Prairies, and oak woodlands in the Pacific Northwest are so special
because they're one of the most endangered ecosystems in the United States.
The Washington Department of Natural Resources has classified
this ecosystem as the most endangered ecosystem in the state of Washington.
We have lost over 90%
of this great ecosystem, and of the less than 10% that is left,
only 3% of that ecosystem is dominated by native species.
Now, with development,
prairies are pretty rare and most of them have been developed.
Because obviously it would be easier to put concrete over a prairie
than it would of coniferous forest.
Here at Cavness Ranch, we are restoring retired agricultural land
back into what we would consider high quality prairie.
And this is for the benefit for the rare species
that rely on these types of ecosystems.
Some of them are actually federally and state listed, like golden
paintbrush, Mazama pocket
gopher, as well as pollinators like Taylor's checkerspot butterfly.
And so we're working with Center for Natural Lands Management
to basically go through this multi-stage
ongoing project to restore these sections of the property.
As a section of Christmas trees is retired.
That is when we begin the restoration process.
And historically, when we have completed that process
to a manageable level, it's time to start the process again
on a new parcel
Here today,
we're using this mini excavator to help us to remove the stumps
that are left over from last year's Christmas tree harvest.
So these some seem to be removed to allow us to press the seedbed
for our native mix of forbs and grasses.
Once we remove the stumps, we pile them up
and we burn them to remove them from the landscape.
Once we have removed
our stumps, we're going to go in and we are going to drop
seed, a very diverse mix of native forbs and grasses.
So we're actually starting to put seeds in the ground.
Today we have a UTV hauling a drop seeder,
which has over 30 species
of forbs and native grasses.
And behind the drop seeder we have a harrow
and that is providing
seed to ground contact, which helps the seeds
get covered up in the soil and eventually start to propagate on their own.
So the species that have been included in the seed
mix that we have planted so far out here at Cavness Ranch include
a native prairie staple such as Romer's fescue
and also the state and federally listed golden paintbrush.
The golden paintbrush is actually thriving out here,
and in 2020, it had the largest population in the South
Puget Sound at over 78,000 flowering plants
So the trees
that can't be sold at market, we are going to cut them and pile them
either for a wildlife habitat
or we're going to pile them and burn them to remove them from the landscape.
So today here at Cavness Ranch,
we are finishing up the process of removing some Christmas trees.
A few days ago, they were cut down and portions into sections.
Today we have volunteers and other partners out helping with
collecting them, putting them together into piles and lighting them on fire.
So this basically will get rid of them
and it will help us have a clean landscape so that we can maintain it.
We can remove the stumps and then eventually put native seed in the ground.
The area that we were working
on last fall, pulling out the stumps and putting on the seed.
We are now out here in the spring and it's really exciting.
We're seeing the little baby plants popping their heads up.
And the diversity is exactly what we were expecting.
And it's just going to get better.
And the thing that thing I like about it
is it's an early successional ecosystem.
So you can see it evolve
and change in a lifetime.
The Cavness Ranch is one of the good examples of a successful restoration.
In my opinion.
This has the largest population of golden paintbrush in the world now.
And that's directly because of our work
here.
I love Pacific Northwest Prairies
because we live in this place is so green and full of conifers.
And prairies are a place that you can come where it's open and you have expansive
sky and beautiful forbs and grasses, wildflowers.
It's really important
that these prairies are managed because they're early successional.
You can't protect them and walk away without intervention management.
They would disappear.
It's a snapshot.
It's a look back in time to what our natural history used
to look like and what these periods in this landscape used to be.
So for me, coming out here and seeing this property
transformed into more of a natural state is really exciting.