The Nature Conservancy
In the early 1960s, volunteers organized an effort to protect Cascade Head from development. By 1966 they had raised funds and purchased the property, and then turned it over to The Nature Conservancy. Because of its ecological significance, Cascade Head Preserve and surrounding national forest and other lands won recognition in 1980 as a National Scenic Research Area and a United Nations Biosphere Reserve.
Conservancy researchers are testing methods of maintaining and restoring grassland habitat for the Oregon silverspot butterfly, including prescribed fire. Conservancy ecologists also monitor the populations of rare plants throughout the year. In spring and summer, teams of volunteers remove invasive species (such as Himalayan blackberry), help maintain trails, assist with research projects, and teach visitors about the Preserve.
Read more about this topic: Cascade Head
Famous quotes containing the word nature:
“Socrates ... brought human wisdom back down from heaven, where she was wasting her time, and restored her to man.... It is impossible to go back further and lower. He did a great favor to human nature by showing how much it can do by itself.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)