One of the Findley Buttes--from the Nature Conservancy Preserve
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One of the Findley Buttes--from the Nature Conservancy Preserve
We passed the gate, and Karen carefully shut it behind us. According to Houle's book, the Zumwalt Prairie ranchers' biggest complaint about the scientists and tourists who visit is that THEY DON'T SHUT THE GATES!!
The Conservancy's directions and our National Forest map didn't seem to quite agree. As we drove farther into the Preserve, looking for the trailhead, the road's puddles grew bigger, the dirt got softer and the ruts were deeper. Seeing that we were probably supposed to go up and over one of the buttes, I said "This is far enough!" Karen had more confidence in her four-wheel drive Suburu than I did, but she agreed to turn the car's nose around. We found a wide spot in the road; broke out the coffee and muffins and sat on the car's tailgate, surveying this little piece of Heaven we were in.
Using binoculars and Karen's bird scope, we found a good variety of birds and some more residents of the Prairie—a small herd of Elk cows with their calves on the upper part of a nearby butte. Later, back on Zumwalt Road, we saw a handsome bull elk arranging his afternoon napping bed on the side of a low hill.
We didn't need binoculars to see the wildflowers—they and the bunch grasses were all around us. Marcy Houle commented in her book that bunchgrasses "show the scalp of soil" in between the bunches, allowing for wildflowers to take root and co-exist with the grass. A win-win situation apparently.
Clarkia pulchella, "Ragged Robin"
(Left) Geum triflorum, "Prairie Smoke" (Right) Lupine sp.
Geranium viscosissimum, "Sticky Geranium"
Calochortus eurycarpus, "Big-pod Mariposa Lily"
The Nature Conservancy is using this Preserve to protect the bunchgrass prairie and also to launch more ecological research. A new study of nesting raptors will expand on Marcy Houle's original work 23 years ago. The restoration of Camp Creek which runs through the Preserve is also underway. Some of the small "push dams" created by the cattle ranchers for watering holes are being removed. These are a barrier to redband trout. And, while the Zumwalt Prairie is in way better shape than most other prairies today, it is not perfect. The nasty cheatgrass had been apparent to us in some places as we drove along Zumwalt and Crow Creek roads. The Conservancy is trying to find ways to stop the spread of such invasive, noxious weeds and restore the bunchgrass prairie in key areas. A big job! And, we hope they succeed. In many ways, Zumwalt Prairie is a living laboratory and if research projects are successful here, they could impact on many other western grasslands.
From the car's tailgate we could view another research project—just started this spring. Oregon State University researchers will spend the next four years investigating the effect of cattle on soils, plants, invertebrates and ground-nesting birds. The bottom-line question: Can grazing co-exist in an area like the Zumwalt Prairie? The current health of the Prairie should make them hopeful that cows and bunchgrass can live together long-term. We could see one area of the Preserve where the cattle had been fenced OUT. A rather flimsy-looking "tape" fence enclosed a large area where the grass was noticeably higher than just beyond, where some cattle were peacefully chewing their cud. The reason the cattle avoided the flimsy fence was that it was electrified—and powered by a solar cell battery. We could see the shiny reflector that was catching the sun's rays. High tech on the Prairie!
