Skip to main content Skip to navigation
Hudson Biological Reserve Mission

Smoot Hill is an 800 acre farm, located 12 miles from the Pullman campus. It was purchased by WSU in 1972 for research and educational use and designated as the “Hudson Biological Reserve at Smoot Hill” in recognition of Professor George Hudson’s unique and outstanding contributions. Smoot Hill is one of the largest intact remnants of the native Palouse plant community. Its natural diversity and beauty make it popular for ecology and botany field trips.

We aim to raise awareness about conservation and natural history in our community, learn about the ecology within the reserve, and protect the diverse habitat within the Smoot Hill and Rose Creek Nature Preserve Palouse Prairie remnants.

Climate change and invasive exotic plant species threaten the remaining Palouse Prairie remnants which extend within less than 1% of their pre-colonial range in the Columbia Plateau.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(From R. Daubenmire, 1970. Steppe vegetation of Washington. Technical Bulletin 62. Pullman, WA: Washington State University, College of Agriculture, Washington Agricultural Experiment Station.)

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Contact