Speakers urge preservation of Thurston County prairies as county proclaims May Prairie Appreciation Month

The Thurston County Board of County Commissioners proclaimed May 2025 as Prairie Appreciation Month at its April 29 meeting, and several speakers highlighted the cultural, ecological and agricultural importance of the county’s remnant native prairies.

Jennifer Colvin, representing local ranching interests and the county’s agri-tourism advisory committee, invited commissioners and residents to an event May 18 at Calvin Ranch celebrating the 20th anniversary of a conservation easement there. Colvin said native prairies once covered far larger acreage and now account for “less than 3%” of original prairie in the county.

Volunteers and prairie advocates described multiple roles served by the surviving prairies: habitat for threatened species, aquifer recharge and carbon sequestration, working agricultural land that supports local food systems, and cultural landscapes stewarded for generations by Indigenous peoples. Dennis Plank of Friends of Puget Prairies described the long volunteer effort at Glacial Heritage and invited the public to Prairie Appreciation Day on May 10 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Speakers credited a mix of landowners, conservation organizations and county measures for protecting parcels such as Glacial Heritage and noted that restoration work — removing invasive Scotch broom and maintaining oak habitat — has allowed native species such as elk and prairie birds to return in places where restoration is underway.

Presenters asked residents to attend Prairie Appreciation Day and to support conservation easements and volunteer restoration work. No board actions or funding decisions were announced during the proclamation segment; the presentations were framed as public awareness and community engagement.