DNR Approves Expansion of Upper Dry Gulch Natural Area Preserve

After careful deliberation, the Washington State Board of Natural Resources has agreed to expand the Upper Dry Gulch Natural Area Preserve.

The agreement adds several thousand acres to the existing preserve, which sits about 20 miles southeast of Wenatchee.

This is being done in hopes of protecting Whited's milkvetch, a wildly elusive (and endangered) plant species native to the Wenatchee area.

The Upper Dry Gulch area represents the entire global distribution of this species.

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According to DNR spokesperson Ryan Rodruck, there was little doubt internally about what was in the species' best interest.

"The Board of Natural Resources did unanimously approve the expansion," Rodruck says. "It'll transfer existing DNR parcels into the protection into our Natural Areas Program."

According to a press release, the Upper Dry Gulch area is "dominated by a native shrub and bunchgrass (shrub-steppe) ecosystem recovering from past land uses. The drainage that flows through the site carries water seasonally and is subject to torrential flows during spring."

"The loggerhead shrike, a bird species highly dependent on shrub-steppe habitat, is also known to frequent this area."

"Natural Area Preserves protect the best remaining examples of many ecological communities, including rare plant and animal habitats. The preserve system presently includes more than 41,344 acres in 58 sites throughout the state."