Conservation Grazing At Violet Prairie
posted on
January 10, 2025
Since I was nine years old, I would look out my bedroom window every morning and dream about grazing cattle on the hill across from the ranch, on land that was originally part of our family's historic homestead in the 1850s. Today, that land is part of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Violet Prairie Unit, and I'm grateful to be working with them to help restore the native prairie here using conservation grazing with our cattle as a management tool.
Over the last 20 years that our conservation easement has been in place at Colvin Ranch, we've learned a lot about how to best use conservation grazing to benefit the environment and the native plants and animals that live here. In that time, we've increased plant diversity by 20%, increased the population of endangered Mazama pocket gophers, and helped bring back the golden paintbrush from the brink of extinction.
Now, with a grazing permit from the Department of Fish and Wildlife, we're bringing everything we've learned about conservation grazing over decades of practice to benefit the broader prairie habitat in our region. And we're thankful that we can extend our partnerships with agencies like NRCS and US Fish and Wildlife, organizations like WSU Extension and the Thurston Conservation District, and non-profits like the Ecostudies Institute to implement habitat restoration projects beyond our ranch.
Wildlife doesn't pay attention to property lines or fences, or care who owns which parcel of land. We see that when the bald eagles that hunt down by our section of Scatter Creek fly directly over our house at the ranch to their nest across the street on the Violet Prairie Unit. That's why partnerships like these between federal, state, and local agencies, non-profits, and the agriculture community are so important. Not only is it possible to have both working agricultural lands and wildlife habitat co-exist in balance with each other, but it's the best way to bring the greatest benefit to the environment, to wildlife, and to the community.
