[CPEO-MEF] BIOTA, ENCROACHMENT: Ft. Lewis (WA) and The Nature Conservancy

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Armed and Protected
Rare Species Get a Boost from the Military

The Nature Conservancy Magazine
Autumn 2008

When the echo of artillery fire fades at Fort Lewis, Washington, it is 
replaced by a sweeter chorus: the chirps and trills of songbirds, 
including the rare streaked horned lark.

The birds are attracted by the fort's native prairie habitat, which is 
increasingly rare in western Washington; the fortes vast "artillery 
impact area" is by far the prairie's best last stand. Ironically, 
explains ecologist Jeff Foster, who works at the fort, shelling actually 
helps maintain the native prairies. "During the summer," he says, 
"exploding munitions start fires that limit tree invasion and keep 
Scotch broom [an invasive shrub] at bay."


...

For the entire article, see
http://www.nature.org/magazine/autumn2008/issues/art25527.html

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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