Zumwalt Prairie is a

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

area located in

Wallowa County Wallowa County () is the northeastern most county in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,391, making it Oregon's fifth-least populous county. Its county seat is Enterprise. According to '' Oregon Geographic Nam ...

in northeast

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Measuring , much of the land is used for agriculture, with some portions protected as the Zumwalt Prairie Preserve owned by

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Natu ...

.Richard, Terry. To conserve and protect (and hike). ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'', April 2, 2006. Part of that portion is designated as a

National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best ...

. The high altitude prairie is along the west edge of

Hells Canyon Hells Canyon is a canyon in the Western United States, located along the border of eastern Oregon, a small section of eastern Washington and western Idaho. It is part of the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area which is also located in p ...

on the Oregon-

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

border.

Geography

The Zumwalt Prairie grassland is situated on a

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

which varies in elevation from and is dominated by several native

bunchgrass Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial ...

es, including Idaho

Fescue ''Festuca'' (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae (subfamily Pooideae). They are evergreen or herbaceous perennial tufted grasses with a height range of and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on every ...

(''

Festuca idahoensis ''Festuca idahoensis'' is a species of grass known by the common names Idaho fescue and blue bunchgrass. It is native to western North America, where it is widespread and common. It can be found in many ecosystems, from shady forests to open plai ...

''),

Bluebunch wheatgrass ''Pseudoroegneria spicata'' is a species of grass known by the common name bluebunch wheatgrass. This native western North American perennial bunchgrass is also known by the scientific synonyms ''Elymus spicatus'' and ''Agropyron spicatum''. The g ...

(''

Pseudoroegneria spicata ''Pseudoroegneria spicata'' is a species of grass known by the common name bluebunch wheatgrass. This native western North American perennial bunchgrass is also known by the scientific synonyms ''Elymus spicatus'' and ''Agropyron spicatum''. The g ...

''), Sandberg's Bluegrass (''

Poa secunda ''Poa secunda'' (variously known by the common names of Sandberg bluegrass, alkali bluegrass, big bluegrass, Canby's bluegrass, Nevada bluegrass, one-sided bluegrass, Pacific bluegrass, pine blugrass, slender bluegrass, wild bluegrass, and curly ...

'') and many species of wildflowers. The Zumwalt Prairie is a piece of a once extensive temperate grassland system west of the Rocky Mountains which extended into Canada. The Zumwalt Prairie grassland system remains largely intact, unlike most other prairies in North America. This fact can be attributed to its high elevation, harsh climate, and poor soils which made agriculture difficult.Taylor, R. V., 2007. Zumwalt Prairie Conservation Action Plan. The Nature Conservancy. Enterprise, Oregon. Because most of the Zumwalt Prairie escaped the plow, much of the important habitat remains for the plants and animals.

Wildlife

Zumwalt Prairie is home to a diverse array of raptor species and includes the grassland-dependent

ferruginous hawk The ferruginous hawk, (''Buteo regalis''), is a large bird of prey and belongs to the broad-winged buteo hawks. An old colloquial name is ferrugineous rough-leg, due to its similarity to the closely related rough-legged hawk (''B. lagopus''). ...

(Buteo regalis),

swainson's hawk Swainson's hawk (''Buteo swainsoni'') is a large bird species in the Accipitriformes order. This species was named after William Swainson, a British naturalist. It is colloquially known as the grasshopper hawk or locust hawk, as it is very fond ...

(''

Buteo swainsoni Swainson's hawk (''Buteo swainsoni'') is a large bird species in the Accipitriformes order. This species was named after William Swainson, a British naturalist. It is colloquially known as the grasshopper hawk or locust hawk, as it is very fond ...

''), rough-legged hawk (''

Buteo lagopus The rough-legged buzzard or rough-legged hawk (''Buteo lagopus'') is a medium-large bird of prey. It is found in Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America, Europe, and Russia during the breeding season and migrates south for the winter. It ...

''), and the

red-tailed hawk The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members with ...

(''

Buteo jamaicensis The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members with ...

''). Golden eagles (''

Aquila chrysaetos The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds of ...

'') are a common sight soaring high above the prairie. The Zumwalt also supports important breeding populations of grassland songbirds, including Savannah sparrow (''

Passerculus sandwichensis The Savannah sparrow (''Passerculus sandwichensis'') is a small New World sparrow. It was the only member of the genus '' Passerculus'' and is typically the only widely accepted member. Comparison of mtDNA NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 and 3 sequ ...

''), western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta), vesper sparrow (''

Pooecetes gramineus The vesper sparrow (''Pooecetes gramineus'') is a medium-sized New World sparrow. It is the only member of the genus ''Pooecetes''. Taxonomy The Vesper Sparrow is believed to be most closely related to the Lark sparrow. It is the only species ...

''), horned lark (''

Eremophila alpestris The horned lark or shore lark (''Eremophila alpestris'') is a species of lark in the family Alaudidae found across the northern hemisphere. It is known as "horned lark" in North America and "shore lark" in Europe. Taxonomy, evolution and system ...

'') and grasshopper sparrow (''

Ammodramus savannarum The grasshopper sparrow (''Ammodramus savannarum'') is a small New World sparrow. It belongs to the genus '' Ammodramus,'' which contains three species that inhabit grasslands and prairies. Although sometimes found in crop fields and they will re ...

''). Grassland birds are highly threatened and many need large areas to maintain viable populations. The

Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse The Columbian sharp-tailed grouse (''Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus'') is a subspecies of sharp-tailed grouse native to the Western United States and British Columbia. Description Out of the seven subspecies of sharp-tailed grouse, the ...

, which had been extirpated from the Zumwalt Prairie by 1947 is being reintroduced in an effort spearheaded by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Other wildlife includes Belding's ground squirrels (''

Spermophilus beldingi ''Spermophilus'' is a genus of ground squirrels in the squirrel family. As traditionally defined the genus was very species-rich, ranging through Europe, Asia and North America, but this arrangement was found to be paraphyletic to the certai ...

''), northern pocket gophers ('' Thomomys talpoides''), Rocky mountain elk (''

Cervus elaphus The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

''), mule deer, white tail deer have recently begun migrating to the area as well, black bear (''

Ursus americanus Ursus is Latin for bear. It may also refer to: Animals * ''Ursus'' (mammal), a genus of bears People * Ursus of Aosta, 6th-century evangelist * Ursus of Auxerre, 6th-century bishop * Ursus of Solothurn, 3rd-century martyr * Ursus (''praefectus ...

''), cougar (''

Felis concolor The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. ...

''), bobcat (''

Lynx rufus The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the I ...

''), badgers and coyotes (''

Canis latrans The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological nich ...

'') . After an approximately 50-year absence, gray wolves (''

Canis lupus The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

'') have begun to colonize northeastern Oregon and have been seen on the Zumwalt Prairie. In addition to large vertebrate species, Zumwalt Prairie also is home to a diverse invertebrate community, including over 100 species of bees, which help to maintain the health of the grassland through their role as pollinators.

Climate

The climate of the Zumwalt Prairie is continental and

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

. On average the Zumwalt Prairie receives of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

yearly with the majority of the precipitation during winter months. The summer months of July and August are dry with a mean monthly rainfall of and a mean daily maximum temperature of . Winters are cold with a mean daily minimum temperature of .

History

The

Chief Joseph ''Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt'' (or ''Hinmatóowyalahtq̓it'' in Americanist orthography), popularly known as Chief Joseph, Young Joseph, or Joseph the Younger (March 3, 1840 – September 21, 1904), was a leader of the Wal-lam-wat-kain (Wallowa ...

band of the

Nez Perce The Nez Percé (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning "we, the people") are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest region for at least 11,500 years.Ames, K ...

were the original human inhabitants of the Zumwalt Prairie. These indigenous people used the area for hunting and gathering in the spring and fall. Euro-American settlement of the area began in the 1850s. The Nez Perce were forced out of the area in the late 1870s after President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

officially opened Wallowa County to white settlement. As of 2008, the prairie consists mostly of privately owned

ranches A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

and is used for summer grazing of

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

. In April 2013, the National Park Service designated approximately of The Nature Conservancy's site as a

Conservation

, a non-profit environmental conservation organization, owns and operates a nature preserve on the Zumwalt Prairie, and has undertaken several initiatives to understand and protect the biodiversity of the Zumwalt Prairie's ecosystems. These include biological inventories, ecological monitoring, and scientific research.Zumwalt Prairie
from the Nature Conservancy The Conservancy has a conservation easement on the Lightning Creek Ranch.

References

External links

The Nature Conservancy: Zumwalt Prairie

ConserveOnline: Zumwalt Prairie
{{authority control Grasslands of Oregon Prairies Nature reserves in Oregon Geography of Wallowa County, Oregon Protected areas of Wallowa County, Oregon Nature Conservancy preserves National Natural Landmarks in Oregon