Conservation at Kingston Prairie Preserve

The Kingston Prairie Preserve in western Oregon is one of the few remaining examples of original prairie fauna and flora that once covered more than a million acres of the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Originally, it was managed by the Nature Conservancy, but in 2018 the Corvallis based Greenbelt Land Trust took over stewardship of the 155 acres. The preserve is also one of the few remaining nesting sites Willamette Valley for the western meadowlark- the State bird of Oregon. More info about the preserve can be found here: https://greenbeltlandtrust.org/conserving-land/kingston-prairie-preserve/

Sunrise through an Oregon White Oak at Kingston Prairie.

Two species of Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon hendersonii and D. pulchellum) can be found during early May.

Several times each year, volunteers gather to pull invasive weeds, collect native seeds, and help with other activities. These are the seed pods of the Common Large Monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus).

White form of Common Camas (Camassia quamash). The bulb of this wildflower was a staple food of the Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest.

Students from Oregon State University Department of Fish and Wildlife performed population studies on the Willamette Valley endemic Gray-tailed Vole (Microtus canicaudus), to help managers understand how these small rodents affect native plants and the prairie ecosystem.

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