Reclaimed Centralia Mine - aerial footage of a proposed Widlife Area

 

Once a vast, barren strip mine, the difficult and lengthy process of reclamation has turned the Centralia Coal Mine in Washington into an enticing landscape of wide prairies, young forests, and many shimmering lakes glittering in a sea of green meadows. Huge herds of elk now roam, and bald eagles wheel through the skies. In this place once utterly obliterated by human industry, life has returned in force.

Now the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife wants to acquire the former mine and transform it into a Wildlife Area to help restore endangered species and open it to the public for outdoor recreation such as hiking, kayaking, and fishing. This is a fantastic opportunity for the region, and if you live in Washington I would greatly appreciate it if you wrote to your state representatives and the WDFW in support of the project. 

I recently took a drive through this landscape along the county road, and though public access to the land is currently strictly prohibited I was able to get a tantalizing peak into this intriguing place with the help of a drone. I look forward one day to hiking through wildflowers and along serene lakeshores where once was naught but a barren wasteland.

For more info, about this and other WDFW land acquisition projects go here: https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/wdfw-lands/land-acquisitions

Soothing scenes from the wild coast of Olympic National Park

The ceaseless pounding of waves upon the rocky shores of the wild Olympic Peninsula both soothes the troubled mind and thrills the adventurous spirit. Here in Olympic National Park nature rules and the shoreline throngs with life in overwhelming abundance. One might sit for hours by the shore entranced by the ever changing motion of the surf, its roar mixed with the plaintive calls of sea birds and the scuttling of crabs hurrying upon their secret missions.

Transforming the Centralia Coal Mine - A Golden Opportunity for Wildlife and Recreation

Past Washington’s only coal fired power plant, now in its final few years, lies a vast landscape of lush prairie, rolling hills, and glittering lakes - a former coal mine now healing and gradually transforming into a unique wild refuge. Under a WDFW proposal, the reclaimed Centralia coal mine would become one of Washington’s newest and largest wildlife areas. Such a protected area would offer great potential both for conservation of endangered species, and for building a strong outdoor recreation economy in the region.

Scenes from the Temperate Rainforest

The leaves may be long gone from the sleeping winter rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, yet their dormant boughs still shine with the emerald green moss that shines through the dim woods like a beacon. Only in a realm so often watered by the frequent storms that wash over over the quiet lowland hills to crash against the Cascade Mountains could such vibrant and diverse greenery thrive.

Raccoons in Olympic National Park

Inquisitive and industrious, the masked bandits of the animal kingdom prowl the rain slicked tidal rocks of Olympic National Park. The Raccoons that dwell here on this Wilderness Coast scan briny pools for tasty morsels washed in from the Pacific Ocean by the ceaseless pounding of waves.

Waterfalls and Waterfowl

 

The heavy rain of Winter in the Pacific Northwest brings quiescent waterfalls to roaring life and soaks the mossy walls of woodland gullies in a billion delicate tendrils of shimmering silver cascades. Down they flow to broad rivers on whose mercurial expanses glide the waterfowl in their joyful multitudes.

New Years Flood

Here in the Pacific Northwest we rang in the New Year with pouring rains and rising waters. 2021 began with a wild tempest, and to see nature at its most extreme is always an inspiring thing to behold. Though the waters have receded since I filmed this video, we can likely expect more and larger floods to come throughout the remainder of the winter and spring as the snow melts and swells the rivers with fresh and frigid runoff.