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
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission (WSPRC) will use this grant to initiate Phase 2 of habitat restoration for sand-verbena moth, a critically imperiled species known from 11 locations in North America (five in Canada and six currently confirmed in the United States). In the U.S., two of the known populations are in Washington State Parks: Fort Worden State Park and Deception Pass State Park. The sand-verbena moth only occurs in open sand dune habitats with relatively low cover of exotic plant species, where it relies on dense, flowering patches of yellow sand-verbena for the entirety of its life cycle. While previous reports identified European beachgrass and trampling by recreationists as significant factors threatening the survival of sand-verbena moth and its host plant, additional threats were identified during Phase 1 of the project that will be addressed in the next phase. In addition to benefiting the sand-verbena moth, this restoration project will benefit other plant and animal species that are native to these rare sand dune habitats. This project will restore critical habitat in two of Washington’s most popular state parks; while visitors will be routed out of critical habitat areas, trails through the restoration area will provide the public with an excellent opportunity to observe rare native species and communities.