In Washington, the West Cascades run southward from Snoqualmie Pass to the Columbia Gorge, the only lowland divide in the range. Across the Columbia, the West Cascades ecoregion extends south into Oregon. This ecoregion contains active and inactive volcanoes, including Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Hood. The crest of the Cascades marks the ecoregion’s eastern edge. Within this sparsely populated ecoregion lie only a few towns, among them Ashford, Morton, Packwood, Randle, and Stevenson. Nearly two-thirds of the ecoregion is public land, most of it federally-owned. The East Cascades – Modoc Plateau ecoregion includes the mountains that lie east of the Cascade crest and the foothills as they flatten into the Columbia Plateau, extending from Lake Chelan in Washington to northern California. Fire has historically played a crucial role in maintaining the ecological health of the dry, open forests of the eastern slopes of the Cascades, but fire-suppression management efforts have changed these patterns dramatically. Additional information is available from the Washington Biodiversity Council for the West Cascades , and the East Cascades.
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