QUINCY \u2014 The Nature Conservancy has transferred its 9,000-acre Beezley Hills Preserve to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, a move officials say will strengthen protection of the state\u2019s shrinking shrub-steppe ecosystem and the endangered Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit.<\/p>\n
Located between Quincy and Ephrata, the Beezley Hills Preserve is part of the largest remaining intact shrub-steppe landscape in Washington. The land supports native vegetation such as sagebrush, bitterbrush, bunchgrasses, and wildflowers including balsamroot and lupine. It is also home to wildlife like the burrowing owl, ferruginous hawk, sage thrasher, and the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit \u2014 one of North America\u2019s most endangered mammals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis transfer is a strategic step forward in our commitment to landscape-scale conservation,\u201d said James Schroeder, director of conservation for The Nature Conservancy\u2019s Washington chapter. \u201cBy consolidating management under WDFW, which already stewards nearby lands, we\u2019re ensuring that this vital habitat is managed holistically and sustainably for the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n
The preserve has played a central role in pygmy rabbit recovery efforts for more than a decade, with a mobile enclosure and release area operated by WDFW supporting captive breeding, genetic research, and reintroduction programs. Its proximity to other WDFW-managed lands now makes it part of the Columbia Basin Wildlife Area and a designated Pygmy Rabbit Recovery Emphasis Area by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re honored to take on stewardship of the Beezley Hills Preserve,\u201d said Brock Hoenes, WDFW\u2019s North Central Region director. \u201cThis transition allows us to expand and connect our conservation efforts across the shrub-steppe landscape and supports WDFW\u2019s long-term recovery efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n
The land transfer follows years of collaboration between The Nature Conservancy, WDFW, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. While The Nature Conservancy will continue to manage other key shrub-steppe areas, including the nearby Moses Coulee Preserve, the organization says it is prioritizing landscapes where it can have the most impact and transferring some holdings to agencies with greater long-term management capacity.<\/p>\n
David Morgan, Moses Coulee program manager for The Nature Conservancy, said the move reflects \u201cyears of partnership and shared vision\u201d and honors the donors, landowners, and community members who helped establish the preserve.<\/p>\n
WDFW will manage the newly acquired land for both conservation and responsible public access. The agency is reminding visitors to use only county roads, walk into the property, and avoid off-road vehicles, camping, target shooting, and open fires. Officials also urge visitors to park safely and take precautions to reduce fire danger.<\/p>\n
The Beezley Hills Preserve was originally established through the contributions of donors, organizations, public agencies, and community members \u2014 support that officials say will help ensure the land\u2019s conservation for generations to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"QUINCY \u2014 The Nature Conservancy has transferred its 9,000-acre Beezley Hills Preserve to the Washington Department of Fish…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[55195,55197,55198,55196,79,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-78173","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-beezley-hills","9":"tag-grant-county","10":"tag-land-transfer","11":"tag-pygmy-rabiit","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}