Naas Natural Area Preserve
- Status: Protected in 2005
- Location: Central Whidbey Island
- Acreage: 33 acres
Public Benefits
A rare remnant prairie, endangered plant species, wildlife habitat, scenic vistas, walking trails and undeveloped coastline on the west side of Whidbey Island.
Description
The Naas Natural Area Preserve contains a remarkable remnant of our nation’s natural heritage—Pacific Northwest prairie. It is also one of the last 12 places in the world where golden paintbrush (Castilleja levisecta), a showy yellow native plant threatened with extinction, still survives in the wild. Located within Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve, this property also provides spectacular views of Admiralty Inlet and the Strait of Juan de Fuca against a backdrop of the rugged Olympic Mountains.
Project Story
Saving Shoreline, Prairie and Endangered Plants at Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve
In November 2005, the Whidbey Camano Land Trust, in cooperation with the Washington Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), acquired an important and dramatic piece of coastal bluff called the Naas Natural Area Preserve. WDNR holds a conservation easement on the property. This partnership ensures that this pristine coastal bluff will remain undeveloped forever. This area is now one of 50 Natural Area Preserves in Washington State, all of which underwent a rigorous screening process prior to designation. The Naas Preserve protects more than two-thirds of a mile of scenic Whidbey Island shoreline, undeveloped coastal bluff and rare coastal prairie.
Following acquisition, the Land Trust focused on recovery of a rare population of golden paintbrush, a federally threatened and state endangered species. Golden paintbrush once grew in prairies as far south as Oregon’s Willamette Valley and as far north as Vancouver Island, B.C. Now, only two sites remain in B.C. and ten sites in Washington State, including five on remnant coastal grasslands on Whidbey Island. The Whidbey Island populations are mostly confined to properties less than one acre in size. The Naas Preserve, however, contains over 10 acres of historic prairie soils, making it one of the best potential sites for golden paintbrush recovery.
Management at the Naas Preserve focuses on restoring native prairie that supports a viable, healthy population of golden paintbrush and other associated flora such as spring-gold, desert-parsley, buttercup, showy fleabane, camas and chocolate lily. The Land Trust is reintroducing native plants (both paintbrush and other coastal prairie species) into suitable habitat, working in partnership with our members, volunteers, the National Park Service, WDNR, USFWS and the Natural Resources Conservation Service to accomplish our goals.
Since its acquisition in 2005, the Land Trust has gathered seeds from the remaining wild paintbrush plants, contracted with nurseries to sow seeds and nurture seedlings and then transplanted those seedlings onto the site. The result has been an increase in the population from 59 plants to over 2,000 plants in 2010. State and federal restoration grants matched by Land Trust stewardship funds have been used to increase prairie habitat by mowing, prescribed burning and removing invading trees and shrubs from areas that were native grassland only a few years ago. Native prairie species have been planted on over four acres and an additional 2.2 acres are scheduled for restoration in 2011. The Land Trust has planted over 50,000 native plants in these restoration areas. Once prairie plants are well-established, the Land Trust will add golden paintbrush, building population numbers to a self-sustaining level.
The Naas Natural Area Preserve is available for educational and scientific uses with permission. Research, with an emphasis on information needed for recovery of golden paintbrush, is encouraged. Public access is restricted to designated trails, as long as public use does not negatively impact restoration efforts. There is no parking available.
To help with this restoration effort, visit our volunteer page.
