It’s possible the term “grassroots organization” has never been taken so literally.
On Friday at the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis, farmers and various other stakeholders with a keen interest in grasses gathered for the inaugural meeting of the Southwest Washington Prairie Working Group.
The structure of the organization, its mission and immediate goals, maybe even its name, were all set to be covered in the meeting. Hosted by the Ecostudies Institute in Olympia, the state Department of Natural Resources, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the group is meant to inspire discussion about “challenges and opportunities for collaborative conservation,” according to the invitation email.
A representative from the office of U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Washougal, was also present.
“It really revolves around identifying partners and collaborators … (who are) interested and involved in prairie conservation,” said Sarah Hamman, director of science with the Ecostudies Institute. “Identifying the lands that are at risk of being lost to development and other pressures in the region. Identifying ways that we can work together to conserve and restore them.”
Asked whether she will be the group’s president, Hamman smiled and said she’s “hoping” not to be. Mainly the people who’ve expressed interest in the group are along the agricultural stretch of the Interstate 5 corridor in Southwest Washington.
Friday’s meeting saw people from across Lewis, Cowlitz and Clark counties. Hamman said she’s hoping the president will be one of those stakeholders.
She also touched on the relationship between prairie lands and natural oak habitat in Southwest Washington.
With the high acreage of private lands in Washington, landowners are largely responsible for conservation of prairies, she said. Getting people excited about that could help restore some of the state’s most endangered plants and wildlife across thousands of square miles.
The group is set to meet next in Clark County.
For more information, head to https://cascadiaprairieoak.org.
