Shrubs on the Zumwalt Prairie provide habitat and forage for many native species, including the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse. Increasing the health of native shrub habitats is an important conservation goal set forth by the Conservancy for the Zumwalt Prairie. Although shrubs may never have been as abundant on the Zumwalt as in other northwestern prairies (e.g., the Palouse of eastern Washington) amounts of shrub cover today are likely reduced from those in the past as a result of a variety of factors. These include overgrazing by livestock, elk, and deer, farming, elimination and reduction of predators, and the building of roads. The Conservancy has built wildlife exclosures around many shrub stands and has planted native shrubs in riparian areas as part of stream restoration efforts.

Click here to see a report from 2008 outlining restoration efforts on the Pine Creek parcels.