Category Overview
As Washington continues to grow, many of our most beautiful areas are threatened with development. In addition, native ecosystems are receding, and important wildlife habitat and migratory pathways are being cut off. The Natural Areas category helps combat this by funding projects that protect wildlife habitat and rare geological features while also preserving public access for back-country recreation.
Project Highlights
The Department of Natural Resources used this grant to purchase approximately 10 acres within the Lacamas Prairie Natural Area Preserve, which consists of approximately 4.4 acres of wetlands and 5.6 acres of uplands. This Willamette Valley wet prairie represents the only example of its size and quality in Washington. These priority parcels support the second largest of 20 known populations of Bradshaw’s Lomatium, a globally critically imperiled, federally-listed endangered plant species. They also contains habitat for five state sensitive plant species and one rare animal species, the Slender-billed White Breasted Nuthatch. This site is located northeast of Vancouver Washington. Due to numerous conversations with the landowner over the years, the original acquisition footprint has grown exponentially. In order to accommodate the purchase of the landowner’s ownership within the NA boundary, DNR is working with RCO to move the remaining funds from both this grant and 18-1520 grants into the 20-1334 grant.