By Alex Day, Marketing & Communications Director
When most of us think of the Olympic Peninsula, home to Olympic National Park, we picture the glaciated peaks of the Olympics, the misty, mossy temperate rain forests, and the rocky Pacific coastline, studded with sea stacks.
Tucked along the coast, the Ozette Prairies are a rare and unexpected landscape. Open, sunlit, and rich with life, these coastal bog and fen ecosystems are home to species found nowhere else — and to a cultural legacy that stretches back thousands of years.
Today, thanks to donor support through Washington’s National Park Fund, a new project is helping preserve this unique landscape.
The Ozette Prairies are more than just another ecosystem. They are a biodiversity hotspot, supporting rare plants and pollinators like the Makah copper butterfly, which depends on specific native plants found only in these coastal habitats.
But this landscape is changing rapidly.
Without active management, trees and shrubs are encroaching into the prairies, shrinking their footprint by more than 50 percent over the last 80 years and altering the delicate balance that allows these species to survive.
If left unaddressed, these changes could lead to the loss of rare species and the disappearance of a truly unique ecosystem.
Before restoration can begin, park scientists must first understand exactly what remains.
This project will fund critical surveys and mapping of rare plant populations across the Ozette Prairies. By documenting where sensitive species are located and how they are distributed, the park can make informed decisions that protect biodiversity while guiding future restoration efforts. It’s a careful and intentional approach — one that prioritizes doing no harm while building a foundation for long-term ecological health.
“We need a more complete picture… to restore, maintain, and protect the prairies as habitat and as cultural landscapes,” shared Catharine Copass, PhD, Vegetation Program Manager for Olympic National Park.
At the heart of this project is partnership.
For thousands of years, the Makah Tribe actively managed these prairies using low-intensity fire, shaping the landscape into the open, diverse ecosystem we see today. This project represents an important step toward renewing that relationship — working in collaboration with the Tribe to reintroduce traditional knowledge and stewardship practices.
The goal is not just ecological restoration, but something deeper. By supporting tribal involvement in fieldwork and planning, this effort helps reconnect people, place, and practice in a meaningful and lasting way.
The impact of this work extends far beyond a single season.
Healthy prairies support pollinators, preserve rare plant communities, and may even help restore habitat for larger wildlife like elk. They also offer visitors a powerful and unexpected experience — stepping out of dense forest into a sunlit landscape shaped by both nature and human care.
Looking ahead, this project lays the groundwork for restoration strategies that could include careful vegetation removal in partnership with the Tribe and with volunteers. It is a long-term investment — one that will unfold over years, even decades — but one with the potential for lasting impact.
Projects like this don’t happen overnight. They require patience, collaboration, and sustained investment.
Donor support makes it possible to take these first critical steps by funding staff time to gather data, enabling the park to build partnerships and chart a path forward. As Copass put it, this kind of work unfolds less like a firework and more like a flower — growing slowly, deliberately, and beautifully over time.
And with your support, that growth continues.
Washington’s National Park Fund is the official philanthropic partner of Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks. Through donor support, WNPF funds critical park projects that protect wildlife, preserve ecosystems, and enhance visitor experiences. You can join the movement by giving back at wnpf.org/donate.
Photos courtesy of the National Park Service.