I don't know how aware folks are of the sale of a historic ranch in
Benton County, but for those who are not aware and are interested, I'm
passing along this link to an Associated Press article about it.
http://goo.gl/4jEqJ <http://t.co/9xYoz4TY>

The nut of the story is that the historic McWhorter Ranch goes on sale
tomorrow. The story describes the ranch as:

" a pristine property largely unchanged since it was settled in 1903,
laced with dry grasses and sagebrush and home to elk and other wildlife.
The ranch stretches down the mountain's south face across more than 20
square miles of Washington's shrinking shrub-steppe habitat."

It goes on to say: " Wildlife officials see the ranch, with its deep
soils and healthy plants, as an opportunity to boost populations of
threatened sage grouse and ferruginous hawk, as well as a number of
other species: badgers, black-tailed and white-tailed jackrabbits,
Townsend's ground squirrels, burrowing owls and pygmy rabbits."

State Department of Fish and Wildlife officials as well as some local
officials and conservation groups are hoping to buy a major chunk the
land. But the land could also be used for agriculture or housing.

Again quoting from the article:

" The McWhorter family declined to comment on the impending sale. The
state has set aside $1.8 million toward the purchase. An appraisal of
the property is still being completed, but Tayer estimates the state
will likely need at least another $3.5 million to buy just the main ranch."