Private Landowners

Less than 1% of the remaining prairie and oak woodland habitats are protected in parks or reserves. Private landowners hold the key to maintaining this important natural legacy.

Written accounts by the first naturalists and pioneers describe wide expanses of prairies across the Puget sound region. At that time, grasslands were actively managed by American Indians, who deliberately set fire to the prairies each fall. One hundred and fifty years after the pioneers settled in western Washington, the prairies and oak woodlands that once spread across valley floors have largely been replaced by agricultural fields and suburban homes. A small patch of woodland creates a refuge for wildlife and improves their Because of the relative scarcity of prairies and ability to migrate across agricultural landscapes. oak woodlands in the region, there are many resources available to private landowners who would like to restore prairie or oak woodlands on their property. For example, in our Landowner Spotlight, Karen Thelen explains her restoration experience on her property with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). Besides NRCS, there are multiple agencies and funding sources to assist private landowners. See the resource list for some ideas on how you can improve your own property. Landowner Stories: Karen Thelen Karen Thelen has been growing Christmas trees on her 17-ac farm in Cowlitz County, WA since the early 1980’s. Her Christmas tree farm had transitioned to an almost entirely organic operation when she ended choose-and-cut sales a couple of years ago. Many of Karen’s fast-growing Douglas-firs were getting too tall for the Christmas tree market, so she decided to manage most of her farm as a woodlot.

Karen became interested in oak conservation when Rachel Maggi, a NRCS representative explained to her that much of Cowlitz County was covered in Oregon white oak woodlands and savanna when the first settlers arrived. Karen was aware of the oaks on her farm, but hadn’t thought about them too much about them until then. That changed when she realized that these old trees were a legacy of an important habitat type fast disappearing in Washington. Karen and Rachel soon began planning a savanna restoration project on a portion of the farm. Karen hired Mark Smith of Woodland Harvest & Landscape to do the on-the-ground work. Mark used a small skid-steer tractor with saw and grapple attachments. The machine makes it possible to cut and handle trees much faster than can be accomplished by manual felling and conventional tractor Rachel Maggi, NRCS skidding. The tractor can also be used in small settings in which larger equipment A view of Karen Thelen’s oak savanna would cause incidental damage to trees. restoration area. This year, Karen is looking for sources of acorns and seedlings so that she can plant additional oaks.

Much of the restoration work already accomplished on Karen’s farm was funded through the NRCS Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP). The long process of enrolling in the program, receiving approval for management activities, and getting paid seemed “as slow as molasses”, Karen reports. In spite of the frustration with the centralized federal bureaucracy, Karen is grateful for the encouragement and technical assistance provided by Rachel Maggi and local NRCS staff. There is a tremendous amount of money available to support restoration projects on private lands. So, Karen still encourages other landowners to contact the agencies to see if there is a conservation program that will work for them. But it’s important to remember that securing funding, like most other aspects of ecological restoration, demands patience and a long-range perspective.