New acquisitions in Moses Coulee and Beezley Hills will protect historic pygmy rabbit habitat and connect and expand existing Nature Conservancy preserves. The Conservancy has acquired four sections, 2,560 acres in all, in the Moses Coulee/Beezley Hills/McCartney Creek area, with the closing of a land exchange with the Washington Department of Natural Resources.

This fabled sagebrush country is home to a rich and fragile mosaic of rare living things. Between the shrubs and grasses grow a profusion of wildflowers, including sulfur lupine and the vibrant bitterroot, long a favorite food harvested by native peoples. Totaling more than 30,000 acres, The Nature Conservancy’s Moses Coulee/Beezley Hills Preserve is an especially rich and diverse example of Washington’s shrub-steppe.

Details on the Land

Each of the four new sections is a strategic addition to the Moses Coulee/Beezley Hills Preserve. The two northern sections will connect and expand the McCartney Creek and Moses Coulee preserves.

The two southern sections are historic pygmy rabbit habitat in Beezley Hills, and are important for the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s reintroduction program.

The Conservancy has a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Section 6 Endangered Species grant for these sections, one of which is surrounded by our preserve. The Icicle Fund has granted $625,000 to fund the Conservancy’s DNR Exchange project.

Nature picture credits (left to right): Photo © Dave Rolph/TNC (Moses Coulee); Photo © Ann Anderson (pygmy rabbit).