This area is temporarily closed with no legal public access. Public access areas will be designated to ensure all intended uses of the property are compatible with public access. This property will be subjected to a delayed opening either in 2025 or later and will always have limited public access due to the property's potential for reservoir construction.
On April 19, 2024, the Washington State Fish and Wildlife Commission approved a land acquisition for just over 1000 acres within the larger 3,600-acre footprint of the Springwood Ranch property in Kittitas County. Springwood Ranch is located 15 miles east of Cle Elum and north of I-90 near the town of Thorp in Kittitas County.
The primary purpose of the acquisition is to build a reservoir for water storage from winter runoff that will be used to increase river flow for salmon and steelhead smolts in the spring, and to add additional sources and capacity to the water supply in the basin as part of the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan (YBIP).
Springwood Ranch will be divided into five areas, with four different owners. Owners will include Kittitas County, The Kittitas Reclamation District (KRD), the Confederated Bands and Tribes of the Yakama Nation (Yakama Nation), and WDFW. Two of the five areas will be conveyed to both WDFW and the Yakama Nation for joint ownership and management. This will be the first example in WDFW’s history where the agency will have the privilege and opportunity to jointly own and manage property with a tribal nation.
This area is not currently open to public access. The department and Yakama Nation are currently assessing how and where to direct outdoor recreation, so it does not impair the conservation use of the area or unduly impact reservoir feasibility studies and activities. WDFW is working collaboratively with our Yakama Nation co-owners on an interim management plan for Springwood Ranch. This will help identify and manage public access as well as specific goals, objectives, and timelines for the area that will both enrich the habitat on this landscape and provide sustainable recreation opportunities.
At a glance:
- Acres Co-owned: 1,196 of approximately 3,600 total
- Elevation Range: 1500` - 2300`
Springwood property ownership boundaries: aerial view
Note: parcel boundaries are not current
Recreation and public access
This area is not currently open to public access. In order to open it to the public, WDFW and Yakama Nation need to complete the following:
- Assessing the type, location, and intensity of compatible public recreational activities.
- Conducting land use and recreation planning and management. This will include infrastructure work and maintenance on fences and roads, installing informational signs and kiosks, and examining suitable access locations and develop access sites.
Fish and wildlife conservation
The Yakima Basin’s current water supply does not meet instream demands for fish and wildlife, nor out-of-stream needs of pro-ratable irrigation and municipal supply. The Springwood Ranch area has been acquired to preserve the area for a feasibility study to examine the area’s potential for a reservoir.
Conservation Goals
- Provide water storage and improve native fish survival
- Protect and restore native plant communities
- Maintain healthy populations of game and non-game species
- Preserve habitat and species diversity for fish and wildlife resources
Yakima Basin Integrated Plan and Water Storage
The Yakama Basin Integrated Plan (YBIP) is a coalition of local, state, and federal agencies, tribes, and non-governmental conservation partners, working together to conserve and restore habitat and all salmon and steelhead stocks, as well as to address water and climate variability challenges in the Yakima River Basin.
The Springwood Ranch acquisition is the result of an ongoing collaborative effort among YBIP partners and new property owners to secure and manage the area to achieve multiple YBIP goals, including riparian protection, water supply resiliency, habitat protection, and maintaining agriculture in the Yakima Basin.
A large portion of the Springwood Ranch property is intended to be managed by the Kittitas Reclamation District as an off-channel reservoir to capture and hold water early in the year and release it in spring to coincide with juvenile salmon and steelhead migration to improve their survival.
Land stewardship
The Springwood Ranch’s approximate 3,600-acre footprint has been divided into five separate sections and conveyed to four landowners from the previous owner, Trust for Public Land.
- Kittitas County will receive a ~700-acre area.
- The Yakama Nation will solely receive a ~300-acre area.
- The Kittitas Reclamation District will receive a ~1200-acre area.
- WDFW and Yakama Nation will jointly receive a ~300-acre area and a ~700-acre area; totaling ~1000 acres.
WDFW and Yakama Nation ownership and management
The two WDFW and Yakama Nation jointly owned areas will be managed under a Memorandum of Understanding and an interim management plan, while a more comprehensive management plan is developed. This partnership will adopt several guiding principles for joint management that include but are not limited to habitat restoration and management, access opportunities for tribal members and the public, and coordination with the other landowners.
One goal will be to manage these sections for upland and shrubsteppe habitat restoration as well as for habitat quality improvements for upland game birds, mule deer, and other non-game species. Lands will be managed pursuant to the Yakama Nations mission to honor, protect, and restore culturally important fish and wildlife populations and their habitats throughout the Zone of Influence of the Yakama Nation and to protect the rights of Yakama Nation members to utilize these resources as reserved by them in the Treaty of 1855 (12 Stat 951). Additionally, our goal is to protect significant Traditional Cultural Properties within the area for the preservation and perpetuation of the Yakama people’s history and continued way of life. The property also has an existing grazing lease that WDFW and the Yakama Nation will cooperatively manage with Kittitas County and the Kittitas Reclamation District.
Near-term Management Priorities:
- Initial installation and maintenance work related to infrastructure, fencing, signage and weed management
- Development of a cooperative working lands strategy and new grazing lease
- Development of a Springwood Cooperative Management Plan
- Conduct habitat surveys and inventories
- Development of a public access approach
Acquisition History
In March of 2023, The Trust for Public Land (TPL) purchased Springwood Ranch from its long-time owners, Springwood Ranch Corporation and Springwood Investment Corporation. Before that, the property was previously owned by Stuart Anderson of the Black Angus Steakhouse.
TPL is a national nonprofit that works to connect everyone to the benefits and joys of the outdoors. Since 1972, TPL has protected 4 million acres of public land; created 5,420 parks and trails; raised $94 billion in public funding for parks and public lands; and brought parks and trails to within a 10-minute walk of home for nearly 9.7 million people. TPL’s partnership with tribal and Indigenous communities to recover, restore, and safeguard their ancestral homelands is an indispensable part of their holistic conservation strategy to confront the most pressing challenges of our century: climate change, declining public health, and deep social divisions.
As part of the Yakima Basin Integrated Plan, TPL supported the preservation of Springwood Ranch by helping place the land in the hands of Kittitas County, the Yakama Nation, the Kittitas Reclamation District, and WDFW. This collaborative stewardship ensures Springwood Ranch is preserved for the benefit of the people in the Yakima Basin and Washington State by increasing water levels, protecting biodiversity, sustaining working lands, and building climate resilience for generations to come. To learn more, visit tpl.org.
The parcels making up the two WDFW and Yakama Nation areas were conveyed from TPL on October 31, 2024.
The funding for the entire Springwood Ranch property acquisition is provided through a direct appropriation from the state Capital Budget through the Washington Recreation and Conservation Office to the Trust for Public Land, who was able to purchase and hold the ranch until it was transferred to the future landowners.
- Funder: WA State Legislature
- Fund: State Capital Budget
Contacts
Yakama Nation
Lottie Sam, Yakama Nation Fisheries Education & Outreach Specialist
saml@yakamafish-nsn.gov
509-830-9006
Yakama Nation Fisheries website
Kittitas Reclamation District
krdoffice@fairpoint.org
509-925-6258
Kittitas Reclamation District website
Kittitas County
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Ross Huffman, Region 3 Wildlife Program Manager
Ross.Huffman@dfw.wa.gov
(509) 406-5949