The Spokane prairies themselves were/are a last (marginal?) outpost
for Upland Sandpipers in Washington. Their big decline came with the
conversion of the eastern Washington Palouse to wheat fields during the
late 1800s and early 1900s.

Kelly Cassidy

On Sat, 23 Aug 1997, Mark Egger wrote:

> As one who was fortunate enough to see the Upland Sandpiper on its breeding
> grounds in the deceased native prairies E of Spokane back in the early 80's
> and in Bear Valley and Logan Valley in Oregon, I have a couple of comments
> on Kelly's message.
>
> First, I think it is probably a large overstatement to say that most of E
> WA is potential habitat for this species. The Spokane prairies were a
> rather specialized and unique habitat that is now lost to Spokane sprawl
> and, perhaps even more destructive, to an overwhelming influx of
> particularly loathesome exotic weeds. The devastation of this splendid
> habitat over a single decade (early 80' to early 90's) was truly shocking