Steve Herman, one of our true Champions of the Environment, sent this
message to me and asked if it was worthwhile to forward it to Tweeters.
I'd say so. Environmental issues represent still another subject over and
above those that we have been discussing recently, but--as many people have
pointed out--if you're not interested, delete it; if you are interested,
read it; if you care, do something about it. This is a rare and precious
habitat that seems to have few defenders (alpine lakes and old-growth
forests are clients of Madison Avenue) and is much more imperiled than some
of those that get all the PR. Forget about rare birds; if we want to
continue seeing *common* birds we had better defend their habitats with all
our might. Dennis Paulson

>Dennis: I do hope you consider this appropriate for TWEETERS. The
>birding and ornithological community -especially in Washington- could
>make a major difference on this issue. Believe me, the site *is*
>worthwhile. I visited it on 29 August, and was much surprised to find it
>in such good condition. The S end, where there is water, is trashed, but
>it gets progressively better as one goes N.
>Thanks for your time and consideration,
>Steve
>
>A Piece of Native Landscape: Going, going,...gone?
>
>Sagebrush Flat is a 4000 acre relict tract of a native ecosystem
>that once covered much Washington east of the Cascades. It is some 13 miles
>northwest of Ephrata, in Douglas County. The area is School Trust
>land, owned and "managed" by the Washington State Department of Natural
>Resources (DNR).
>
>Nearly surrounded by a patchwork of wheat fields, it remains
>largely intact despite decades of grazing by livestock owned by
>local ranchers who lease the grazing privileges from the DNR. In
>recent months, conservationists have become aware of the
>remarkable biological richness of the site and have attempted to
>foster a management policy that would protect the area from
>further damage and preserve it for its natural values. Much of
>Sagebrush Flat -and especially that portion to which the cattle
>have had little access because of a dearth of water- is a
>nearly pristine example of what the legendary plant ecologist
>Rexford Daubenmire called the "<Artemesia tridentata-Agropyron>
>(Big Sagebrush-wheatgrass) vegetation zone" of the Shrubsteppe
>(also his term) region.
>
>The focus of the conservation concern has been the only population of
>the Pygmy Rabbit in Washington (where it is an Endangered Species), but
>the area also hosts a complete
>complement of other Shrubsteppe species, including Sage Thrashers,
>Brewer's Sparrows, and Sage Sparrows; the latter species breeds at
>Sagebrush Flat at or near the northern limit of its distribution.
>A Sage Grouse lek on Sagebrush Flat held displaying males in
>1994 . The site also has a wide variety of bird species (e.g.,
>Loggerhead Shrike) not endemic to the Shrubsteppe, White-tail
>and Black-tail Jackrabbits, Cottontail Rabbits, Washington Ground
>Squirrels, Shorthorned Lizards, and certainly countless species of
>native invertebrates found only in this habitat type. About ten
>species of native grasses are found on the site, and the
>pernicious exotic Bromus tectorum is far from pervasive. The
>natural integrity of the area derives not only from the fact that
>it has miraculously escaped the kind of grazing abuse and
>conversion to agriculture that has obliterated a huge percentage
>of the Shrubsteppe in the Northwest, but also from the size of the
>remnant piece: at something over 5 square miles, Sagebrush
>Flat is a large tract, large enough to sustain the native
>community that exists there. The Pygmy Rabbit survives here in large
>part because the soils are deep (it is the only burrowing rabbit native
>to North America). If the site is truly protected,
>soon, its condition will stabilize and even improve; if the cows
>are allowed to remain -or if their numbers and range are
>increased, as planned- the site will suffer further degradation
>and eventually will fail, negating the value of saving it. In the
>meanwhile, every cow that grazes the site and is then taken
>elsewhere in the normal course of ranching activities will take a
>piece of Sagebrush Flat with it.
>
>The options for management seem to be four: continue the present
>policy of abusive grazing, develop a preservation plan that would
>keep the site in DNR but exclude cattle, transfer the property to
>the state Fish & Wildlife Department (who insist that the grazing
>is critical to the survival of the rabbit!), or elevate it to
>Natural Area Preserve (NAP) status; all of these options are open
>to the executive managers in the DNR. Unanimously, committees and
>other advisory bodies have recommended NAP status; the Natural
>Heritage Advisory Council (which includes academicians, managers,
>and conservationists) made that recommendation to Jennifer
>Belcher, Washington Commissioner of Public Lands (head of DNR) on
>12 October, with the proviso that all cattle be removed.
>
>Belcher has been uniquely unavailable to conservationists and
>academics alike (I wrote her on 16 June and have not yet had a
>reply to my questions and suggestions), and there is abundant
>evidence that her Department is bending over backwards to appease
>the single rancher who pays just over $1500 annually to graze his
>cows (that only he counts) on the site. His grazing leases were
>hurriedly renewed during the summer.
>
>If NAP status is to be achieved, it will probably have to be
>completed soon. The funding that is necessary for that transition
>now appears to be available; in view of the current political
>climate, it seems unlikely that the money will continue to be
>accessible. This is an urgent issue for other reasons, too.
>Belcher was elected two years ago on a distinctly environmental
>platform, but has done little to improve the management of the
>more than a million acres of Arid Wildlife Lands (their term is
>"rangelands") under her stewardship. What happens at Sagebrush
>Flat may well determine the course of events elsewhere in this
>abused and largely ignored biome. With the announcement on 22
>December that Bruce Babbitt has given up entirely on any
>"rangeland reform", arid lands everywhere in the West were placed
>in heightened jeopardy. Washington state bureaucrats have been
>spared the pressure felt by many BLM and Forest Service personnel
>in most of the 11 Western states, possibly because Washington has
>less than a half million acres of BLM land, far less than most of
>those states.
>
>Conservationists of all stripes are urged to make their feelings known
>on this issue. Messages favoring protection might be most
>effective if they urge Natural Area Preserve status for Sagebrush
>Flat, without cattle. Comments might include the observation that
>the DNR is under wide scrutiny on this issue. Comments should be sent
>ASAP.
>
>Ms. Belcher seems to be without an Email address, but letters can
>be
>sent to:
> Jennifer Belcher
> Commissioner of Public Lands
> Department of Natural Resources
> Olympia WA 98504
>
>and faxes will find her at (206) 902-1775
>
>Steven G. Herman, Ph.D.
>The Evergreen State College
>Olympia WA 98505
>hermans at elwha.evergreen.edu
>(206) 866-6000, ext.6063
>(206) 943-5751 (home)

Dennis Paulson phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416