Washington’s Ecoregions

Watercolor 14” x 21”, 2025

This piece is created in collaboration with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), and will be featured on the cover of an upcoming poetry anthology they are releasing about these unique lands across the state.

The state of Washington has many distinct ecoregions: the Coast Range, the Puget lowlands, a piece of the Willamette Valley, the varied Cascades Range, the Columbia plateau, the Blue Mountains, and the Northern Rockies.

These places all have so many stories, and this painting is meant to highlight a few of those. In the lower part of the piece the Duckabush River bridge restoration work is highlighted, as are people razor clamming. Above the Puget Sound are wetlands and riparian areas. In the mountains is a young women bow hunter, the state’s fastest rising hunter demographic. The I-90 Wildlife crossing is seen near Snoqualmie Pass, and on the east side of the Cascades people work hard at prescribed burns. On the Columbia Plateau, the incredible river networks wind, with important restoration work happening as people plant sagebrush in areas of burns or to compete with invasive species. Towards the Blue Mountains, rivers are restored through modifying culverts and placing large woody debris. And in the foothills of the Northern Rockies, the Spokane Tribe works with the WDFW to release Chinook salmon and other fish.

The distinct ecoregions in Washington are each beautiful and full of unique stories about the communities who live there: from wildlife to people. To learn more, check out the WDFW website.