A tribute to the Fitzner/Eberhardt Arid Lands Ecology Reserve
| WHERE: | The Fitzner/Eberhardt Arid Lands Ecology Reserve (ALE) is within The Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge on The Hanford Reach National Monument in South-central Washington State in the Columbia Basin semi-arid desert. |
| WHO: | The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) received stewardship of the land from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 2000. Please visit the official website and learn more about the reserve or contact their local office in Richland at (509) 371-1801. |
| HOW: | The ALE reserve remains closed to general public access. It's use is currently limited to research/education activities approved through the DOE, FWS, and/or DOE contractors. Examples include National Science Foundation funded research at the Gravitation Physics Laboratory (Nike site) and the privately operated Rattlesnake Mountain Observatory. All research done at this site is passive in nature and is performed with the utmost integrity and respect for the environment and the original inhabitants. |
| WHAT: | Here is a general fact sheet from August 2002 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. |
boundary sign, flox, lupine, daisies, flox, welcome sign
hawk and magpie, stags, porcupine, deer, coyote
grasshopper, beehive, spider, black insect, green insect
looking down from rattlesnake mountain, cloud-shrouded, spring green, frozen tumbleweeds and deer, yellow and dry seasons
two rattlesnakes, winter snow, spring flowers,
erratic granite exposed by fire
presented by the researchers at the
Nike site
