Nature Conservancy Makes Its Biggest Oregon Buy, Acquires 27,000 Acres of High Prairie

ENTERPRISE, OR-The Nature Conservancy has purchased nearly 42 square miles of Zumwalt Prairie, the largest purchase of Oregon land in the organization’s 50-year history.

The 220-acre Zumwalt Prairie is North America’s largest remaining expanse of native bunchgrass prairie. Remote and relatively little-known, it supports extraordinary wildlife populations, including the densest known concentration of breeding birds of prey in the nation. The Nature Conservancy will manage its 42-square-mile preserve to safeguard critical habitats for native wildlife, fish and rare plants.

The land is on the western rim of Hells Canyon, where gently rolling grasslands drop off steeply into the Imnaha and Snake River canyons. The Nature Conservancy’s Purchase, the 26,879-acre Camp Creek Ranch property, was to be sold at public auction on Sept. 26 by its owner, the Children’s Community Foundation of Lenexa, KS. The auction was cancelled by JP King Auction Co. when the owners accepted the Conservancy’s offer.