Trina Young, a long-time Grays Harbor resident, spent much of her childhood outdoors on her family’s strawberry farm in Elma.

Her father was a 4-H County Extension agent, so Trina was always involved with outdoor projects and attended 4-H camps. She graduated from Elma High School, attended Grays Harbor College, and later worked for Grays Harbor County for over 20 years.

In 2000, Trina and her partner Hal discovered and fell in love with a 20-acre parcel of glacial prairie and forest lands near Schafer State Park and the Satsop River where they live to this day.

“I was immediately drawn to and very curious about the prairie wildflowers, birds and butterflies on the land,” said Trina. “With the help of staff from Mason County and other agencies, we learned about the native prairie plant and butterfly species. We found out that we have five different endangered plant species here, including the native prairie plant, the woolly sunflower. We also have the native prairie plants — camas, chocolate lily, wild violets, bluebells, and bear grass.”

“From early to late May the field is gorgeous,” continued Trina. “It starts with the yellow field buttercup and then turns purple blue with the camas that grows in flower rivers over the prairie. I truly love our prairie, and it is important to me to preserve this little piece of prairie heaven.”

They used to cut the grass for hay during the first couple of years living on the prairie. Now, they mow once each season, waiting until the native prairie flowers set their seed and the birds nesting on the ground and in the trees hatch.

One of Trina’s favorite birds is the western bluebird. According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, “the population of western bluebirds in Washington is low and the trend points to it as declining. This bird is designated as a ‘Species of Greatest Conservation Need’ in Western Washington. Declines in recent decades caused primarily by habitat loss.”

To help reverse the decline, Trina has placed 25 bluebird boxes on her land. A couple of nesting bluebird pairs have used the bluebird boxes every year for over 15 years. Some of the boxes are also used by violet-green, barn, and tree swallows.

“I love the bluebirds and watching them take worms into the nest and taking out white poop sacks to keep their nests nice and tidy. They are such bright blue birds! So cute,” said Trina.

Trina also noted, “There is quite a science to monitoring bluebirds. Bluebirds usually lay one egg a day for six days and incubate the eggs until the young birds fledge around 20 days old.

“I have learned all about birds by living on the prairie. We have so many birds that call this place home — bald eagles, ravens, sharp-shinned hawks, killdeer, western tanagers, bob whites and northern harriers. There are also pileated woodpeckers and belted kingfishers that we often see closer to the river,” said Trina.

On their land, there is also a stream that disappears seasonally underground and becomes groundwater, which drains into and eventually recharges the Satsop River. In the winter, wetlands are on one side of the landscape and have ponded water, and sometimes up to two feet of water covers that area, which helps recharge groundwater.

Trina said, “we are the temporary stewards of this land, and we try our best to have the least amount of impact to provide wildlife habitat.”

“Seeing wildlife in footage from the numerous wildlife cameras that we’ve set up in the fields and forest is amazing,” said Trina. “It’s their home too. We once watched a cougar come from the river and cross the land. We’ve also seen bobcats, bears, raccoons, deer, — and in the past — elk. We hope that the elk do return in the future. It’s important to save the land for them.”

Over the last quarter of a century, Trina and her partner have diligently worked to remove the highly invasive Scotch Broom and holly plants. To steward their land, they have planted many native alder trees and have protected their native Garry Oak and vine maple trees, and the native hazelnut, snowberry and Oregon grape shrubs.

On their land, you’ll see many honeybee hives. Their honeybees pollinate and collect the pollen and nectar from their native trees and shrubs and from the apple, and cherry trees on their land.

Trina is also the president of the volunteer group Friends of Schafer and Lake Sylvia State Parks (FOSLS). The Friends Group was organized in 2008 when the state was in a budget crisis and was talking about selling off the parks.

“FOSLS is a really fun group. Our volunteers all care and love our parks deeply and do a lot of park volunteer work — from removing invasive plants, to lobbying for our parks, and to organizing and conducting student field days at the parks for local schools,” said Trina.

This publication is part of the Chehalis Basin Collaborative for Salmon Habitat “Watershed Hero” series to celebrate the work of Chehalis Basin residents for their restoration of native ecosystems that salmon and other wildlife species depend on.