04-05-2025
Grazing cattle are helping conserve this Tenino area prairie that's open to the public
The Colvin family has raised cattle on land just outside Tenino for generations, but recently the cattle have not been confined to the family's ranch on Old Highway 99.
Visitors to the area may see cattle crossing the road to graze at the Violet Prairie Wildlife Area Unit, about 1,500 acres of public land the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife finished acquiring last year.
The unit is part of the Scatter Creek watershed, a main hub of the county's prairie-oak conservation network. It's also home to threatened species such as the Mazama pocket gopher and Taylor's checkerspot butterfly.
So, why are cattle grazing there? Bill Kronland, Wildlife Area Manager for the Scatter Creek Wildlife Area, said they are helping conserve the prairie and species that live there.
'From my perspective, it was looking at this landscape and looking at the resources I have at hand and thinking to myself, 'how am I supposed to manage this?'' Kronland said.
Native prairies are few and far between. A 1998 study found native prairie species dominated only 3% of grassland soils in the south Puget Sound region. More recently, a 2021 Washington State University study found over 90% of prairies west of the Cascades have been converted to agriculture or lost to development.
Jennifer Colvin, owner of Colvin Ranch, said she partnered with WDFW to graze her cattle on Violet Prairie last year and it's already producing results.
'I think it gives us a really unique opportunity to manage the prairie for the benefit of the wildlife that live here but also keep these agricultural lands as working agricultural lands,' Colvin said. 'We're able to raise a really great product and to feed our local community.'
The Olympian visited Violet Prairie in April to see the practice in action.
Sediment deposited by melting glaciers formed the prairie, Kronland said. Rainfall drains through the soil, leaving a unique landscape that looks drier than what people might expect in western Washington.
'Since the end of the last glacial period, it's been maintained by first peoples who have regularly burned back the Douglas fir (trees) to keep the prairie open for cultural resource plants and to make it easier to walk through.'
Kronland said WDFW wants to reintroduce those first peoples management methods and seed native plants that local species rely on. Fire is a key tool, but he said it can't be used everywhere.
'We'd either be smoking out Tenino or we'd be shutting down the highway,' Kronland said. 'So, what's the alternative? Mowing, spraying herbicides? All those are resource intensive and kind of not desirable. Cows are biomowers.'
Fire burns off non-native plants and creates bare soil for native seeds to take hold. Cattle can similarly create bare ground openings, Kronland said.
The area has a history of grazing as well. Colvin said her family has grazed cattle in the area for 171 years and has practiced conservation for decades, both on their own and in partnership with state and county government as well as local organizations.
'You don't have to necessarily choose between raising really great quality beef and making a sacrifice there for also conserving the habitat,' Colvin said. 'You can do both.'
Colvin said the cattle are rotated through separate pastures to give native plants a chance to grow and set seeds. One of the key ones they look out for is the camas, which features lavender and deep blue petals.
'We use camas as our indicator, rather than just looking at the calendar because every year it's a little different,' Colvin said.
WDFW has yet to officially survey the area so evidence of their success on the Violet Prairie is anecdotal.
Kronland pointed out that areas that were grazed appear much greener while areas that were not grazed have a buildup of thatch and brownish vegetation.
'We'll get there someday,' Kronland said of the brownish vegetation. 'It's growing less because we're not introducing the vegetative state.'
He said the grazed areas remained green through the dry period of the summer and there's more heterogeneity in structure.
'It's not just the sea of thatch and brown grass,' Kronland said. 'What we have are patches of grass here and there. We have openings, so we're actually getting bare ground.'
The improved landscape is also helpful for preventing wildfires. Without the cattle, Kronland said he would have to use tractors to mow fire breaks, which is diesel and labor intensive.
The greener landscape is less likely to burn than the thatch-filled landscape, he said.
'If I wanted to burn that right, I'd have to sit there with a burner to get it to burn,' Kronland said of the greener vegetation.
While the conservation grazing on Violet Prairie is still in relatively early stages, past studies have shown that the practice can have an impact.
The 2021 WSU study found that conservation grazing can significantly increase native and overall species richness within three years. Conservation grazing for this study was conducted at three sites, including Colvin Ranch.
The study also found that conservation grazing can be used to promote habitat for rare and endangered species such as the Mazama pocket gopher.
Gopher occupancy was measured as the proportion of plots with fresh gopher mounds present. The greatest increase occurred in sites that used conservation grazing. Those sites increased from 56% occupied in 2018 to 83% in 2020, according to the study.
Notably, a 2018 study looked at lessons learned from conservation grazing on native prairie in the Tualatin River basin in Oregon. Similarly, the study found targeted grazing can create space for local species, leading to significant increases in plant diversity.
Kronland said it's become evident that conservation grazing can help the Mazama pocket gopher flourish but it remains to be seen how compatible this practice will be with the Taylor's checkerspot butterfly.
'What we're trying to do is create habitat for federal listed species and there's no playbook for that,' Kronland said. 'You can go to school to learn how to make deer habitat. You can't learn how to make checker spot habitat. We have to teach ourselves.'
Colvin said the conservation grazing process is iterative. Every year, she tries to do it better while factoring in weather, rain and the past year's management practices. Lessons learned may then be applied to other areas.
'Each year it's about incremental improvement,' Colvin said. 'It's not about necessarily doing things perfectly.'
Conservation grazing also has to balance agricultural needs. Colvin said an agricultural operation cannot be run on land that's completely native.
'Maybe you want to pull cattle off an area for a little bit, for example when the camas are blooming, but you've got to put them somewhere,' Colvin said.
She said her property has some areas that are native prairie and some that are not. Similarly, Violet Prairie has some uphill grassland with less native plants where cattle could go.
Colvin said conservation grazing is more management intensive for ranchers because it requires more logistical planning, fencing and strategic resource management. Still, she said the payoff is worth it.
'All of those investments are worth it, because it enables us to produce better quality forage for our cattle,' Colvin said.
Given that so much land is privately owned, expanding this model elsewhere will take private-public partnerships like the one Colvin made with WDFW.
Colvin said the area around her ranch has a mixture of private landowners, state agencies and the county working together to manage the whole ecosystem.
'The animals that live here don't pay attention to the boundary lines,' Colvin said. 'Bald eagles have their nests here. They fly diagonally here across my house and a do lot of hunting out on the prairie and down at Scatter Creek.'
As a state managed property, Kronland must also get by with limited resources to do critical conservation work. Still, he said this work is not occurring in a vacuum.
'There's a community of folks that want to see this happen and so there's at least those resources we can tap into,' Kronland said.
Violet Prairie also has many uses as a public land. Kronland said important conservation work is being done there, yet there also are people who visit to hunt, ride horses, hike and run.
'I think that larger challenge goes beyond just conservation grazing,' Kronland said. 'How are we going to manage our public lands to address all of those uses?'
The Violet Prairie Wildlife Area Unit is open to the public. Visitors find it across the street from Colvin Ranch on Old Highway 99, southwest of Tenino.
'Please, respect the livestock,' Kronland said. 'We're using them as a tool to maintain the landscape. They represent Jennifer's family's livelihood. Don't, don't pet the cows.'
