Thurston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 294,793. The county seat and largest city is Olympia, the state capital.
Grand Mound is a community and census-designated place (CDP) in Thurston County, Washington, United States. It was named and founded by Jotham Weeks Goodell, father of Phoebe Judson, in 1851. The population was 3,301 at the 2020 census. This area uses the 98579 and 98531 zip codes, which also includes Rochester and Gate.
The Chehalis people or Tsihalis are a Native people of western Washington state in the United States. They should not be confused with the similarly named Chehalis First Nation of the Sts'Ailes people along the Harrison River in the Fraser Valley area of British Columbia.
Quercus garryana is an oak tree species of the Pacific Northwest, with a range stretching from southern California to southwestern British Columbia. It is commonly known as the Garry Oak, Oregon white oak or Oregon oak. It grows from sea level to an altitude of 690 feet in the northern part of its range, and from 980 to 5,900 ft in the south of the range in California. The eponymous Nicholas Garry was deputy governor of the Hudson's Bay Company.
The Kankakee River is a tributary of the Illinois River, approximately 133 miles (214 km) long, in the Central Corn Belt Plains of northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois in the United States. At one time, the river drained one of the largest wetlands in North America and furnished a significant portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. Significantly altered from its original channel, it flows through a primarily rural farming region of reclaimed cropland, south of Lake Michigan.
Camassia is a genus of plants in the asparagus family native to North America. Common names include camas, quamash, Indian hyacinth, camash, and wild hyacinth.
The Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife preserve operated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service on the Nisqually River Delta near Puget Sound in northeastern Thurston County, Washington and northwestern Pierce County, Washington. The refuge is located just off Interstate 5, between the cities of Tacoma and Olympia.
The Mazama pocket gopher is a smooth-toothed pocket gopher restricted to the Pacific Northwest. The herbivorous species ranges from coastal Washington, through Oregon, and into north-central California. Four subspecies of the Mazama Pocket Gopher are classified as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, including T. m. pugetensis, T. m. tumuli , T. m. glacialis, and T. m. yelmensis. The Mazama Pocket Gopher is one of the smallest of 35 species in the pocket gopher family.
The Baker River is an approximately 30-mile (48 km), southward-flowing tributary of the Skagit River in northwestern Washington in the United States. It drains an area of the high North Cascades in the watershed of Puget Sound north of Seattle, and east of Mount Baker. With a watershed of approximately 270 square miles (700 km2) in a complex of deep valleys partially inside North Cascades National Park, it is the last major tributary of the Skagit before the larger river reaches its mouth on Skagit Bay. The river flows through Concrete, Washington, near its mouth and has two hydroelectric dams owned by Puget Sound Energy.
The Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge is a federal national wildlife refuge located in Jasper County, Iowa, United States. The refuge, formerly known as Walnut Creek, is named after Congressman Neal Edward Smith, who championed its creation. It seeks to restore the tallgrass prairie and oak savanna ecosystems that once covered most of Iowa. It has a herd of approximately 62 American bison and 19 elk. An initial group of six bison were released in 1996. The bison herd roams an approximately 800-acre enclosure (320 ha).
The Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge is a 1,856 acres (751 ha) wetlands and lowlands sanctuary in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. Established in 1992 and opened to the public in 2006, it is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Located in southeastern Washington County, 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Portland, the refuge is bordered by Sherwood, Tualatin and Tigard. A newer area, extending into northern Yamhill County, is located further west near the city of Gaston surrounding the former Wapato Lake.
Yellow River State Forest, (YRSF), is mostly forested land owned by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. It is located in the southeastern corner of Allamakee County, the most northeasterly of Iowa's counties. It is adjacent to the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge and is just north of Effigy Mounds National Monument in the bluff region of the Upper Mississippi River.
The Iroquois County State Wildlife Area is an Illinois state park that occupies 2,480 acres (1,004 ha) in northeastern Iroquois County, near the border with Indiana. The nearest municipality is Beaverville, Illinois, and the nearest exit on a limited-access highway is Exit 302 on Interstate 57.
Silver Springs State Fish and Wildlife Area is an Illinois state park on 1,350 acres (550 ha) in Kendall County, Illinois, United States. The park was established in the late 1960s and is named for the natural spring within its boundaries. The park has two artificial lakes and the Fox River flows through the northern end of the park. Silver Springs hosts a variety of activities including fishing, hunting, boating and hiking. The park has areas of native prairie restoration, a sledding hill and a seven-mile (11 km) equestrian trail. The prairie restoration areas hold many species of plants including lead plant, and purple coneflower.
Wapato Lake is a restored historic lake located in what became parts of Washington County and Yamhill County in the U.S. state of Oregon. The area was sometimes known as Wapato Lake Bed and Wapato Flat. The lake is located about a half mile east of Gaston at 55 metres (180 ft) elevation. The lake bed soils contain a layer of organic peat that once supported a wetland community dominated by the wapato plant, Sagittaria latifolia, particularly in the upper marsh areas. Wapato plants were reintroduced to the restored lake by tribal people from the Grand Ronde Reservation in preparation for the opening of the Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge in March 2023.
The Black Kettle National Grassland, in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma, and Hemphill County, Texas, contains 31,286 acres (12,661 ha) of which 30,710 acres (12,430 ha) are in Oklahoma.
Littlerock is an unincorporated community in Thurston County, Washington, United States. Littlerock is 11 miles (18 km) southwest of Olympia. The town is west of Interstate 5 and Maytown.
Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve is a state-protected Natural Area in southwest Washington state, United States. The preserve includes some of the Washington mima mounds, the origin of which still is not fully understood. The site comprises 637 acres (258 ha) of Garry oak woodland, oak savanna, and prairie grasslands. Several state and federal endangered species of butterfly depending on the unique prairie conditions can be found in the preserve, including Mardon skipper, zerene fritillary, Puget blue and Taylor's checkerspot.
Rocky Prairie is a Puget prairie that is about 56 miles (90 km) southwest of Seattle, Washington, and about 10 miles (16 km) south of Washington's capital city of Olympia. It sits very close to the Millersylvania State Park, the community of Maytown, and the city of Tenino.
Northern alligator lizard (Elgaria coerulea)
Camas ( Camassia quamash )
White morph of Camassia quamash
Garry oaks (Quercus garryana) with senescing leaves
Controlled burn
