DESCRIPTION
The Center for Natural Lands Management will use the WCRI funding to produce and provide at least 600 pounds of source-specified native seed for restoration and habitat enhancement work in oak, prairie, and grassland ecosystems in the Chehalis River watershed and to critical plant resources for the recovery of federally listed species including Mazama pocket gopher, Taylor's checkerspot butterfly, and golden paintbrush. This WCRI funding will leverage over $900,000 of project funding and support the equivalent of eight 12-month FTEs with over $249,000 of WCRI funds going to wages and benefits.
The Chehalis Basin Native Seeds project provided 701 pounds of source-specified native seed for restoration and habitat enhancement work in oak, prairie, and grassland ecosystems in the Chehalis River watershed. Additionally, judicious use of funds allowed for the partial support of 2020 native seed harvests (in addition to the seed reported above) which as of the end of this project have not been cleaned or quantified yet. Critical plant resources were produced to further the recovery of federally listed species including Mazama pocket gopher, Taylor's checkerspot butterfly, and golden paintbrush. This WA Coast Restoration Initiative funding joined over $900,000 of other project funding from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Joint Base Lewis McChord in providing the genetically-appropriate seeds necessary for landscape scale re-establishment of our native grassland communities. This project diversified the native plant communities of the Chehalis basin which expanded the breadth of pollinators that could be supported and in turn supported robust bird populations. Seed produced from this project in combination with other funding sources enhanced native wildflowers on over 300 acres of native grasslands in the Chehalis Basin.
