Size: 120 acres
Location: Skamania County, WA
Acquired: 2024

120-acre Alashík Preserve (Alashík means turtle in the Indigenous Sahaptin language) is a stunning mix of stream channels, wetlands, ponds, forests, and boulders below Dog Mountain’s western slopes. 

Water is essential to a healthy future, and this property is rich with it—along with endangered northwestern pond turtles. These turtles are struggling in the region, but this landscape offers an ideal chance to support their recovery, and Friends is proud to be playing a significant role in that effort. 

This preserve neighbors Turtle Haven, which we’ve owned since 2015, as well as U.S. Forest Service land we’ve helped steward. Partnerships with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife and the Oregon Zoo have boosted turtle populations here. 

Before our acquisition, the land could have been clearcut and mined, threatening years of restoration work downstream with mining runoff. Now, for the first time, wildlife biologists are exploring Alashík’s ponds, finding more endangered turtles, and fostering hope that this species may have a fighting chance. To learn more about the Alashík acquisition, click or tap the story link, photo gallery, and video below.