Appendix A: Community setting
Kittitas County planning area boundaries – are generally
described as the lands extending from the ridge of the Cascade
Mountains at Snoqualmie Pass (western boundary with King County)
east to the Columbia River (eastern boundary with Grant County),
and from the ridge at the top of Blewett Pass (northern boundary
with Chelan County) south to the top of Manastash Ridge (southern
boundary with Yakima County). Kittitas County’s geographic area is
2,297.2 square miles making it 8th in size among Washington
counties.
Kittitas County was part of the land ceded by the Yakama Tribe in
1855. Briefly part of Ferguson County (now defunct), then Yakima
County, Kittitas County was established on November 24, 1883.
Kittitas County has a diverse ecology. The Wenatchee National
Forest extends into its northwestern corner and in present-day
times the US Army’s Yakima Training Center extends into its
southeastern corner. The Wenatchee Mountains (part of the Cascade
Range) run along the county's northern border. The Saddle
Mountains, Manastash, and Umtanum ridges form the east-west
border between Kittitas and Yakima counties. The Cle Elum, Yakima,
and Teanaway rivers snake through Kittitas County.
Climate
Washington State's climate is strongly influenced by moisture-laden
air masses created in the Pacific Ocean. The air masses may move
into the region any time of the year, but particularly during fall,
winter, and spring seasons. The air currents from the Pacific Ocean
are interrupted first by the Olympic Mountains and then
significantly by the Cascade Mountains. As a result of the mountain
ranges, the west or windward sides of the Cascades receive
moderate to heavy precipitation, while the east or leeward side of
the state in the "rain shadow" of the Cascades receive a light to
moderate amount of precipitation.
The Cascades also affect temperature ranges in the state. The west
or windward side influenced by maritime air masses are generally
milder than those that sweep down from the Canadian Rockies on
the east or leeward side of the state. Consequently, eastern
Washington usually has colder winters and hotter summers, while
western Washington is milder and more frost-free.
The Kittitas Valley is located in the arid eastward side of the
Cascade Mountains at an elevation about 3,170 feet above sea level.
Mean temperatures vary from a high of 82 degrees in July to a low
of 20 degrees Fahrenheit in January with extreme variations
recorded at -3 to a high of 102 degrees Fahrenheit.
Average annual precipitation is about 18 inches of rain and 65
inches of snow over 101 days with a mean growing season with
temperatures above 32 degrees Fahrenheit for about 170-190 days.
Approximately 80 percent of the precipitation occurs from October
through March with less than 6 percent falling during June, July,
and August. The valley receives about 201 sunny days per year.
Earth
Washington is divided into 3 principal physiographic divisions - the
Pacific Mountain System, the Rocky Mountain System, and the
Intermontane Plateaus.
•
Pacific Mountain System - is defined by the Olympic peninsula
(the Pacific Border province) and the Cascade Mountain range and
includes all counties that contain portions of the Cascade
Mountains (the Cascade Mountain province).
•
Northern Rocky Mountain System - is defined by the foothills
of the Rocky Mountain ranges and includes all counties that are
located north of the Columbia River and east of the Cascade
Mountain system.
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•
Intermountane Plateau - is defined by the high plateaus
created by the uplift between the Cascade and Rocky Mountain
ranges and includes all counties that are located along the southern
drainage basins of the Columbia River.
The Kittitas Valley is located within the western edge of the North
Rocky Mountain System. The Cascade Mountains were created by
continuous volcanic activity along the border of the underlying
continental plates. The mountains were in turn, subject to the
action of periodic glacial intrusions - the most recent being the
Pleistocene glacial period more than 15,000 years ago.
The Pleistocene glacial intrusion gradually carved and flooded
Puget Sound, the lowland areas, and other valleys alongside the
Cascade foothills. The glacial intrusion also created a series of
glacier dams that subsequently breached and flooded the eastern
portions of the state creating the Columbia River drainage channels.
The Kittitas Valley is composed of a series of alluvial benches filled
in by the Columbia River. The benches are in turn bisected by a
number of tributary drainage corridors created by the Columbia and
Yakima Rivers. Over time, the rivers and tributary drainage streams
created dramatic hillsides and overlooks, particularly of the
Columbia River basin.
Topography ranges from 600 feet in the lowest portion of the valley
to about 8,000 feet above sea level in the Cascade Mountains. The
plateaus and foothills overlooking the Kittitas Valley drop off
abruptly in slopes ranging from 40 to 75 percent.
Soil regions
Washington State soils were created by a combination of elements
including the nature of the parent material or rock type, climate,
and the characteristics of the local terrain. These combined
processes created 11 principal soil regions in the state ranging from
deposits with high concentrations of organic matter created by
glacial and marine actions along Puget Sound to deposits with very
low organic matter located in the eastern arid portions of the state.
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Water
Four rivers and a number of minor streams drain the Kittitas Valley:
•
Columbia River – drains the northwest region west of the Rocky
Mountains merging with the Yakima River to flow into the Pacific
Ocean between Oregon and Washington state boundaries.
•
Yakima River - drains the eastern side of the Cascade
Mountains beginning in Keechelus Lake, extending through Lake
Easton, merging with the Cle Elum River, Teanaway River, Naches
River, and merging with the Columbia River in Richland.
•
Kachess River – drains the eastern side of the Cascade
Mountains beginning in Kachess and Little Kachess Lakes merging
with the Yakima River at Lake Easton.
•
Cle Elum River – drains the eastern side of the Cascade
Mountains beginning in Cle Elum Lake and merging with the Yakima
River west of Cle Elum.
•
Teanaway River – drains the eastern side of the Cascade
Mountains beginning in Teanaway Community Forest and merging
with the Yakima River east of Cle Elum.
Floodplains
Floodplains and flooded areas include alluvial soils - which are
former river and stream beds, tidal pools and retention ponds, that
fill during heavy rainfall, sometimes infrequently, often for
extended periods during rainy seasons. There are numerous,
sizable flood prone areas within the Kittitas Valley including the
lowlands adjacent to the Yakima, Cle Elum, Teanaway Rivers.
The complete eastern shoreline of the Columbia River has been
subjected to flooding during major spring thaws and heavy storms
prior to the development of the hydroelectric dams on the
Columbia River, and a series of dikes along the Yakima River. Some
segments along the river shorelines may be potentially affected by
the floodwaters possible during the worst storm in an average 100year period. In such instances, due to the dams and dikes,
floodwater depths would be shallow and not very extensive.
Lakes
Lakes are water bodies greater than 20 acres in size or more than 6
feet in depth.
Keechelus Lake – is located at Snoqualmie Pass at an elevation
of 2,521 feet with a lake surface of 2,408.5 acres. Although a
natural lake, Keechelus Lake’s capacity and discharge is controlled
by Keechelus Dam, a 128-foot high earthfill structure built in 1917.
As a storage reservoir, Keechelus Lake’s activity capacity is 157,900
acre feet and its irrigation is run by the US Bureau of Reclamation.
•
Lost Lake – is located south of Keechelus Lake at an elevation of
3,093 feet and a lake surface of 159.5 acres.
•
Little Kachess Lake - Kachess Lake is a lake and reservoir along
the course of the Kachess River. The upper part of the lake, north of
a narrows, is called Little Kachess Lake. The Kachess River flows
into the lake from the north, and out from the south. Kachess Lake
is part of the Columbia River basin, the Kachess River being a
tributary of the Yakima River, which is tributary to the Columbia
River. The lake is used as a storage reservoir for the Yakima Project,
an irrigation project run by the United States Bureau of
Reclamation. Although a natural lake, Kachess Lake's capacity and
discharge is controlled by Kachess Dam, a 115-foot high earthfill
structure built in 1912. As a storage reservoir, Kachess Lake's active
capacity is 239,000 acre-feet. The name Kachess comes from an
Indian term meaning "more fish", in contrast to Keechelus Lake,
whose name means "few fish”.
•
Lake Easton – the Kachess River flows into the lake from the
north, and out from the south, through the 1929 Easton Diversion
Dam at an elevation of 2,165 feet. Lake Easton is located south of
Interstate 90 and northwest of Easton and is the primary attraction
of Lake Easton State Park. Iron Horse State Park is immediately
south of the lake. As a storage reservoir, Lake Easton’s active
capacity is
•
Cle Elum Lake - is a lake and reservoir along the course of the
Cle Elum River located at an elevation of 2,223 feet. Cle Elum Lake
is used as a storage reservoir for the Yakima Project, an irrigation
project run by the United States Bureau of Reclamation. Although a
natural lake, Cle Elum Lake's capacity and discharge is controlled by
Cle Elum Dam, a 165-foot high earthfill structure built in 1933. As a
•
storage reservoir, Cle Elum Lake's active capacity is 436,900 acrefeet.
Wetlands
Small wet spots, bogs, peat and muck deposits of from 1 to 3 acres
and larger ponds and water bodies are scattered throughout Kittitas
Valley, particularly within river eddies and back channels located
along the Yakima River drainage corridor.
Wildlife habitats
Habitat conservation areas are critical to the survival of the valley's
diverse plant and wildlife communities. Habitats encompass a
variety of areas including large parcels of contiguous undeveloped
land, special areas like streams or wetlands, and structural
elements like rocky shorelines or standing dead trees.
The ecological value of an area depends on the quantity, quality,
diversity, and seasonality of the food, water, and cover that it
provides wildlife species. A particular site's value also depends on
proximity to other usable habitats, the presence of rare species, and
the rarity of the habitat type.
The preservation and restoration of critical habitat areas is key to
protecting the biological diversity of the valley. Critical habitat can
be lost or degraded due to urban and some rural land use activities.
Critical habitat threats can be reduced with effective land use
policies and regulations. In some instances, valuable habitat can
also be restored or enhanced through preservation and
conservation efforts.
For ease of discussion, wildlife habitats are generally classified as
marine, estuarine, freshwater, and terrestrial categories. Many
wildlife species rely upon most, even all, of these habitat categories
for survival. The Kittitas Valley has two categories of wildlife
habitat.
Freshwater habitat
Freshwater bodies include lakes, rivers, creeks, wetlands, riparian
areas, and all other types of water bodies not included in estuaries
3
or marine habitat that have a low ocean salt content. Freshwater
habitat supports different wildlife than saltwater systems,
particularly species that depend on wetland vegetation. However,
87% of all wildlife and fish species are estimated to depend on
streams, wetlands, or other freshwater bodies during some part of
their life cycle for drinking water, foraging, nesting, and migratory
movements.
Riparian areas - are the wooded or vegetated corridors located
along rivers, streams, and springs. Riparian corridors possess free
flowing water or moist conditions that support high water tables,
certain soil characteristics, and vegetation that are transitional
between freshwater and terrestrial habitat zones. The transitional
edges are usually defined by a change in plant composition, relative
plant abundance, and the end of high soil moisture content.
Riparian corridors transport water, soil, plant seeds, and nutrients
to downstream areas - and thereby serve as important migration
routes for many wildlife species. Riparian areas, though small in
overall size, are one of the most important sources of wildlife biodiversity in the landscape.
Freshwater wetland habitats are water bodies less than 20 acres in
size or less than 6 feet in depth and include marshes, swamps,
bogs, seeps, wet meadows, shallow ponds, and lakes. Like riparian
areas, wetlands support species in great diversities, densities, and
productivity. The wooded areas that are located adjacent to
wetlands provide nesting areas, forage, and other cover that is
critical to wetland-dependent species, such as most waterfowl or
small mammals like beaver.
Wetlands - there are 2 principal wetland types within the Kititas
Valley:
•
Scrub/shrub wetlands - with seasonal flooding, characterized by
hardhack, willow, red alder or redosier dogwood,
•
Shallow marsh - deep marsh, and open water wetlands.
Riparian and wetland vegetation provide significant food and cover
for wildlife habitat. Generally, riparian zones and wetlands provide
4
substantially more important wildlife habitat than forested areas.
Riparian zones are also passageways for wildlife migrating between
or around developed areas. Riparian vegetation also helps maintain
optimum fish spawning conditions by providing shade, bank
stabilization, a breeding ground for insects, and a source of organic
material for the stream.
Riparian zones are located along the undeveloped shoreline and
adjacent to the Yakima, Kachess, Teanaway, and Columbia Rivers.
These areas are covered with riparian vegetation and should be
considered important wildlife corridors.
Wildlife species - freshwater zones support terrestrial and aquatic
insects and resident and migratory fish species. Anadromous fish
species include coho, chinook, and chum salmon, and steelhead.
Naturally occurring or established species include largemouth bass,
brown bullheads, bluegill, and black crappie.
Freshwater zones also support a variety of birds and mammals
including salamanders, frogs, osprey, ducks, river otter, and beaver.
Riparian and wetland vegetation provide significant food and cover
for wildlife habitat. Generally, riparian zones and wetlands provide
substantially more important wildlife habitat than forested areas.
Riparian zones are also passageways for wildlife migrating between
or around developed areas. Riparian vegetation also helps maintain
optimum fish spawning conditions by providing shade, bank
stabilization, a breeding ground for insects, and a source of organic
material for the stream.
Urban and agricultural developments within the Wenatchee Valley
have substantially reduced wildlife habitat through the years.
However, valuable habitat qualities still remain in the undeveloped,
large native vegetation tracts and around the remaining wetlands
and riparian (streamside) forests of the Yakima, Kachess, Cle Elum,
Teanaway, and Columbia Rivers.
The wetlands and riparian zones may support muskrat, mink, otter,
beaver, raccoon, and weasel. Water bodies, wetlands, and adjacent
agricultural fields also provide suitable nesting and feeding habitat
for mallard ducks, American widgeons, green-wing teal, common
coot, common merganser, blue-wing teals and great blue heron, and
lessor and greater Canadian goose.
Portions of the Kittitas Valley that overlook the Yakima, Kachess,
Cle Elum, Teanaway, and Columbia Rivers may also provide habitat
for the bald eagle and osprey. The northern bald eagle is listed as a
potentially threatened or endangered species on Washington State's
endangered and threatened lists. No other endangered or
threatened species are known to occur in the Kittitas Valley.
Fisheries – valley rivers and streams provide freshwater habitat for
species of anadromous fish, including steelhead, walleye, and
salmon species, that live in saltwater but return to spawn in
freshwater. These fish species have evolved over time to fit the
specific characteristics of their stream of origin - and are uniquely
imprinted compared with other members of the same species.
Anadromous fish require cool, uncontaminated water with healthy
stream beds and insect populations. Vegetated riparian areas
maintain stream habitats by stabilizing water temperature,
producing an insect supply, controlling erosion, and providing
woody debris.
Anadromous game fish that have been identified in the area include
rainbow trout, cutthroat, dolly varden, eastern brook trout,
whitefish, largemouth bass, perch, crappie, and catfish. These
species spawn and rear in medium sized gravel beds that are
provided medium velocity water flow along the creek channels,
swamps, marshes, perennial and seasonal streams.
Factors that have caused the diminishment of the wild runs include:
•
Forest clearcutting and land developments - that create
sediment loads increasing water turbidity and silting in gravel
spawning beds;
•
Clearcutting tree stands in riparian areas – that remove natural
shading increasing water temperatures; and
•
Water diversions – including dams, that restrict access from the
upper reaches and spawning areas of stream and river runs.
The Washington Department of Fisheries & Wildlife and various
Tribal Governments supplement most of these species.
Terrestrial habitat
Terrestrial areas are the upland lands located above freshwater,
estuarine, and marine water zones. The zones may extend from the
level lowlands that border marsh or creek banks to the tops of the
bluffs, hills, or foothills located around the Cascade Mountain
range.
Plants - natural plant communities are described in terms of broad
vegetational patterns called vegetation zones. Washington plant
communities are divided into 3 major vegetation groupings
including:
•
Forests,
•
Grasslands and shrub/grass communities, and
•
Timberline and alpine areas.
Western portions of Kittitas County include some forested
vegetation zones. The zones are defined by the different climates
created by different elevations and the distinctive vegetation type
that becomes dominant in a climax forest after the forest has
progressed through successive stages of natural development. The
dominant species defined by the zone usually reproduces to
maintain dominance until some disturbance, such as fire, alters the
zone's environment.
Deciduous tree species such as red alder (Alnus rubra) or big leaf
maple (Acer macrophyllum) or golden chinkapin are generally
dominant on the lands that have been cleared for urban and
agriculture uses. Black cottonwood and Oregon ash, along with red
alder and big-leaf maple, tend to grow along major water courses.
Portions of the Kittitas Valley include several second growth
lowland forested cover types including coniferous, deciduous, and
mixed coniferous/deciduous forests. This forest type has marginal
value as commercial timber or as unique vegetation. The majority
of commercially important timber resources have been harvested,
usually along with associated residential land development.
5
Kittitas Valley’s lowland areas are covered by grasses, agricultural
crops, and riparian vegetation which is prevalent along creek
floodplains and at the edge of wetlands or open bodies of water.
Deciduous hardwood trees including red alder, cottonwood
(Populus trichocarpa), Oregon Ash (Fraxinus latifolia), willow (Salix
sp.), and associated understory species are dominant within the
wetland areas.
Crows, jays, nuthatches, woodpeckers, sparrows, winter wrens,
ruffled grouse, blue grouse, quail, band-tailed pigeon, turtle dove,
pheasant, partridge, Merriam's turkey, owls, hawks, Osprey, and
eagles can find suitable habitat for feeding and nesting in the
upland forested areas and stream valleys. Many of these species can
tolerate adjacent urban developments so long as some habitat and
connecting migration corridors remain undisturbed.
Species - terrestrial zones support a variety of insects, amphibians,
reptiles, lowland and upland birds, large and small mammals. Some
species, such as eagles, osprey, and murrelets, forage in other
habitats but nest in upland locations in wooded areas in or near
riparian zones.
Portions of the Kittitas Valley floor and other low-lying areas are
now devoted to pastures and meadows with some agricultural
corps, woody vegetation, grasses, and wild flowers. These materials
provide food for migratory waterfowl and deer, habitat for rodents
and other small animals, and prey for predators like garter snakes,
barn owls, red-tailed hawk, and fox.
Other species may forage in all of the zones, particularly during the
winter months, but retreat for night and seasonal cover into the
upland wooded areas. Examples include a variety of game species
such as pigeon, grouse, rabbit, deer, bear, and cougar.
Mature forested areas provide thermal cover during winter months
allowing larger game mammals to forage up to 3,000 feet in
elevation during normal seasons, or 2,000 feet during especially
harsh winters.
Animals - urban and agricultural developments within the Kittitas
Valley have substantially reduced wildlife habitat through the years.
However, valuable habitat qualities still remain in undeveloped,
large native vegetation tracts and around the remaining wetlands
and riparian (streamside) forests along the Yakima, Kachess, Cle
Elum, Teanaway, and Columbia Rivers.
Wooded areas support a wide variety of large and small mammals,
birds, reptiles, and amphibians. The most common mammals within
the wooded areas include chipmunks, rabbits, marmots, skunks,
and raccoons. A small number of larger mammals including blacktailed deer, elk, mountain goat, coyote, bear, and cougar likely
occur at the edge of the upper reaches of the Cascade foothills
where large contiguous forested areas remain.
6
Large and rural contiguous parcels of land provide habitat for
wildlife that compete successfully with other species in deeper
cover, like birds and larger mammals like deer, bobcat, and possibly
even bear at the upper most edges of the Cascade foothills.
Important terrestrial habitat elements for these species include tall
trees along the shoreline, mature forests with snags and fallen
trees, and undisturbed mature forest near or surrounding wetlands.
These habitat elements are primarily important to bird species that
nest and perch in the trees, and to small mammals like beaver and
river otter that rely upon an interface between the undisturbed
terrestrial and aquatic areas.
Other important habitats - migratory songbirds rely on the habitat
provided by large wooded areas. These species do not adapt well
where the forest habitat has been fragmented by clear forest cutting
practices or urban land developments.
Smaller wooded tracts are suitable for many plant and animal
communities and may provide temporary cover for some species
for foraging or migratory movement. Large parks and open spaces
can serve as wildlife refuges in urban areas. However, the number
and diversity of species declines in direct relation to the size of the
habitat and where the habitat has been isolated from other natural
areas.
The size and extent of the terrestrial habitat can be improved where
natural migration corridors connect small tracts and large reserves.
Natural migratory corridors enable species to colonize new areas,
forage for food, find mates, and exchange genes with neighboring
populations. Ideally, according to studies, successful wildlife
migratory corridors should be at least 100 feet wide along streams
with additional buffers about severe slopes and extensive wetland
areas.
Unique and threatened species
Unique species
The Washington Department of Natural Resources lists a number of
sensitive species in danger of becoming extinct within the
freshwater and terrestrial habitats including:
Freshwater habitat
•
bog clubmoss - that grows in wetlands adjacent to low elevation
lakes,
•
chain-fern - that grows along streambanks and moist seep areas,
mostly near saltwater.
•
bristly sedge - that grows in marshes and wet meadows,
•
water lobelia (lobellia dortmania) - that grows in emergent
freshwater wetlands,
•
white meconella (meconella oregana) - that grows on open
ground where wet in the spring, and
•
woolgrass (scirpus cyperinus) - that grows in wet low ground.
There are 4 threatened or endangered plants that could occur
including:
•
flowered sedge - found in and near sphagnum bogs,
•
choriso bog orchid - found in wet meadows and bogs,
•
frinshed pinesap - found in deep shady woods at moderate to
low elevations especially in old forest, and
•
golden Indian paintbrush - found in moist lowland meadows
and prairies.
Freshwater and terrestrial habitat
•
western yellow oxalis - that grows in moist coastal woods and
dry open slopes.
Terrestrial habitat
•
fringed pinesap – that grows in duff and humus of shaded, lowelevation coniferous forest,
•
gnome plant - that grows in deep humus in coniferous forest,
•
chick lupine (lupinus micipcarpus) - that grows in dry to moist
soils, and
•
great pole monium (pole monium corneum) - that grows in
thickets, woodlands, and forest openings.
Priority habitat
The Washington Department of Fisheries & Wildlife has listed the
following species as being species of concern, threatened, or
endangered:
Freshwater and terrestrial habitat
•
bald eagle - a threatened species that depend on coniferous,
uneven-aged forests near rivers, lakes, marine, and estuarine zones
for nesting and foraging food,
•
osprey - a species of concern that depend on tall trees or dead
snags near large bodies of water,
•
river otter - a threatened species that depend on wooded
streams and estuaries for food, forage, and cover.
•
harlequin duck - that depend on trees and shrub streams,
banks, boulder and gravel shorelines, and kelp beds,
Freshwater and terrestrial habitat
•
cavity nesting ducks - (Barrow's goldeneye, bufflehead, wood
duck, hood mergansen) that depend on tree cavities adjacent to
sloughs, lakes, beaver ponds, and other open water wetlands,
Freshwater and terrestrial habitat
•
blue goose - that depend on open foothills created by fire or
small clearcuts with streams, springs, and other water features,
7
•
band-tailed pigeon - that depend on coastal forests with diverse
tree ages, and farmland, mineral springs, and streams with gravel
deposits,
•
sea-run and coastal cutthroat, and chinook salmon - that
depend on wetlands and riparian corridors for spawning and
rearing,
•
steelhead - that depend on wetlands and riparian corridors for
spawning and rearing,
•
greenbacked heron - that depend on wooded ponds,
•
beaver - that depend on wetlands and streams for food, forage,
and cover, and
Terrestrial habitat
•
purple martin - a species of concern that depend on tree
cavities in low lying forests,
•
pileated woodpecker - that depend on mature second growth
coniferous forests with snags and fallen trees,
•
Columbian black-tailed deer - that depend on deep forest for
cover,
Wildlife habitat concerns
Freshwater habitat
Some freshwater courses have been altered in the Kittitas Valley by
landfill or piped diversions. Past development actions adjacent to
urban areas, particularly the shorelines and waterfronts, have filled
valuable wetland habitat areas.
The greatest risks to freshwater zones are contaminants that may
enter the stormwater runoff from agriculture, septic failures, and
other urban land uses. Water quality risks are also dramatically
increased where land development or timber clearing activities
increase erosion and siltation and/or clear vegetation within the
riparian buffer along the freshwater corridor.
Development activities most adversely affect the quality of
freshwater habitat by removing vegetation, increasing silt, organic
debris, and other stormwater contaminants that enter the natural
drainage system. Generally, studies have determined that the
8
hydrological balance of a stream begins to decline when 12% of the
watershed becomes impervious.
Terrestrial habitat
The clearing of lands for agriculture and urban land developments
has permanently demolished considerable terrestrial habitat.
Commercial forest management practices have replanted timber
clear cuts with single species reducing wildlife diversity and
isolating habitat and migration corridors, particularly along riparian
areas.
Fire-fighting practices, particularly of wildfires that would
otherwise occur from natural forces, have reduced the amount and
varying availability of meadowlands and other open areas necessary
for foraging activities.
The greatest risk to the terrestrial habitat, however, is the
continued pace of commercial logging and urban land conversions particularly land development patterns that block or demolish
migration corridors, log timbered areas, remove riparian cover,
erode productive topsoil, and introduce urban activities potentially including intense recreational uses - into wildlife areas.
Careless logging practices have often led to serious soil erosion and
the degradation of slopes.
As the most important habitats are isolated, the wildlife species
declines in diversity and number. Urban tolerant species, like
raccoons and crows, invade the remaining habitat from the urban
edges, supplanting and driving out remaining native species.
Land use implications
Freshwater and terrestrial habitats contribute to the overall
biological diversity of the region and provide a number of
additional environmental functions and values of interest to valley
residents. Many species depend on the constant interaction of all
habitat systems for food, cover, nesting, and other survival
requirements.
Some plant, fish, and wildlife habitat will irretrievably be lost as the
valley population continues to grow. These impacts can be
minimized, however, by sensitive land use patterns, innovative
design concepts, and performance oriented development standards
that:
•
Replant - native vegetation along the shoreline and along
drainage corridors,
•
Remove - artificial shoreline constructions and freshwater
impoundment or diversions,
•
Control - stormwater runoff content and quality that enters the
natural drainage system and within the watershed in natural
impoundment on-site where pollutants can be separated from
natural drainage,
•
Cultivate - berry or fruit plants that support and retain native
species, and
•
Cluster – roadways and other improvements to preserve natural
shorelines and contiguous open spaces as common lands.
Portions of the most critical remaining habitat, like mature
shoreline trees, snags, and downed logs, if retained, can sometimes
allow wildlife species to coexist in urban areas.
The most effective preservation strategies, however, separate the
most intense urban activities from the most sensitive habitats by
creating woodland conservancies, open space corridors, and other
protected areas.
Where appropriate, the park, recreation, and open space plan
should preserve and enhance the most critical and unique habitat
areas by purchasing development rights or title for resource
conservancy parks.
Historical development
Indian settlements
The arrival of Indian groups in the Pacific Northwest cannot be
dated with great precision. However, archaeological investigations
at the Manis mastodon site near Sequim on the Olympic Peninsula
indicate man was in the area as early as 12,000 years ago.
There are more than 5,000 Indian sites on record in the state, of
which a few have been professionally evaluated. Generally, sites are
located at river conjunctions within valleys and along the shoreline
of Puget Sound. Known sites have been grouped into three rather
broad time periods:
•
•
•
Early sites - approximately 12,000-8,000 years old,
Middle-period sites - between 8,000-3,000 years old, and
Late period sites - about 3,000 years old.
A large number of different Indian tribes and bands inhabited the
Pacific Northwest region with varied life-styles and different
languages, dress, ceremonies, and adornments. Tribal
characteristics are generally distinguished between the coastal
tribes of western Washington and those of the interior. In general,
the coastal tribes depended on the rivers and tidal waters for staple
foods whereas the interior tribes relied more heavily upon plants
and berries, as well as game and other animals.
The first inhabitants of the Kittitas Valley were the Psch-wan-wappams (stony ground people), also known as the Kittitas band of the
Yakama or Upper Yakama. Although the Kittitas were distinct from
the Yakima (later renamed Yakama) Tribe, settlers and the federal
government (for treaty purposes) grouped the Kittitas with the
larger Yakama Tribe.
Interpretations of the meaning of the word Kittitas vary -- perhaps
shale rock, white chalk, or white clay -- but in any case the name
probably refers to the region’s soil composition. Another
interpretation is that the bread made from the root kous was called
kit-tit. Kous grew in the Kittitas Valley. “Tash” is generally accepted
to mean “place of existence.”
The Kittitas Valley was one of the few places in Washington where
both camas (sweet onion) and kous (a root used to make a bread)
grew. These were staples that could be dried, made into cakes, and
saved for winter consumption. Yakama, Cayous, Nez Perce, and
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other tribes gathered in the valley to harvest these foods, fish, hold
council talks, settle disputes, socialize, trade goods, race their
horses, and play games.
The west side of the Columbia River at what would eventually
become the eastern border of Kittitas County was home to some
dozen Wanapum villages.
Fur trader Alexander Ross (ca. 1785-1858) was one of the earliest
non-Indians to describe the Kittitas Valley. Along with his young
clerk, two French Canadian trappers, and the trappers’ wives, Ross
entered the Kittitas Valley in 1814 to trade for horses and stumbled
upon an enormous tribal gathering. Ross described the scene in Fur
Traders of the Far West:
“This mammoth camp could not have contained less than 3,000
men, exclusive of women and children, and treble that number of
horses. It was a grand and imposing sight in the wilderness,
covering more than 6 miles in every direction. Councils, root
gathering, hunting, horse-racing, foot-racing, gambling, singing,
dancing, drumming, yelling, and a thousand other things which I
cannot mention, were going on around us”.
Ross called this valley in which he encountered the encampment
“the Eyakema Valley” but W. D. Lyman’s 1919 History of Yakima
Valley and subsequent histories of the region identify the location
as the Kittitas Valley.
The Catholic Missions
Beginning in 1847 Catholic Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
established missions in the lower Yakima Valley. In 1848 Oblate
Father Charles Pandosy (1824-1891) founded the Immaculate
Conception Mission on Manastash Creek near what would become
Ellensburg. Pandosy served at the mission until 1849. After his
departure, travelers used the Immaculate Conception Mission as an
overnight shelter. Eventually the logs of which it was constructed
were used as firewood. In 1853 the first emigrant wagon train
passed through the Kittitas area en route to Naches Pass and Puget
Sound. David Longmire, later a pioneer of Yakima, was a member of
the party.
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On March 2, 1853, Washington Territory was established. Isaac
Stevens (1818-1862), newly appointed Territorial Governor, quickly
set about establishing title to Indian-held land within the Territory.
On June 9, 1855, Yakima Chief Kamiakin (ca. 1800-1877) and other
tribal leaders signed a treaty with Stevens ceding claim to all 16,920
square miles (10,828,800 acres) of the tribe's lands except a 1,875square-mile (1,200,000 acre) portion of land to be used for a
reservation.
The future Kittitas County was part of the ceded land, along with
the present Chelan, Yakima, Franklin, Adams, and large portions of
Douglas and Klickitat Counties, about one-fourth of the present
state of Washington. Although the treaty was not scheduled to be
ratified and go into effect until 1859, within one month of obtaining
Kamiakin’s signature, Territorial Governor Stevens advertised in the
Puget Sound Courier that the lands ceded were open to settlement.
Gold and the Indian War
Gold miners crossing the Kittitas and Yakima Valleys on their way
to northeastern Washington combined with the threat of imminent
white settlement angered the Indians. Kamiakin and other tribal
leaders, having signed the treaty reluctantly, rejected it almost
immediately. The Yakima Indian Wars of 1855-1856 and of 1858
followed.
From May to September of 1856, Major Granville O. Haller directed a
military encampment in the Kittitas Valley. It was not until after
1859 that many of the Yakimas were forced onto the reservation
near Fort Simcoe. Congress ratified the Treaty of Yakima and
President James Buchanan (1791-1868) signed the ratification
proclamation on April 18, 1859. Cattlemen such as Ben Snipes
(1835-1906) brought their herds to graze in the Kittitas Valley
almost immediately, and within a few years non-Indian settlement
in the area began in earnest.
Gold miners crossing the Kittitas region continued to be ubiquitous
as they had been during the Indian Wars. In his memoir, Ka-mi-akin,
early Kittitas Valley pioneer, cowboy, and eventually state senator
A. J. Splawn (1845-1917) described how he and his brother William
Splawn (1839-1921) bought horses from the Kittitas and Yakima
Indians and sold them to gold-crazed miners. He recalled, “By 1864
this part of the country was gold-mad ... Spreading out like a fan,
the gold hunters invaded every hole and corner of the mountains”.
The Cattle of Kittitas Valley
The Kittitas Valley became a stopping place for cowboys driving
their herds north toward mining camps in Canada and northwest
toward the Seattle/Tacoma market. By the late 1860s, cattle
ranchers established land claims and cattle became the area’s
foremost industry.
The Valley was a cattleman’s paradise. Streams and bunchgrass
were abundant so cattle could fatten and calf. It was a short cattle
drive over Snoqualmie Pass to Seattle or a longer route over
Colockum Pass to the Caribu Trail. A. J. Splawn described the
Kittitas Valley in the summer of 1871 as a kind of Valhalla for cows
and settlers alike:
“Thousands of cattle, driven in from the lower Yakima summer
range, grazed the beautiful valley, whose fine bunch grass grew
even up to the water’s edge. There were no flies of any kind to
disturb the stock and there was cool, clear water in numerous small
streams that wound through the grassy plain. The cattle became so
fat that they had to hunt the shade early in the morning. It was a
veritable cattle heaven. With no market for agricultural products,
everybody was in the cattle business. The only labor attached
consisted in putting up wild hay and fencing the ranches.
Commercial crazes and get-rich-quick schemes had not yet reached
this wild and beautiful land. The people were honest and happy.
They sold their cattle once a year, and consequently paid their bills
only once a year, but the trader knew he would get his money”.
By the late 1890s, the beef cattle ranching industry was somewhat
eclipsed by farming, especially growing hay and wheat. Better rail
transportation to get herds to market stimulated resurgence in the
region’s cattle industry shortly thereafter. From the early 1870s to
the 1960s many farmers also kept dairy cows and sold their milk to
local creameries. Much of the resulting product was shipped to King
County. The Kittitas Valley also produced a commercial wool crop.
Sheep were initially raised in migrating bands, and shearing
stations were scattered throughout the region. Kittitas also shipped
lambs to eastern markets.
In 1867 Frederick Ludi (1832-1916) and John Goller (1813-?) (known
as Dutch John) became the first non-Indian settlers to the Kittitas
area, building a cabin on the site of what is now Ellensburg. In
1868, Charles (1831-1908) and Dulcina Thorp Splawn (1844-1869)
and Tillman (1840-1918) and Louise Houser (1843-1916) became the
first non-Indian families to make their homes in Kittitas. As other
families came to the area they settled near necessities: timber and
water. In 1870, A. J. Splawn and Ben Burch established the Robber’s
Roost trading post in Ludi and Goller’s cabin. In 1871 Splawn sold
the store to John Shoudy (1842-1901) and his wife Mary Ellen
Shoudy (1846-1921). The Shoudys became the founders of
Ellensburg.
On November 24, 1883, Territorial Governor William Augustus
Newell (1817-1901) signed the act creating Kittitas County. The land
had been part of Yakima County (established January 21, 1865).
Residents of the Kittitas area had petitioned the Washington
Territorial Legislative Assembly demanding that Yakima County
either be divided into two counties or that, if the county were not
divided, Ellensburg rather than Yakima City be named county seat.
Much to the relief of the residents of the lower Yakima Valley, who
wanted to keep their county seat, Kittitas County was split off from
Yakima County and Ellensburg was named the new county’s county
seat.
By 1886 whites were settling in and transforming the land. In
January of that year, the Teanaway Bugle described Kittias Valley’s
rapid development from a settler’s point of view: “Less than a year
ago, Teanaway City was a howling wilderness while today we have a
healthy village with a bright prospect for the future” (History of
Kittitas County, Washington, 1989, p. 65).
Irrigating the Valley
For farmers in the Kittitas Valley, the key to this transformation
from wilderness to village was irrigation. The farming potential of
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the rich Kittitas Valley bottomland was apparent to early settlers,
who dug simple irrigation ditches. In 1885, the Ellensburg Water
Company began surveying canal routes and building simple canals.
By the early 1900s the Cascade Canal and Town Ditch on the east
side of the Yakima River in Ellensburg and the West Side Ditch on
the west side of the river were irrigating more than 26,000 acres in
the lower part of the Kittitas Valley. This spurred the growth of the
region’s commercial fruit industry.
In 1911 the Kittitas Reclamation District began preliminary surveys
and cost analysis for what would become the High Line canal, the
Kittitas Valley’s largest irrigation project. Lack of funding caused
the project to lie dormant until 1925 when the federal Department
of Interior's Bureau of Reclamation became involved in what was
called the Kittitas Project. In 1926 construction on the canal
(officially called the Kittitas Division of the Yakima Project)
commenced. The canal was completed in 1932.
cash crop in Kittitas County.
Towns of Kittitas County
Located at a traditional gathering spot for Indians and settlers alike,
Ellensburg unsurprisingly blossomed into the major town in the
Kittitas region. The Kittitas Localizer began publishing in Ellensburg
on June 12, 1883, followed by the Kittitas Standard on June 16,
1883. The Ben Snipes and Company Bank opened in Ellensburg in
September 1886, and the first Kittitas County Fair was held there in
1885. The arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1886 and the
establishment of the Washington State Normal School (now Central
Washington University), a teacher’s college, in 1891 brought further
growth to Ellensburg. The University has been an anchor and major
employer in the Ellensburg community.
The High Line Canal diverts water from the Yakima River just above
the town of Easton and carries it out into irrigation canals
completely encircling the Kittitas Valley, terminating where Turbine
Ditch spills into the Yakima River. Reservoirs were created at
Kachess in 1912, Keechelus in 1917, and Cle Elum in 1933.
Once the Kittitas Project was complete, the federal government
solicited settlers to use the water and transform sagebrush into
cash crops. Once full irrigation became available, existing farms
were able to produce much more. Irrigated farmland was soon
producing pea seed for commercial growers, sweet corn, potatoes,
tree fruit, and hay. Wheat, however, continued to be largely dryland farmed.
Hay from the Kittitas Valley fed Puget Sound workhorses, but by the
1920s the internal combustion engine made workhorses obsolete. In
1933 Washington legalized gambling on horse racing and the
subsequent growth of the state’s horse breeding industry boosted
the Kittitas hay business. Beginning in the 1950s Kittitas-grown
timothy hay (high protein grass-hay) was exported to other states,
to Japan as horse and dairy feed, and to Europe as feed for
thoroughbred racehorses. Timothy hay is now the largest single
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Thorp, a quiet farming town 9 miles northwest of Ellensburg, was
home to a grist mill, 2 sawmills, and a creamery. Thorp served as an
important community hub for farmers throughout the county.
The discovery of gold in Swauk Creek in 1873 prompted a gold
rush, the creation of a mining district, and the growth of Liberty
and Swauk. Placer-mined gold nuggets are the most common form
of gold found in the region, but the Swauk Creek area is also one of
the few locations in the world where crystalline gold wire has been
found. This highly unusual formation is valued not for its weight
but for its delicate wire-like sprigs of filigreed gold. It is so rare that
most specimens are in museum collections.
Roslyn and Cle Elum prospered because of their large coal deposits.
Coal mining in the Kittitas region was initially developed by the
Northern Pacific Railroad in 1886 to fuel steam locomotives. The
Northern Pacific owned the Roslyn town site and many area mines.
The Roslyn-Cle Elum coalfield contained 8 known seams, 6 of which
were mineable. By the time in 1963 that the last mine in the region
closed, Roslyn-Cle Elum had shipped more than 50 million tons of
coal. From 1990 to 1995 Roslyn served as the setting for the
television program Northern Exposure. Roslyn’s western
storefronts, augmented by copious piles of Styrofoam prop snow,
doubled for the fictional village of Cicely, Alaska.
Ronald, a smaller coal mining town northwest of Roslyn, suffered a
devastating fire when a moonshiner’s still (at 250 gallons perhaps
the largest in the state) exploded on August 17, 1928.
Easton, originally a sawmill town, was the last station for the
Northern Pacific Railroad before it crossed the Cascades through
Stampede Tunnel and the last stop for the Chicago, Milwaukee and
St. Paul Railroad before it crossed Snoqualmie Pass to Puget Sound.
Both Cle Elum and Ellensburg experienced devastating fires, Cle
Elum on July 23, 1891, and again on June 25, 1918, and Ellensburg
on July 4, 1889. Easton’s saloon district burned in November 1907
and the entire Easton business district burned in 1913.
The town of Kittitas was platted in 1908 and incorporated in 1931.
The town of Vantage, from 1914 to 1927 the site of a car ferry
service across the Columbia river, was relocated in 1927 when the
first Vantage Bridge was built and again in the early 1960s during
the construction of Wanapum Dam.
Vantage is the site of Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park. The park
displays fossils of petrified wood uncovered at the site in 1927 and
petroglyphs originally located on land subsequently inundated by
Wanapum Dam. Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park is considered one
of the most unusual fossil forests in the world and was designated a
national natural landmark by the National Park Service in 1965.
The logging industry in the Kittitas area began in the late 1870s and
was concentrated in the western end of the county. Lake Keechelus,
Lake Kachess, and Lake Cle Elum all had logging camps. Sawmills
soon followed. In addition to furnishing building supplies to the
region’s growing towns, much of the early timber logged in Kittitas
County was cut into railroad ties. In 1903 the Cascade Logging
Company became the first large-scale commercial logging company
to operate in the region.
Trails, Roads, and Rails
The main Indian routes into the Kittitas Valley were the Squaw
Creek Trail (up Selah Canyon and over Selah Mountain, entering the
Kittitas Valley at the head of Badger Pocket, then across the Valley)
and the Snoqualmie Trail, used heavily by Indians traveling east to
west across the mountains. Indians used a lower trail (later
Snoqualmie Pass) for foot traffic and a higher trail (later Yakima
Pass) for horse traffic.
Cowboys on horseback and herds of cattle could cross open range
and ford streams, but wagonloads of goods required roads and
bridges. As white settlement in the Kittitas Valley increased and
cattle ranching gave way to agriculture, roads were constructed to
link infant towns. These roads often followed Indian trail routes.
A wagon road between Seattle and Ellensburg across Snoqualmie
Pass was completed in 1867. Although this wagon route over the
pass was unpaved and would remain so for half a century, it
enabled goods from Seattle to reach the Kittitas Valley. Prior to
1867 all supplies to the Kittitas area came by wagon from The
Dalles. This route was arduous enough to cause one stagecoach
driver to conclude, “There is no hell in the hereafter; it lies between
The Dalles and Ellensburg”. Once goods could be shipped by rail,
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the wagon route over Snoqualmie pass fell into disuse. The rise of
the automobile in the early 1900s led to improvements on the old
wagon road.
The main line of the Northern Pacific Railroad was completed
through Kittitas County on July 1, 1887. The railroad allowed
Kittitas Valley products to be efficiently shipped to customers
beyond the county, immediately benefiting the cattle, dairy,
produce, and hay industries.
The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad reached Kittitas County
in 1909 and on July 10, 1910, established daily local service.
Several small logging railroads operated within the county from
1916 until the mid-1940s.
By the 1920s motor routes through Kittitas County were well
established, if not always well paved. The Sunset Highway (Primary
State Highway No. 2) crossed Snoqualmie Pass and went through
Easton and Cle Elum before exiting Kittitas County over Blewett
Pass. Beginning in 1930, Snoqualmie Pass was plowed during the
winter to accommodate skiers.
The Inland Empire Highway (Primary State Highway No. 3) carried
traffic from Cle Elum through Ellensburg, exiting Kittitas County
and turning sharply north as it proceeded toward Quincy in Grant
County. Interstate 90 is now the main route from Snoqualmie Pass
through Kittitas County, exiting the county at Vantage. Interstate 82
runs from Ellensburg south into Yakima County, and Interstate 97
runs from Virden over Swauk Pass toward Wenatchee.
Kittitas County today remains strongly agricultural. All available
water has long been harnessed. Sagebrush-covered arid land (known
as shrub-steppe) contrasts sharply with lushly irrigated crop
acreage. The county’s gold mining and coal mining past are echoes
of an earlier and wilder west, but the passage of time has not
obscured the region’s pioneer heritage. Cowboy and cattle ranching
culture and history continue to be celebrated on a grand scale at the
yearly Ellensburg Rodeo.
Today the main industries are agriculture (including timothy hay to
feed racehorses), manufacturing (food processing, lumber, and
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wood products), and government (including employment at Central
Washington University).
Source: Paula Becker, September 25, 2005 – HistoryLink.org Online
Encyclopedia of Washington State History