Quartzite Roadless Area, Washington

The Quartzite roadless area is in the Chewelah Peak watershed in the Colville National Forest, Eastern Washington. Quartzite is the nearest roadless area to Spokane, less than an hour's drive away. It holds a mixed coniferous forest with stands of old-growth cedar and a wide variety of fungi. There is at least one goshawk nesting site.

The Quartzite area is about 5,200 acres in size, but the Forest Service says the roadless area is only about 4,800 acres because of the existence of about 20 stumps. Thus Quartzite is excluded from the Forest Service's Roadless Area Directive.

Quartzite is in the watershed that surrounds Betts Meadows, which is a wetland restoration project undertaken by private individuals with input from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Betts Meadows is 120 acres and at one time was a dairy farm. It now provides habitat for mule deer, black bear and a wide variety of waterfowl.

The Forest Service wants to log Quartzite in 1999, thus destroying another roadless area. Among the negative impacts to Betts Meadows will be increased water run-off, decreased stability of the hydrology, changes in water temperature, and decreased wildlife diversity. Native Forest Network is one of the five groups that are working together to stop this sale from happening.

Contact

Hal Rowe
NFN Inland Northwest
PO Box 1062
Spokane, WA 99160
(509) 838-9022
hrowe@wildrockies.org