Location

 

 

 

The Northwest Sustainable Agroecosystems Research Unit is located in Johnson Hall on the campus of Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. Pullman is a small community (about 25,000 inhabitants) situated in the beautiful Palouse Hills of eastern Washington. The Palouse Conservation Field Station, which is managed by the LMWCRU, is located about three miles NW of campus.

 

The Palouse was settled in the 1880's and is a leading producer of wheat, split peas, and lentils in the United States. The deep loess and Mediterranean climate, with 600 mm of annual precipitation, provide for ideal growing conditions for cool-season crops. Soils were derived from windblown sediment originating from glacial outwash deposits to the southwest. The Palouse Hills can attain slopes of greater than 55%, many of which are in crop production. From a birds-eye view, the Palouse resembles a vast region of dunes.