Category Overview
The State Lands Restoration and Enhancement category provides funding to two state agencies to help repair damaged plant and animal habitat. These grants focus on resource preservation and protection of public lands. Projects in this category help bring important natural areas and resources back to their original functions by improving the self sustaining and ecological functionality of sites.
Project Highlights
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife used this grant to grow, the state endangered plant species, Sanicula arctopoides (footsteps of spring), for planting in an area just north of Long Beach. Work also included removing trees and weeds to expand violet meadows for the Oregon silverspot butterfly, which is on the federal list of species threatened with extinction. This area was the last place that the Oregon silverspot butterfly was sighted in Washington: it now is considered extinct in the state. The project used college students, who work in a nursery to propagate and grow rare native plants, and travel to the meadow to weed, plant, and collect seed.