Area: 36.2 acres
Location: Thurston County, WA
Date Acquired: November 18, 2025
Acquisition Type: CNLM owns the preserve. We protect and manage imperiled species and habitats on the preserve in perpetuity.
Key Habitats: South Puget Sound Upland Prairie
Species of Special Interest to CNLM: Yelm pocket gopher (Thomomys mazama yelmensis), Taylor’s checkerspot (Euphydryas editha taylori), streaked horned lark (Eremophila alpestris strigata)
Introduction
The Leitner Prairie Preserve is a 36.2-acre site located in south Thurston County in the State of Washington. The Preserve was previously owned by Kaufman Real Estate, LLC (Kaufman) and has an extensive mitigation history. In 2013, Kaufman granted conservation easements over the Preserve to Capitol Land Trust for protection of the Mazama pocket gopher and prairie habitats. In 2013 and 2014, restoration was initiated and included the removal of dense Scotch broom thickets and all other woody vegetation including large Douglas-fir trees. In 2016, a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) was developed to cover mitigation associated with planned development on multiple properties owned by Kaufman and other associates. The HCP included management plans for off-site mitigation areas, including the Leitner Prairie Preserve, and specific restoration performance standards. From 2018 through 2025, CNLM conducted habitat restoration activities at the Leitner Prairie Preserve, under agreements with Kaufman, to contribute to the desired habitat condition as described in the HCP. As a result of CNLM’s restoration and management activities to date, the Preserve’s condition is now at the final restoration phase standards. In 2025, CNLM acquired the Preserve in fee.
Conservation Significance
The Leitner Prairie Preserve was created to protect the rare mounded prairie ecosystem representative of the South Puget Sound Prairie, which is formally identified as Willamette Valley Upland Prairie and Savanna. The Preserve protects a population of the federally and state-threatened Yelm pocket gopher (Thomomys mazama yelmensis), a subspecies of Mazama pocket gopher. Located near other prairie fragments in the Rochester–Grand Mound area, the Preserve contributes to a broader conservation network intended to protect prairie habitat at the landscape scale.
CNLM’s restoration activities at Leitner Prairie have been extensive and highly successful. The restoration activities performed by CNLM included grass-specific herbicide treatments, herbicide spot treatments for Scotch broom, mowing, prescribed burning, post-fire herbicide treatment for non-native forbs and grasses, and native seeding of burned areas with a seed mix that included fifty-five different native species. As a result of the successful restoration activities performed by CNLM, a relatively wide diversity of native prairie plants has been observed on this site throughout the spring and summer months, as well as suitable habitat for the federal-endangered and state-endangered Taylor’s checkerspot (Euphydryas editha taylori). The continued active management of the Preserve by CNLM is also expected to establish suitable habitat for the federal-threatened and state-endangered streaked horned lark (Eremophila alpestris strigata).
Our Work
The primary management goal of the Preserve is to maintain and improve the open grassland habitat successfully restored by CNLM to support native prairie species including rare species. Management activities will continue and involve a diversity of techniques including targeted and broad-based herbicide, prescribed fire application, and direct seeding of native species. CNLM will monitor the rare and listed species and habitat on-site to help identify threats and population changes.
Public Access
Due to the vulnerability of the species and habitats that exist on this preserve, it is not open to the public.
For information and inquiries please contact:
For information on Leitner Prairies Preserve or Center for Natural Lands Management, please contact Sanders Freed, Pacific Northwest Preserve/Restoration Manager at sfreed@cnlm.org or 760.731.7790 extension 304.
