Land Preservation: The Maytown Conservation Fund Group contributed funds to help Capitol Land Trust purchase 60 acres of land on the Holm ranch on 113th Ave., north of Littlerock in the Black River watershed. This flooded woodland including Bloom’s Ditch — a salmon-bearing channelized stream — can be managed for conservation of Oregon Spotted Frogs, a species of concern of the Maytown Conservation Fund, and provide opportunities for bird surveys and field trips for BHAS. The settlement agreement authorizing the Maytown Conservation Fund permits using monies from the Fund for acquisition of lands within the Black River watershed.
Background: To protect rare prairie habitat, BHAS manages the Maytown Conservation Fund, which permits monitoring the water level and status of species of concern (as well as acquisition of land within the Black River watershed), on the 810-acre West Rocky Prairie tract in southern Thurston County, currently owned by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). BHAS is working with WDFW, Northwest Land & Water, Center for Natural Lands Management, and Capitol Land Trust (CLT), on monitoring efforts. BHAS is the Fund Manager; CLT is the Fund Administrator. WDFW researchers, in their final report on Oregon Spotted Frogs funded by the Maytown Conservation Fund, recommend reforesting the uplands and supporting beavers in the lowlands to preserve these threatened frogs. In a letter to the Port of Tacoma, BHAS has urged the Port to accept WDFW’s offer to purchase an adjacent 745-acre tract owned by the Port, and we also urged the Port of Olympia to write a similar letter to the Port of Tacoma, which they did. Significant funds have been obtained for WDFW to make the purchase, but the Port of Tacoma has not agreed to a sale.
(Photo credit: Virginia Schanbel, ThurstonTalk.com)