Download the North Cascades and Pacific Ranges Ecoregional Assessment
The North Cascades and Pacific Ranges ecoregion includes approximately 7.5 million hectares composed of both land-based and marine-based environments on the coast of southwestern British Columbia and northwestern Washington.
About 81% of the ecoregion is in British Columbia, 19% in Washington. In B.C., the ecoregion extends from Toba Inlet on the northwest boundary over to the Lillooet Glacier in the northeast, heading south to encompass the Resort Municipality of Whistler, Garibaldi Provincial Park, District of Squamish, down over the North Shore mountains and Mount Seymour, Indian Arm, Pinecone Burke, and Golden Ears Provincial Parks, eastward across Stave and Harrison Lakes, and then south over the City of Chilliwack and Town of Hope down to Snoqualmie Pass in Washington State.
It is a long north-northwest trending mountainous range of deeply-incised valleys and main ridgetops that are approximately uniform in elevation, except where punctuated occasionally by large volcanoes. The extreme variability of soils and geology, combined with extensive effects of glaciation and topography, have led to large localized differences in climate and resulting species, natural communities and ecological systems. These range from low elevation old-growth Western Hemlock/Douglas Fir forests to wetland bogs and alpine sedge meadows. The ecoregion also contains numerous streams and rivers, including the upper reaches of a number of major (third order or larger) rivers as well as portions of some estuaries and inlets where the ecoregion borders the sea in British Columbia.
Due to the inaccessible terrain and the fact that large parks are often designated in such areas, a large portion of the ecoregion has some level of protection. This mountainous region is also understandably relatively sparsely populated, with only 98,000 people living in either British Columbia or Washington. Several human activities pose significant threats to the integrity of the ecoregion, especially in the lower to mid-elevation areas. These include forestry, transportation corridors, recreational development, urbanization, mining, and hydroelectric power production According to the North American continental assessment by World Wildlife Fund, U.S., the North Cascades forests are endangered (Ricketts et al. 1999). Additionally, only about 40 percent of the ecoregion can be classified as intact habitat. Characteristic wildlife includes Black-tailed Deer, Black Bear and Grizzly Bear, Mink, Otter, and Grouse.
The North Cascades and Pacific Ranges ecoregional assessment is the product of a partnership initiated in 2004 to identify priority conservation areas in this ecoregion. The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) are the primary partners in this project. The Washington Natural Heritage Program, Department of Natural Resources (WNHP), and the British Columbia Conservation Data Centre (BCCDC) were major contributors of technical expertise and data. The project has also benefited from the participation of many other scientists and conservation experts as team members and expert reviewers.
