The Muckleshoot Tribe sued the state last year, claiming the Department of Ecology gave Seattle illegal control over water usage on the river in the city's Cedar River Watershed Habitat Conservation Plan. The tribe fears the agreement, which it didn't sign, could harm salmon resources and, indirectly, the tribe. Access restricted Slowly, over the decades, Seattle bought out private landowners in the 90,000-acre watershed. Seattle has owned the entire watershed since 1996, when it swapped land with the federal government. Access to the watershed is strictly controlled, because diseases that people are most likely to catch are carried by other people.
Recreation is forbidden and uninvited guests are escorted out.
The watershed is fenced off near populated areas, and the front gate to the headquarters is locked at night and on weekends. Deer, elk, cougar, bear and endangered spotted owl live in the watershed. The waste from the larger animals is not a threat to water quality. The elk population has declined in recent years from several hundred to about 150, in part because forests are replacing clearcuts where elk like to forage for food. Three species of fish, including the threatened bull trout, live in the reservoir and the Cedar and its tributary, the Rex River.