Rocky Bald Restoration
Perched on top of mountains with stunning views, rocky balds are some of the rarest and most beautiful habitats in Washington. The combination of their geographic isolation and thin, rocky, soils that prevent trees from establishing, means that many rare plants that have not survived the development on the valley floor are still thriving on rocky balds.
The biggest threats to these sensitive ecosystems are exotic annual grasses that create a thick layer of thatch that inhibits native seed germination, and invasive shrub encroachment that shade out plants. Ecostudies is working to:
- Collect seed from rare plants to expand populations
- Planting plugs and seeding native species
- Removing annual grasses and shrubs that degrade rocky bald habitat
Restoring Rare Plants
Indian valley brodiaea (Brodiaea rosea) is endangered in California and was thought to be extirpated from Washington until a new population was found on a rocky bald. Ecostudies is removing the invasive shrub Scotch broom to protect this vulnerable population.
Douglas’s catchfly (Silene douglasii var.rupinae) is found only on rocky balds in the Columbia River Gorge. We are treating annual invasive grasses and removing the thatch they accumulate to free up space for this rare species.
Project Spotlight
Hope Island State Park
Ecostudies Institute has been working with Washington State Parks to control invasive species and enhance rocky bald habitat at Hope Island State Park. Only reachable by boat, this 106-acre park is covered in old-growth forests, saltwater marshes, and rocky balds. Our crews worked to control spurge laurel (Daphne laureola), English holly (Ilex aquifolium), Scot’s broom (Cytisus scoparius) and English ivy (Hedera helix) on the island and sowed native perennial grasses. We also initiated trial plots to assess treatment options for annual grasses, and performed fine-scale mapping of dense areas of native forbs, areas of very high quality vegetation, and future potential restoration areas.
