Situated 20 miles southwest of Wenatchee, the Colockum Unit is centrally located and within a few hours travel from all points in Washington. The 11,300 acre unit includes topographic, climatic, and vegetative features representative of range and forest types found on the east slope of the Cascade Mountains and in the Blue Mountains of southeastern Washington.

Ranging in elevation from 1800 to 5600 feet, the unit provides a variety of habitat types suitable for natural resources research and education. The lower elevations typify the semiarid grasslands of eastern Washington-with and without a shrub component. The foothills are dominated by ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, and western larch, with grand fir in moist, shaded sites. At the highest elevations, the forest is dominated by subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce, and lodgepole pine. The unit also contains perennial stream (riparian) ecosystems and complete surrounding watersheds.

Mission of the Colockum Unit

The Colockum Unit was established in 1961, as a research, teaching, and extension facility of Washington State University's Department of Forestry and Range Management (now the Department of Natural Resource Sciences). Its educational mission is to demonstrate sustainable multiple use and management strategies for wildland resources. To this end, the Unit is utilized not only for Cooperative Extension and resident instruction programs of WSU, but also for meetings, tours and field days. Integrated forest, rangeland and wildlife habitat management are the areas of emphasis. Selected methods that landowners and resource managers can use to meet today's and tomorrow's stewardship needs are demonstrated. Our forest management emphasizes objectives of non-industrial private owners (family forests) of eastside "dry forests". The rangeland program demonstrates compatible use of range by livestock and wildlife, as well as selected range improvement techniques. The wildlife habitat effort emphasizes the needs of a large resident elk herd, but opportunities exist for study and management of a wide range of other game/non-game species.

The headquarters' facilities can accommodate field work and tours of one to several days duration. We have a classroom/dining hall, shower house, two trailer parking pads, and an assortment of bunkhouses to accommodate 25 comfortably overnight. Those staying overnight will need to bring a sleeping bag, towels, and personal gear. It is wise to bring rain gear and a warm coat any time you visit the Colockum Unit. A small kitchen in the dining hall is available to prepare meals. Groups may use the facility for natural resource education year round when the proposed activity is compatible with existing weather conditions. Our primitive road system limits the utility of low clearance vehicles for tour transportation.

Wildlife

The Colockum is a well known wildlife area. The unit is located within the Washington Department of Wildlife's Colockum Wildlife Habitat Management Area. Rocky Mountain elk are abundant, with approximately 300 elk summering on the unit. Five hundred to one thousand elk pass through the area during spring and fall migrations. Mule deer are resident within the Unit, along with upland birds such as Chukkars, Hungarian partridge, doves, quail, and blue and ruffed grouse. Many species of songbirds are found in the varied habitats. An abundance of small animals adds to the wildlife diversity.

Thomas Brannon
Extension Coordinator
Colockum Research and Extension Unit
8774 Colockum Rd
Malaga, WA 98828

Email
(509) 663-6400