Submitted by The Chehalis River Basin Land Trust
The Chehalis River Basin Land Trust (CRBLT) is happy to announce the signing of a conservation easement on 40 acres of private land near Oakville. The easement will ensure that these unique lands of riparian forest, prairie, and oak savannah will be protected from development, and conserved forever as natural lands that contribute to healthy habitat and water for the community. The process is described in the following paragraphs.
When Sabra purchased a home and forty acres for herself and her three horses, she knew she had a lot of hard work ahead of her. Much of the pasture was covered with clearing debris, large depressions and invasive plants. Besides rehabilitating the pasture for her horses, Sabra wanted to expand her small acreage of Oregon oaks into an expansive oak savannah. These were lofty goals.
One year later she attended the Prairie Appreciation Day celebration at Thurston County’s Glacial Heritage Prairie and stood in awe at the multi-colored display of native prairie plants in full, glorious bloom. At that same event she talked with members of the Land Trust, one of the many organizations holding educational displays at the festival. Sabra was interested in finding out if the Trust was interested in holding a conservation easement on her private land. The answer, of course, was yes.
Out of this one day experience, Sabra began exploring new possibilities for her land hoping to create a native prairie full of gorgeous native flowers. She consulted with a host of local organizations and agencies, including the Natural Resource Conservation Service, Grays Harbor Conservation District, WA Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Center for Natural Lands Management. And she kept in touch with CRBLT who worked with her to craft a conservation easement that met both organizational and landowner goals.
Years of mowing, clearing debris, planting native trees, grasses and prairie vegetation, setting out bird and bat boxes plus a myriad of other mundane tasks followed. Now the young oak trees, prairie plants, native grasses, etc. are on their way to fulfilling their destiny. The official zones are: Oak Savannah, Oak Woodland, Prairie, and Riparian Forest. And the conservation easement protecting this land has been finalized by Sabra and Land Trust. Now we wait, watch and celebrate.
