Land Trust Begins Prairie Restoration in Ebey’s Reserve
For Release – April 2008
Whidbey Camano Land Trust
Contact: Cheryl Lowe, Land Steward, (360) 222-3310
Island County, WA
It’s not every day that a land-conservation organization cuts down trees, but that’s what the Whidbey Camano Land Trust is planning to do. In early April the Land Trust will remove a small number of trees to restore the historic native prairie on one of its properties, the Naas Natural Area Preserve in Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve. And Land Trust employees couldn’t be more excited.
“Our tree-removal project is being done to bring back a rare landscape that is a rich and treasured part of our natural and cultural history,” said Patricia Powell, executive director.
The Naas Preserve was acquired by the Land Trust in 2005 specifically to restore the native prairie and help recover a rare plant. The acquisition and protection effort was funded by two federal endangered species grants, a state natural areas grant, and private donations from Land Trust members. The preserve covers 33 acres, including two-thirds of a mile of shoreline on Admiralty Inlet. It is one of 11 places left in the world where the Golden Paintbrush plant (Castilleja levisecta) grows naturally. The Golden Paintbrush is classified as a threatened species by the federal government and an endangered species by Washington State.
The Naas Preserve prairie was maintained for thousands of years by Native Americans who burned it regularly. The conifer trees that will be removed invaded the site’s prairie grassland during the past 15 or 20 years. After the trees are removed, the Land Trust will reintroduce native species of grasses, sedges, and wildflowers that have become uncommon or rare due to the loss of habitat. In the future, native prairie-dependent butterflies and birds may be relocated to the Naas Preserve.
“The tree-removal process will be as low-impact as possible,” said Cheryl Lowe, Land Trust land steward. “All the debris will be chipped and removed from the site to be shared with nearby landowners.”
Removal of the trees is “essential to the health of this prairie parcel and to the long-term viability of the threatened Golden Paintbrush,” said Ted Thomas, senior ecologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and author of the federal rule that listed the species as threatened.
The prairie is one of the most endangered ecosystems in North America. Prairies and oak woodlands were historically common in the Puget Sound region and Whidbey Island originally had about 8,000 acres of prairie. Today less than 1 percent remains. The loss of prairie habitat has led to an increase in the number of species listed as endangered or threatened, including plants, butterflies, and birds that require prairie habitat to survive.
The Land Trust has protected nearly 5,200 acres on Whidbey and Camano Islands, representing a diversity of landscapes including forests, farms, wetlands, prairies and coastal shorelines. The Land Trust, which owns more than 3,300 acres, manages each property based on its site characteristics.
The Whidbey Camano Land Trust protects natural habitats and rural lands on Whidbey and Camano Islands in partnership with landowners and the broader community. Incorporated in 1984, the Land Trust is a local, non-profit, non-political organization that assists private landowners in voluntarily protecting their scenic, wildlife habitat, natural, historic, farm, forest or shoreline properties. The Land Trust also works with community groups to protect those places that islanders hold precious and that are important for current and future generations. For more information, visit our website at www.wclt.org.
