North Cascade Mountains Essay

The North Cascade Mountains are a vital part of Washington’s environmental function and beauty. They are being threatened by deforestation and mining. The clear-cutting of the forest would result in loss of wildlife and biodiversity due to loss of habitat and environmental “disruption”. Mining is potentially dangerous to water supplies which in turn affect the animals that live in and drink from them. Washingtonians are attempting to preserve two hundred thousand acres of land surrounding the North Cascades National Park. Numerous studies have been done zoning in on the impacts of certain forest practices, human impacts, and mining hazards to the environments that can aide in the quest for protection.
A big environmental issue in Washington State right now is in the protection of the North Cascade Mountains. With miles of hiking trails, secluded camp sites, and all sorts of wildlife to be found throughout the range, preservation is a serious matter. There are over hundreds of different animal species –from cougars to butterflies to fish, or an occasional gray wolf- that reside in these mountains. Between the wet west side of the range, and the drier east side, there are also over 1600 different plant species.
Clear cutting
It will take away shelter and protection, food and water sources, for the numerous species that rely on that environment. Clean, reliable water sources are vital in the overall health and wellness of any ecosystem. A study was done on Western Washington watersheds determining the effects certain forest practices had on stream water temperatures (Reiter, Maryanne, Robert E. Bilby, Storm Beech, and John Heffner, 2015). Samples were collected from various basins to determine the effects on water quality from forest management, which then led to required buffers to enable the protection of streams and