Canyon). Go up
Ainsley Canyon, taking the first left, the road becomes steeper and starts
to switchback. After about 4 miles of a landscape of alternating Douglas
fir and ponderosa pine on deeper soils and various shrub-steppe communities
(bitterbrush /sagebrush and shallow-soiled grasslands), one reaches the
oldgrowth b(T 19 N R 16 E Sec 4). It's not a big stand (55 acres, but seems
much bigger), but, after decades of cutting, such groves are practically
gone in eastern Washington. All the big trees in this forest are marked
blue, slated for cutting. This is the "Overpass Unit # 3," a DNR timber
unit, to be sold in the near future.

Because oldgrowth ponderosa pine is so rare, I hadn't really appreciated
how different it is from the "managed" even-aged stands. It has lots of
mature pines, many young pines too, and many snags (lots of Pygmy
Nuthatches!) and a diverse understory of bitterbrush and various grasses.
It's a wonderful experience to bird here! In less than an hour, we noted
more than 30 species of birds:

Red-tailed Hawk-nesting
American Kestrel-nesting
Blue Grouse-2+ hooting males
Mourning Dove-5
Common Nighthawk-3
Lewis' Woodpecker-1
Northern Flicker-3
Western Wood-Pewee-6+
Dusky Flycatcher-2
Steller's Jay-3
Common Raven-1
Mountain Chickadee-3
White-breasted Nuthatch-1
Pygmy Nuthatch-15, young begging
House Wren-5
Western Bluebird-2
Townsend's Solitaire-2
American Robin-3
Sage Thrasher-12, adjacent biiterbrush/sage
Cedar Waxwing-2
European Starling-1
Solitary Vireo-1 singing
Yellow-rumped Warbler-2
Western Tanager-pair
Spotted Towhee-5
Chipping Sparrow-10
Brewer's Sparrow-2, adjacent shrub-steppe
Vesper Sparrow-3
Dark-eyed Junco-5
Western Meadowlark-3
Cassin's Finch-5

I believe the early morning hours would reveal an even better assortment of
birds. Cooper's Hawk and White-headed Woodpeckers have been found here
also.

This forest makes a natural addition to a morning of birding in Robinson
Canyon. The road is a wee bit rough in places, but easily done by 2-wheel
drive vehicles.

We also saw about eight elk and two mule deer.

If you visit this site and feel as I do, that these vanishing old pines
deserve to be left alone, I invite you to write a letter to the DNR and
urge that it not be cut. Write:

Gary Berndt
Department of Natural Resources
713 E. Bowers Road
Ellensburg WA 98926
Reference the Overpass Timber Sale Unit # 3 FPA 2700364

If you stated why in your own words why this grove is important, it would
have more impact than if the conservation community gives you a template
letter.

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA