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Remembering the Past

Photo: Ben Legler

Here we consider some of the milestones in Washington’s natural and human history that have affected our state’s biodiversity.

This is a sampling, not an exhaustive list, of the events that have shaped the landscapes we see today.

Know of something to include on this list? Please contact us.

> Natural History
> 8,000 B.P. to ca. 1700
> 1700 - 1800
> 1800 - 1900
> 1900 - present

Washington’s culture, economy, and biodiversity are founded on its rich and varied environments:

• the marine waters of Puget Sound and the outer coast
• the temperate rainforests
• the subalpine and alpine zones of the Olympics and Cascades
• the drier, more open forests of the eastern flanks of the Cascades
• the expansive shrub-steppe
• the rolling hills of the Palouse
• the mighty Columbia River
• and more.

Some of these environments and ecosystems are geologically young, having developed in the last 12,000 to 15,000 years. Some are much older. But all of our ecosystems developed and evolved in response to the underlying geologic history, climatic influences, and natural ecological processes.

Natural History

The geology of Washington is complex, giving rise to dramatic topographic relief, different parent materials, and a wide range of different soil types. Elevations range from sea level to 14,410 feet at the summit of Mount Rainier. Geologic parent materials include basalts, granitics, sandstones, limestones, and serpentines. Soils range from rich organic to sands to the wind-deposited loess of the Palouse.

The climate varies considerably due to the varied topography and the geographic position of Washington adjacent to the Pacific Ocean. Temperature and precipitation gradients correspond to changes in elevation and geographic relationship to the Olympic and Cascade mountains. The temperate rainforest at the Hoh River in Olympic National Park receives 140–180 inches of annual precipitation. Seattle receives 40–50 inches. In the middle of the Columbia Plateau, the average annual precipitation is only 5–10 inches. See this precipitation map from the national atlas (external link – 604 KB pdf).

Natural ecological processes include:

• on-going processes (e.g., nutrient cycling and soil development)
• seasonal processes (e.g., hydrologic response to climate)
• natural disturbances (e.g., wildfires, flooding)
• succession
• predator–prey interactions.

The Columbia River and all of its tributaries flowed freely, with seasonal fluctuations and periodic flooding. Rivers and streams reshaped the landscape and ecosystems. Rivers delivered sediments and nutrients to the deltas and estuaries, which then served as nurseries for salmon and many other marine species. 

Natural succession following disturbances created a mosaic across the landscape. And with each new disturbance, and with the passage of time as natural succession proceeded, the pattern of the mosaic changed.

Predator–prey relationships influenced abundance and distribution of individual species. Native grazers helped shape plant community composition and structure.

8,000 B.P. to ca. 1700

The arrival of humans into the Pacific Northwest, 8,000 to 10,000 or so years ago, took place as some of Washington’s ecosystems were still early in their development after the retreat of ice age glaciers.

Humans brought changes to the landscape. They used the natural resources by:

• hunting and fishing;
• using plants for food, clothing, and shelter; and
• managing parts of the landscape for specific purposes.

The peoples of western Washington set fire to the prairies to maintain production of desirable native plant crops (e.g., bracken fern, camas). On the eastern slopes of the Cascades, shrub fields were burned to stimulate the production of huckleberries and blueberries. 

1700 to 1800

mid-1700s: The horse arrived in the Pacific Northwest, after its reintroduction to North America by the Spanish. It reshaped the culture of many peoples of the region. Native Americans set prairie and grassland fires to produce forage for large herds.

late-1700s: Devastating European diseases, such as smallpox and measles, arrived. These decimated many indigenous peoples. Some scholars believe that the high numbers of salmon and other animals recorded by early Euro-American travelers may have been an artifact of these lower human populations.

1788: British sea captain John Meares harvested ship spars from Puget Trough forests and transported them to China.

1792: Vancouver’s expedition explored Puget Sound. Surgeon-naturalist Archibald Menzies began to catalogue the plant life of the region, and this knowledge began to enter the European scientific tradition.

1800 to 1900

After 1800, an increasing number of Euro-Americans arrived and made their living off the land that would become Washington State. At first, land use activities such as farming, fishing, and timber harvest had a small and localized impact.

Euro-American contact brought significant changes to Washington’s native ecosystems. Increased human impacts on the environment were caused by at least three factors:

• More people in the region meant more demand on resources
• Developing international markets made it profitable to extract resources
• Advancing technology increased ability to harvest and utilize resources.

Key events that affected Washington’s biodiversity in this period included:

1805-06: Lewis and Clark Expedition recorded natural history information.

1811-33:  Fur trading forts established by the Pacific Fur Company (Fort Okanogan, Fort Spokane) and the Hudson’s Bay Company (Fort Vancouver, Fort Nisqually). They were the vanguard of Washington’s international natural resource economy. Harvest of beaver led to dramatic declines, which had a significant impact on riparian ecosystems.

1849: The California gold rush provided a market that triggered the development of agriculture and timber harvest in the Puget Sound region.

1852: Sawmills began to operate on Puget Sound.

1850s—1860s: Mining in the interior Northwest began, with numerous environmental effects:

• Mining technology of the era damaged the ecology of hillsides, streams, and riparian areas.
• Demand for wooden tunnel trusses, viaducts, and other structures accompanied mining, brought the first large-scale cutting of eastern Washington’s forests.
• Livestock were imported to feed people in the mining boomtowns. Large herds grazed on grasslands and shrub-steppe near the mining districts.

1870s: Puget Sound salmon, shellfish, and timber found a major market in San Francisco. Fish canneries opened.

1880: Washington ranked 31st among states and territories in timber production.

1880s: Expanding markets and a new machine, the steam donkey, strengthened the timber industry.

1880s: Transcontinental railroad lines made their way into Washington. In addition to using timber for ties, bridges, and other construction, they:

• opened the state to broader markets,
• improved the economics of using natural resources, and
• accelerated the conversion of land for agriculture and development.

1881: Competition for grazing lands between sheepmen and cattlemen led to range wars in Douglas County.

1883: “The timber contiguous to the Sound is nearly exhausted.” – William Renton, founder, Port Blakely Mill Company.

mid-1880s: Wheat growers in the Walla Walla Valley and the Palouse country produced 7.5 million bushels a year.

1889: Washington statehood.

1890: The Washington State Legislature enacted the Callow Act, which allowed private citizens to own tidelands.

1890: Washington ranked 5th among states and territories in timber production.

1890s: Forest Reserves created (will become National Forests).

1892: First botanical specimen of Scot’s broom (Cytisus scoparius) collected in Seattle. This non-native invasive species will spread across Puget Trough prairie landscapes, changing them drastically.

1893: “The natural resources of the state are vast and inexhaustible.” –Edmond S. Meany, publicist for Washington State at the Chicago World’s Fair.

1896: Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) first collected in Washington State. By 1996 it would be recorded in 31 of Washington’s 39 counties. It will alter rangeland ecology throughout the Northwest.

1897: The shift from cattle ranching to wheat farming in central Washington gained momentum after a bumper wheat crop in Adams County.

1899: Mt. Rainier National Park established.

1900 to present

The rate of changes in the landscape escalated in the twentieth century, responding to increasing population and more efficient technology.

Timber harvest occurred on a large scale and in previously inaccessible environments, such as on steeper slopes in more remote areas. This transformed expansive forests dominated by centuries-old trees and complex ecosystems into younger, more homogenous forests.

Vigorous suppression of wildfires was intended to save forests and their valuable timber. However, removing fire from fire-prone ecosystems changed how they functioned. This included changing their species composition over time.

Dams met demands for water storage and hydroelectric power. However, riparian systems upstream from dams were inundated while those downstream were deprived of flooding, scouring, and sediment deposition. Sediments accumulated behind dams rather than being distributed to riparian areas, estuaries, and deltas downstream. By the end of the twentieth century, more than 1,000 dams affected the flow of Washington’s waterways.

Alteration of rivers and streams provided irrigation for crops and fields and controlled localized flooding. The availability of irrigation water increased Washington’s agricultural productivity—and irrevocably converted biologically diverse habitats to cropland.

Major industrialization in the twentieth century resulted in pollution and environmental contamination. For example, shellfish, fish, birds, and marine mammals in the central and south Puget Sound contain high levels of the chemical contaminants PAH and PCB.

Ports and shipping channels were developed on major water bodies of the state. In fact, more than 75% of Puget Sound’s estuaries and adjacent habitats have been modified, and less than 4% of the original estuarine habitat remains within the Commencement Bay system.

Population growth led to urban and suburban sprawl. Paved roads, streetcars and then automobiles enabled people to live further from their workplace, which pushed communities out into the countryside.

Key events that affected Washington’s biodiversity in this period included:

1900: In one of the largest land purchases in U.S. history, the Weyerhaeuser Company bought 900,000 acres of forest land from railroad magnate James J. Hill.

1900: By this year, the Palouse grasslands were mostly converted to farms. Species native to grasslands began to decline. Since 1870, 94% of the original Palouse grasslands had been converted to crops, hay, or pasture.

1903: A machine, the “Iron Chink,” was patented. It gutted up to 110 salmon per minute—compared to the 2 fish per minute an experienced worker could clean.

1904: The Sunnyside Project irrigated 36,000 acres in 700 miles of canals in the Yakima Valley.

1905: Washington ranked 1st in the U.S. in timber production, and would remain at the top of the rankings until the 1930s.

1906: A “last round-up” yielded 5,000 wild horses in north central Washington.

1908: When the Wenatchee National Forest was established, approximately 100,000 sheep grazed the meadows in the summer. Their numbers increased until the 1920s. One impact of heavy grazing was a shift in vegetation from native perennials to non-native annuals, such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum).

1909: Harbor Island, for a time the world’s largest artificial island, was created from dredgings of Puget Sound.

1910: Irrigated farmlands in the Yakima Valley topped 200,000 acres. Washington apples became as well known as Washington timber and wheat.

1913: Harvest of salmon from Puget Sound peaked at 2,583,000 cases.

1914: Gasoline-powered machinery began to replace horse-drawn combines in Washington’s wheat country.

1917: By this year, more than 1,400 acres of tidelands at the mouth of the Duwamish River had been filled to create land for industry and the port of Seattle.

1932: The first dam on the Columbia River, Rock Island dam, was completed. It would be followed by 15 major hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers. While supplying Washington with inexpensive electric power, dams created major difficulties for salmon migrating up the Columbia and Snake Rivers and were a major factor in the extinction of salmon runs on the Yakima River and other tributaries.

1938: Bonneville Dam completed.

1938: Olympic National Park established.

1941: Grand Coulee Dam completed. The electricity provided by this dam and the others of the Columbia Basin Project enabled industries vital to World War II: aluminum, aircraft, and plutonium. These industries in turn drove residential and urban development.

1941: The first tree farm in the U.S., near Montesano, was dedicated by the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, reflecting a shift both in tax laws and attitudes. Trees were becoming increasingly seen as a crop.

1946: A state law mandated reforestation of forestlands.

1948: Irrigation water began to flow from the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project. Canals would eventually take irrigation water over 85 miles from the reservoir behind the Grand Coulee dam, converting sagebrush-steppe to fields producing apples, potatoes, sugar beets, and many other crops.

1951: A federal report stated that Puget Sound was the sixth most polluted area in the U.S.

1950: Northgate Mall, the first suburban mall in the U.S., opened. It signified the emerging pattern of suburban growth that began to engulf “Pugetopolis.”

1956: The Dalles Dam completed. It inundated Celilo Falls, a fishing ground of critical cultural and economic importance to Northwest Native Americans.

1958: METRO founded in Seattle and King County to address pollution in Lake Washington.

1964: The Wilderness Act was signed into law. It formalized an idea of wilderness as "an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."

1968: North Cascades National Park complex established.

1969: The Environmental Protection Agency established.

1970: First Earth Day: a day of protest, education, and celebration.

1972: The Clean Water Act.

1973: The Endangered Species Act.

1973: “Unlimited and unregulated growth leads inexorably to a lowered quality of life.” –Tom McCall, governor of Oregon.

1976: A new set of Forest Practices Rules took effect. These were designed in a process involving many interested parties to ensure sustainable yields of the state’s forests.

1984: The Washington Wilderness Act gave more than a million acres of mountain wilderness federal status.

1986: The Northwest Renewable Resource Center held a conference that brought people from the forest products industry, tribes, environmental groups, and government agencies together to design a new process for developing policy, the Timber Fish Wildlife Agreement.

1986: Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area established.

late 1980s: The number of sheep considered appropriate on the Wenatchee National Forest had dwindled to approximately 7,000 (from 100,000 eighty years before). One impact of heavy grazing was a significant shift in vegetation from native perennials to an abundance of non-native annuals, such as cheatgrass.

late 1980s: Salmon of 18 locally distinct stocks had gone extinct on smaller tributaries of the Columbia River.

1990: The northern spotted owl was listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.

1991: Judge William Dwyer ruled in favor of environmental groups’ suit to block national forest timber sales to protect northern spotted owl habitat.

1994: The Northwest Forest Plan accepted by Judge Dwyer.

1999: Seven salmon species that inhabit waters of Washington state were listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.

2002:  Biodiversity Conservation Law, ESSB 6400, passed Washington State Legislature. It directed the development of a framework for statewide biodiversity conservation.

2004: Washington Biodiversity Council established by Governor’s Executive Order (pdf). 

2007:  The Washington Biodiversity Council delivers the Washington Biodiversity Conservation Strategy.