Protecting the Wild and Scenic Nooksack River

Rich Bowers has worked on river issues for most of his life. He currently is the Northwest Coordinator for the Hydropower Reform Coalition, and is a board member of both American Whitewater and the Whatcom Land Trust. He has lived in Bellingham and hiked, skied and paddled on the Nooksack since 2001.

The Nooksack River system is beautiful, unique, and the gem of Whatcom County. With headwaters flowing out of the North Cascades National Park and the Mount Baker Wilderness, it is beyond doubt one of the “wildest” remaining rivers in the lower forty-eight states. This wild character, and the value it provides to landowners, businesses, outdoor enthusiasts, sportsmen and many others, deserves to be protected forever.

The Nooksack is home to a wide variety of native fish and wildlife species, including all five species of Pacific salmon, steelhead, bull trout, bald eagles, black bears, cougars and elk. It is also a nationally-recognized outdoor recreation haven, providing residents and visitors with scenic hiking and horse-packing trails, challenging mountain biking and mountaineering trails, idyllic riverside campsites and picnic areas, world class fishing and whitewater boating opportunities, and incredible cross country, alpine and backcountry skiing territories. This natural treasure provides us with clean water, open spaces, and a high quality of life — yet the majority of the Nooksack River system remains unprotected.

The Nooksack watershed, with the exception of the Nooksack Falls project and one broken-out barrier to fish passage on the Middle Fork, remains free-flowing. But since the late 1970s, an estimated 50 new dams have been proposed in this basin, including studies on Clearwater Creek and Warm Creek (2001), and on Swamp Creek and Ruth Creek (2010). These most recent dams would have been located at the start of the trailhead leading to the Nooksack Cirque and the headwaters of the North Fork. And although each of these proposals was found to be uneconomic and to provide insignificant generation, there is no protection against other dams being proposed, and built, in the future.

In 1990, the Nooksack River’s outstanding fisheries, wildlife, recreation, scenic, historical and cultural values were recognized by the U.S. Forest Service, which found many segments of the Middle, North and South forks of the Nooksack to be eligible for inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. That finding put the Nooksack in the ranks of rivers such as Idaho’s Middle Fork Salmon, Oregon’s Rogue, and Maine’s Allagash. The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 is the strongest tool available to permanently protect our remaining wild rivers and would forever safeguard the Nooksack’s flowing waters, scenic river corridor, and other values.

There is a developing effort to protect 100 miles of the upper reaches of the watershed under Wild and Scenic protection. This will ensure clean water for fish, wildlife and people; promote both river recreation and restoration; and support local businesses that rely on eco-tourism. For this reason, the discussion around Wild and Scenic designation has enjoyed early and strong support from recreationists and businesses, as well as more than 1,000 private citizens.

If you live, work or play on the Nooksack, now is your chance to permanently protect this valuable and unique river. Now is the chance to create a lasting legacy for the future. To start, sign our petition in support of Wild and Scenic designation: http://bit.ly/nooksack and friend us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nooksackwildandscenic.