Coast Range Projects
Bandon Marsh National
Wildlife Refuge Ni-Les'Tun Addition
Beaver Creek Marsh
Beaver Slough
Circle Creek
Coos-Coquille Estuarine Wetlands
Cox Island
Crook Point
Fanno Meadows
Gearhart
Bog
Horsfall Wetlands
Julia Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge
Kilchis Point
Leeds Island
Lewis and
Clark National Wildlife refuge
Lint Slough
New River
Neawanna Wetlands
Neskowin Marsh
Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Salmon River
Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Smith River
South Slough - Winchester Tidelands
Tillamook Bay
Trestle Bay
Whalen Island
Woahink
Bog
Yaquina
Bay
Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge
Ni-Les’Tun Addition
 Location:
On the north side of the Coquille
River, immediately upstream from the U.S. Highway 101 bridge.
Project: On January 10, 2000 the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service acquired a 407-acre parcel known
locally as the Philpott Ranch, more than doubling the size
of Bandon Marsh refuge. This addition as been named the Ni-les’tun
Unit and includes more than 300 acres of diked pasturelands
with excellent potential for restoration to tidal wetlands.
The parcel also contains Fahys Creek, forested wetlands, shrub
/ scrub wetlands and upland pastures and grasslands. The property
also includes one of the most significant archeological sites
on the Oregon coast. Additional properties upstream are currently
being appraised and will be considered for possible acquisition
by the refuge. If these other parcels are acquired, the refuge
would be able to restore a total of more than 400 acres of
tidal wetlands. Restoration will be designed to protect cultural
sites.
Partners: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
The Archeological Conservancy, Shoreline Education for Awareness,
Ducks Unlimited, Oregon Wetlands Joint Venture, Coquille Indian
Tribe, Cape Arago Audubon Society, Slough National Estuarine
Research Reserve and Port of Bandon.
Benefits: The lower Coquille River valley
is the most important wintering area for waterfowl on the
Oregon coast, supporting up to 57,000 ducks and geese. Restoration
will also provide essential habitat for native salmon, steelhead
and cutthroat trout stocks as well as improve the overall
health of the estuary.
Contact: Roy W. Lowe, Project Leader,
Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 2127 SE OSU
Drive, Newport, OR 97365; 541-867-4550.
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Beaver Creek Marsh
Location: Off
Highway 101 between Newport and Waldport, just east of Ona
Beach State Park.
Project: The Wetlands
Conservancy purchased a 77-acre property in 1997 that contains
the heart of the Beaver Creek Marsh.
Partners: The Wetlands
Conservancy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Friends of
Beaver Creek Marsh, U.S. Forest Service.
Notes: The marsh is part
of a larger wetland system that extends several miles upstream
through several miles of bottomlands that have been drained
for pastures. The marsh provides important habitat for wintering
and migrating waterfowl and supports native stocks of chinook
and coho salmon, steelhead and sea-run cutthroat trout.
Other wildlife include a variety of songbirds, shorebirds,
marsh birds (including Virginia rail, sora) as well as a
pair of bald eagles. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and
Governor's Watershed Enhancement Board have helped fund
fencing and riparian restoration on upstream pasture lands.
The U. S. Forest Service has completed watershed assessment
study. The Wetlands Conservancy is working with local groups
and private landowners to expand conservation and restoration
efforts to include other wetlands in the system.
Contact: Esther Lev,
The Wetlands Conservancy, Box 1195, Tualatin OR 97062; 503-691-1394.
Estherlev@wetlandsconservancy.org
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Beaver Slough
Location: off
Beaver Slough in the Coquille Valley near Coaledo (Coos
County).
Project goal: Reconnect
slough to 114-acre freshwater marsh to provide over-wintering
habitat for juvenile coho salmon.
Land owner: Roseburg Forest
Products
Other: The Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife working with the Tioga Chapter of the
Oregon Hunters Association built and placed 13 wood Duck
boxes. Volunteers will monitor nest success.
Partners: Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Hunters Association.
Contact: Jim Churchill,
181 W. 21st Street, Coquille OR 97423; 541/396-3516.
Randy Smith, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Box
5430, Charleston OR 97420; 541/888-5515.
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Circle Creek
 Location:
Along the Necanicum River at the south end of Seaside (Clatsop
County)
Project: Acquire 364 acres of bottomland
along the Necanicum River for protection and restoration of
floodplain and wetland habitat.
Partners: North Coast Land Conservancy,
Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, Oregon Parks and Recreation
Department, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon
State Parks, the City of Seaside.
Notes: Acquisition of the Circle Creek
property would provide permanent protection to high quality
coastal wetlands and allow for restoration of other habitat
systems that have been degraded. The Oregon Watershed Enhancement
Board submitted a request for acquisition funding to the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service’s Coastal Wetland Conservation
Grant program in June 2002, with a decision expected late
this year. The property includes 1.3 miles of Circle Creek
and 1.7 miles of frontage on the Necanicum River, stream habitat
that is important for juvenile salmon and steelhead rearing.
The property also includes 160 acres of spruce swamp, a forested
wetland type that has largely been eliminated from Oregon,
about 60 acres of emergent wetlands and 70 acres of seasonally
flooded pastures that provide important habitat for wintering
waterfowl and other migratory birds. Two herds of elk use
the open fields almost daily during the spring and winter.
Protection and restoration of these habitats would provide
an ecological link between existing conservation lands on
the Necanicum River and the upland forests of Ecola State
Park.
Contact: Neal Maine, North Coast Land
Conservancy, 5107 Highway 101 N., Seaside, OR 97138, (503)
738-4021, nmaine@pacifier.com
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Coos-Coquille Estuarine
Wetlands
Location: Coos and Coquille River watersheds
in Coos County on the southern Oregon Coast.
Project: Acquisition of easement or ownership
interests in estuarine wetlands; restoration as needed.
Partners: Coos Watershed Association,
Coquille Watershed Association, Oregon Watershed Enhancement
Board, South Coast Land Conservancy, Natural Resource Conservation
Service’s Wetlands Reserve Program, Ducks Unlimited,
The Wetlands Conservancy.
Notes: A 1999 grant of $820,000 from
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Coastal Wetlands
Conservation Grant program has helped fund a number of projects
in the lower Coos and Coquille River watersheds, including
estuarine wetland acquisition, conservation easements, and
restoration projects. The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board
granted an additional $360,000 for restoration work. To date
the grant has enabled the purchase of an approximately 110-acre
wetland at a foreclosure sale, an easement on 65 acres of
wetland, and, in partnership with NRCS, easements on an additional
250 acres. Some sites are in need of restoration, typically
elimination of dikes and drainage systems to reestablish natural
hydrology. That work is scheduled for 2002 and 2003.
Contact: Anne Donnelly, South Coast
Land Conservancy, Box 5725, Charleston, OR 97420; 541-888-3637;
adonnelly@harborside.com
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 Location:
An island in the Siuslaw River estuary, near Florence (Lane
County).
Project: Eliminate spartina, a invasive
non-native aquatic plant species, and prevent its spread to
other estuaries.
Partners: The Nature Conservancy, Oregon Department of Agriculture,
Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, Siuslaw Watershed Council.
Notes: Several partners have teamed up
in an effort to halt the spread of an aggressive non-native
plant that has invaded the Siuslaw River estuary. Spartina
patens, native to East Coast salt marshes, was detected in
the estuary in 1977. Spartina forms dense stands and displaces
native marsh plants and wildlife habitat. In Washington’s
Willapa Bay, Spartina alterniflora (introduced there by the
oyster industry) has spread to over 4,700 acres of tidal marshlands.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture and other partners are
working to prevent the spread of these introduced species
to other estuaries in Oregon. On Cox Island, The Nature Conservancy
is experimenting with ways to eradicate Spartina patens, which
invades middle marshes (Spartina alterniflora, also found
in the estuary, invades mudflats). Covering the plants with
heavy landscape fabric for two years kills them. The Nature
Conservancy began using this method on a large scale in 1997,
and has eradicated patches on the north and west portions
of Cox Island. Work is continuing on the older patches on
the southeast corner of the island where the original infestation
began.
Contact: Debbie Pickering,
The Nature Conservancy, Oregon Coast Office, 2499 North Bank
Rd., Otis, OR 97368; 541-994-5564;
dpickering@tnc.org
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 Location:
In Curry County, about 12 miles
south of the town of Gold Beach.
Project: In May 2000 the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service acquired the coastal property from The Nature
Conservancy (TNC), which purchased the 134-acre headland in
1998 to protect it from development. Congress appropriated
$2.3 million in Land and Water Conservation funds to allow
the Fish and Wildlife Service to purchase the property from
TNC. Crook Point is the second mainland unit of the Oregon
Islands National Wildlife Refuge.
Benefits: Prior to being acquired, Crook
Point was one of the last privately owned, undisturbed coastal
headlands in Oregon. The headland supports native vegetation
including up to 19 "special status" plant species.
The headland also includes unique geologic formations and
pristine intertidal plant and invertebrate communities. The
adjacent coastal rocks within Oregon Islands NWR harbor large
seabird colonies, including the second largest breeding colony
of Leach’s Storm Petrels in the state, estimated to number
87,000 birds. Harbor seals make extensive use of the area’s
pristine beaches and rocky intertidal habitats and threatened
Steller sea lions haul out on rocks just offshore.
Partners: The Nature Conservancy, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, Curry County, Confederated Tribes
of the Siletz Indians, Oregon Wetlands Joint Venture and Kalmiopsis
Audubon Society.
Contact: Roy W. Lowe, Project Leader,
Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, 2127 SE OSU Drive, Newport OR; 541-867-4550.
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Fanno Meadows
Location: On Fanno Ridge
along the crest of the Coast Range west of Dallas.
Project: Management and restoration of 660 acres of newly
acquired conservation easements as part of The Nature Conservancy’s
Fanno Meadows preserve.
Partners: The Nature Conservancy, Weyerhaeuser Inc.
Notes: Willamette Industries
donated the Fanno Meadows conservation easements to the
Nature Conservancy in 2001 as part of a package of easements
around the state. Weyerhaeuser Inc. subsequently acquired
Willamette Industries. The easements add to an existing
84-acre preserve cooperatively managed by the Nature Conservancy
and Willamette Industries since 1989. The site has unusual
wetland habitats and harbors rare plants including bog anemone
and the fawn lily, now known to occupy only five sites in
the world.
Contact: Cathy Macdonald,
The Nature Conservancy; 821 SE 14th Street, Portland OR
97219; 503-230-1221; cmacdonald@tnc.org
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Gearhart Bog
 Location:
North of Seaside in Clatsop County.
Project: Expansion of
the Gearhart Bog Preserve.
Partners: The Nature Conservancy,
Weyerhaeuser Inc.
Notes: In 2001, Willamette
Industries donated 475 acres of wetlands and adjacent uplands
to The Nature Conservancy under a permanent conservation
easement. The easement expanded The Nature Conservancy’s
existing Gearhart Bog preserve, which now makes up 595 acres.
Weyerhaeuser Inc. subsequently bought Willamette Industries,
and is now a major partner with the preserve. Plans are
now underway to acquire the Hansen tract, which would add
17 acres to the preserve. The Gearhart Bog Preserve features
several rare plant communities and at 350 acres is the largest
contiguous wetland of its kind remaining on the Oregon Coast.
Gearhart Bog is the southernmost occurrence of conifer swamp
in North America, a habitat type more often seen in British
Columbia and Alaska.
Contact: Cathy
Macdonald, The Nature Conservancy; 821 SE 14th Street, Portland
OR 97219; 503-230-1221; cmacdonald@tnc.org
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 Location:
Horsfall wetlands are part of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation
Area.
Project: With the support of a half-dozen
partners, the U.S. Forest Service cleared invading shore pines
from 20 acres surrounding the wetlands, and constructed two
shallow ponds totaling 7.5 acres. The area is off-limits to
vehicle use, but a new year-round access route will be constructed
to the north to allow off-highway vehicle access to the beach.
Current efforts include plans to control invading Scotch broom
from the uplands surrounding the ponds.
Partners: Oregon Duck Hunters Association,
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, National Forest Foundation,
Reedsport Ducks Unlimited, Oregon Department of Transportation
ATV fund, and Symms National Trail Fund.
Benefits: Shallow ponds and seasonal
wetlands in the deflation plains of dunes provide valuable
year-round habitat for waterfowl, shorebirds, and songbirds.
Deflation plains were created when European beachgrass was
introduced to stabilize the dunes. Wind scours the land between
the dunes to groundwater level, creating freshwater ponds
and marshes. Without intervention, the wetlands are invaded
by shore pines and become forests.
Contact: Ann Carlson, Oregon Dunes
National Recreation Area, 855 Highway 101, Reedsport, OR 97467;
541-271-6040.
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Julia
Butler Hansen National Wildlife Refuge
Location:
On the north side of the Columbia River, near Cathlamet, Washington.
Project: In 1999, over 110 acres was
restored on the refuge, including 48 acres of wetlands, 47
acres of pasture, and 16 acres of forested riparian area.
Existing wetland basins were recontoured to enhance habitat
for wintering waterfowl and shorebirds. Pastureland was plowed,
disked and reseeded to improve these areas for the endangered
Columbian white-tailed deer and for wintering geese. Other
fields were reforested with native trees and shrubs to provide
cover for deer and forest-dwelling birds. Plans for 2000 include
restoring an additional 185 acres of the refuge, including
about 100 acres of wetlands and riparian areas, and another
85 acres of pasturelands.
Partners: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Ducks Unlimited
Contact: Joel David, Julia Butler
Hansen National Wildlife Refuge, P.O. Box 566, Cathlamet,
WA98612; (360) 795-3915.
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Kilchis Point
 Location:
Near Bay City at the mouth of the Kilchis River on Tillamook
Bay (Tillamook County).
Project: Protection of
a 137-acre shoreline property with high quality tidal and
forested wetlands.
Partners: Trust for Public
Land, Tillamook Pioneer Museum
Notes: The Trust For Public
Land bought the 137-acre property in late February 2002
with $970,000 from an anonymous donor. The land has since
been transferred to the Tillamook Pioneer Museum, with deed
restrictions to prevent future development on the site.
The Kilchis Point property covers more than a mile of undeveloped
shoreline and constitutes the last large block of forested
wetland on Tillamook Bay. The property includes a 1.3-mile
stretch of cobbled beach and tidal marshes where three streams
enter the bay. Kilchis Point was the site of the largest
Indian village on the bay. The Tillamook Pioneer Museum
hopes to build a new museum on an adjacent property along
Highway 101. The museum also owns a 50-acre wetland property
immediately adjacent to Kilchis Point and is working with
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other partners to
develop a long-term conservation and management plan for
the two properties.
Contact: Chris Beck,
Trust for Public Land, 1211 SW Sixth Avenue, Portland OR
97204; 503-228-6620; chris.beck@tpl.org
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Leeds Island
 Location:
Umpqua River estuary, 1.5 miles northwest of Reedsport.
Project: Acquisition,
restoration and enhancement of 200 acres of estuarine habitat.
Partners: Oregon Watershed
Enhancement Board, Ducks Unlimited, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Wetlands Conservancy.
Notes: Located at the
mouth of Providence Creek, Leeds Island was historically
a tidal marsh until diked and drained for agricultural use
by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1940s. Restoration
efforts will include removal of a levee and tidegate at
the channel outlet, and removing spoil from the channel
inlet. The area has been grazed in the recent past and is
mostly pasture grasses now. Funding from a National Coastal
Wetlands Conservation Grant and other partners will be used
to acquire the property. As restoration takes place and
the land returns to tidal marsh, it will provide diverse
habitat for rearing and feeding of at-risk salmonids. The
area will also provide habitat for migratory shorebirds
and waterfowl, amphibians and other native fish.
Contact: Esther
Lev, The Wetlands Conservancy, Box 1195, Tualatin OR 97062;
503-691-1394. Estherlev@wetlandsconservancy.org
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Lewis and Clark National
Wildlife Refuge
 Location:
Columbia River estuary, east of Astoria (Clatsop County)
Project: Donation by Clatsop
County of 3,400 acres of islands to the national wildlife
refuge.
Partners: Clatsop County,
United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Notes: The lands donated
by the county are in the heart of the refuge. The Fish and
Wildlife Service had managed them under a 25-year agreement
since the refuge’s establishment. That agreement expired
several years ago and the Clatsop County commissioners approved
the ownership transfer in the summer of 2000. The refuge’s
land ownership now totals 42,000 acres including numerous
islands, sandbars, mudflats, tidal marshes, and tidal swamps.
This encompasses 40 percent of the Columbia River estuary.
The area is important for juvenile salmon habitat and is
a major stopover for migratory waterfowl and wintering geese
and ducks. The refuge supports peak shorebird populations
of 150,000 birds.
Contact: Charlie
Stenvall, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 3888 SR 101, Ilwaco
WA 98624; 360-484-3482; Charlie_Stenvall@fws.gov
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Location:
Lint Slough is on the south side of Alsea Bay, near Waldport.
Size: 30 acres
Project: Several partners are working
to restore a mile-long stretch of estuarine wetlands in Lint
Slough. In the 1960s, the Oregon Game Commission oversaw construction
of an earthen dam on Lint Creek. The 300-foot wide dam was
an experiment to improve rearing conditions for juvenile coho
salmon by controlling the salinity of the creek. Rearing conditions
were enhanced, but the fish succumbed to disease, ending the
experiment. The restoration project now under way will return
the slough to a more natural condition. The first phase of
the project, completed in February 2000, removed a 150-foot
section of the dam. The second phase of restoration involves
rerouting Lint Creek back into the natural stream channel.
Benefits: Restoration removes a migration
barrier for native salmonids, and opens up habitat for a variety
of estuarine fish and shellfish including perch and flounder,
and native clams and oysters. Construction of a hiking trail
around the slough is being considered, and recreational boaters
now have access to the mile-long stretch of slough above the
breached dam.
Partners: Ducks Unlimited, Midcoast Watersheds
Council, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife, and US Fish and Wildlife Service
Contact: John Johnson, Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife, 2040 SE Marine Science Drive, Newport
OR 97365-5294; 541-867-0300.
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Neawanna Wetlands
Location: East
of Highway 101 in Seaside.
Goal: Protect and restore
wetlands within the Neawanna Creek system.
Partners: North Coast
Land Conservancy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Governor's
Watershed Enhancement Board, City of Seaside, Coastal Studies
Technology Center.
Project: The U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service awarded the project a $170,000 Coastal
Wetlands Conservation Grant. The North Coast Land Conservancy
already owns 25 acres along the lower reaches of Neawanna
Creek and has conservation easements on another 15 acres.
Priorities for acquisition include about 20 acres along
the estuary and a 78-acre spruce swamp.
In 1999 the City of Seaside purchased
34 acres of the planned acquisitions, a former sawmill site
with three large ponds. The city plans to develop a new
Natural History/ Citizen Science Center on the property.
The property also includes 17 acres of wetlands with some
need for restoration. Funds for restoration work will be
provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Oregon
Watershed Enhancement Board, and the City of Seaside.
Contact: Neal Maine,
North Coast Land Conservancy, Box 566, Astoria OR 97103;
503/738-4021.
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Location: Just north of
Neskowin between the sand dunes and Highway 101, five miles
south of Nestucca Bay (Tillamook County).
Project Goal: Protect
a unique 175-acre freshwater wetland that includes the southernmost
coastal sphagnum bog habitat on the Pacific Coast.
Partners: U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, The Nature Conservancy, Wetlands Conservancy,
Friends of Neskowin Marsh.
Notes: The U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service’s decision in 2000 to designate 375
acres in and around Neskowin Marsh for acquisition as a
new unit of the Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge capped
more than a decade of work to protect this unique coastal
wetland. The lands proposed for acquisition include all
of the marsh, adjacent grasslands, forest and dunes, and
the Neskowin Beach Golf Course just south of the marsh,
which remains flooded from fall through spring. The Nature
Conservancy had already purchased 175 acres of the marsh
and uplands for eventual transfer to the refuge, and the
Wetlands Conservancy owns three small wetland parcels totaling
nine acres on the south end of the golf course. Neskowin
Marsh hosts several high quality examples of rare plant
communities including sphagnum bog and sedge fen. It also
provides habitat for a variety of waterfowl and other waterbirds.
Juvenile coho salmon overwinter in the marsh and cutthroat
trout are also present in good numbers.
Contact: Roy W. Lowe,
Project Leader, Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex,
2127 SE OSU Drive, Newport, OR 97365; 541-867-4550; oregoncoast@r1.fws.gov.
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Nestucca
Bay National Wildlife Refuge
 Location:
Near Pacific City, in and around Nestucca Bay.
Project: The Nestucca
Bay refuge currently encompasses 524 acres of tidal saltmarsh,
mudflats, diked wetlands, pasturelands, grasslands and mixed
forest. The refuge actively manages pastures for Dusky and
Aleutian Canada geese. Acquisition of lands is ongoing and
is currently focused on diked former pasturelands along
the Little Nestucca River. In 1999, the USFWS purchased
50 acres here and is seeking to purchase 5 additional tracts
totaling 44 acres. When acquired the USFWS will be able
to restore 90 acres of tidal wetlands. The refuge is also
currently attempting to acquire 50 acres of existing tidal
salt marsh. Three other properties totaling 60 acres are
being considered for possible acquisition.
Partners: U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Ducks Unlimited.
Benefits: The refuge was
established to provide habitat for wintering Dusky and threatened
Aleutian Canada geese and protect diverse coastal wetland
habitats and upland buffers for a variety of waterfowl,
shorebirds, marine mammals, endangered species, raptors,
songbirds and other wildlife. The refuge is also important
in providing essential habitat for juvenile salmonids, including
threatened Coho salmon, Chinook salmon, steelhead and cutthroat
trout.
Contact: Roy W. Lowe,
Project Leader, Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex,
2127 SE OSU Drive, Newport, OR 97365; 541-867-4550.
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New
River
 Location:
South of Bandon State Park, along the New River estuary.
Project Goal: A proposed land exchange
would give the Bureau of Land Management ownership of a critical
235-acre block of private lands in the New River area. The
BLM currently owns about 1000 acres along the New River, which
has been designated an "area of critical environmental
concern" (ACEC). The land exchange assists in meeting
habitat management goals on a larger block of the New River
system between Floras Lake and Bandon State Park. The lands
to be acquired include a half-mile of ocean frontage, sand
dunes, wetlands, and forested bottomlands along the New River
and the lower end of Fourmile Creek. In exchange, the current
owners would receive equivalent-value BLM lands near Myrtle
Point that are managed for commercial timber production.
Partners: Bureau of Land Management
Benefits: Habitat for threatened and
endangered species, including the Aleutian Canada Goose, Western
Snowy Plover, and Bald Eagle. Up to 15,000 Aleutian geese
use the New River area and adjacent pasturelands as their
last major stopover in the spring, before they head to nesting
grounds in Alaska. The estuary also provides overwintering
habitat for juvenile threatened Coho salmon.
Contact: Karla Swanson, Bureau of
Land Management, 1300 Airport Lane, North Bend 97459; (541)
751-4483.
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Salmon River
Location: Cascade
Head Scenic Research Area, five miles north of Lincoln City
in Lincoln County.
Size: 50-acre restoration.
Owner: U.S. Forest Service
Project: Remove dikes and restore historic
stream channels on former tidelands adjacent to Highway
101.
Other: Completed in 1996, this project
is the latest in a series of Forest Service projects that
have restored more than 235 acres of tidal wetlands in the
Salmon River estuary. Future plans include reconnection
of Salmon Creek under Highway 101 and restoration of stream
and wetland habitats east of the highway.
Contact: Don Gonzales, U.S. Forest
Service, 31525 Highway 32, Hebo OR 97122; 503-392-3161.
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Siletz
Bay National Wildlife Refuge
 Project:
To date the refuge has acquired 16 tracts totaling 519
acres. Habitats within the refuge include tidal marsh, mudflats,
sloughs, grasslands and coniferous forest in and around the
Siletz Bay estuary. Negotiations to purchase up to an additional
280 acres are continuing. Acquisition priorities include lands
along the lower Siletz River and Drift Creek that have tremendous
potential for restoration to tidal wetlands. Restoration priorities
are removal of a one-mile dike along Millport Slough to restore
and enhance approximately 120 acres of tidal marshes and restoration
of a 5 acre parcel at the mouth of Drift Creek. The refuge
staff is currently working the Confederated Tribes of the
Siletz Indians and the U.S. Forest Service to study the use
of tidal wetlands and diked areas by juvenile salmonids.
Partners: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Ducks Unlimited, Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians,
U.S. Forest Service.
Benefits: The Siletz Bay National Wildlife
Refuge provides wildlife habitat in one of the most rapidly
developing areas of the Oregon Coast. The bay and tidelands
are used by migrating and wintering shorebirds and waterfowl,
and support significant salmon, steelhead and cutthroat trout
populations.
Contact: Roy W. Lowe, Project Leader,
Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 2127 SE OSU
Drive, Newport, OR 97365; 541-867-4550.
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Smith River
Location: 1.5 miles above
the confluence of the Smith River’s confluence with
the Umpqua River near Reedsport in Douglas County.
Project: Restore 100 acres
of former estuary along the Smith River. Activities include
removal of two levees and installation of one short levee
to protect non-project lands.
Partners: Oregon Watershed
Enhancement Board, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife,
the Dawson Family, Ducks Unlimited, Umpqua Soil and Water
Conservation District.
Notes: A levee on the
Dawson family’s property on the Smith River was breached
during a storm, allowing a 25-acre pasture to return to
a partially flooded tidal wetland. The family is donating
that land to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
and allowing complete restoration of the wetlands. The existing
levee will be completely removed and the material will be
used to construct a new levee to protect the rest of the
property. A half-mile upriver, the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife owns 75 acres of land that will also be
restored. A levee on the site has been partially breached
but tidal flow is very restricted. The entire levee will
be removed as part of the project. Overall, this project
will permanently protect 100 acres of intertidal emergent
wetlands with significant benefit for juvenile salmonids
and a variety of other wildlife.
Contact: Steve
Donovan, Ducks Unlimited, 1101 SE Tech Center Drive, Vancouver
WA 98663; 360-885-2011; sdonovan@ducks.org
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South Slough -
Winchester Tidelands
 Location:
Along South Slough’s Winchester Creek, near Charleston
on Coos Bay.
Project: Habitat
restoration on 75 acres of the Winchester Tidelands, part
of the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve.
Partners: Division
of State Lands, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Natural
Resources Conservation Service, Ducks Unlimited, Oregon
Watershed Enhancement Board, NOAA, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency.
Notes: In 1993,
South Slough Reserve assembled an advisory group of nationally
recognized experts in restoration ecology and hydrology
to help develop the Winchester Tidelands Restoration Project
. The group designed the project to test the effectiveness
of a variety of restoration techniques for: (1) correcting
marsh surface subsidence (Kunz Marsh restoration project,
completed 1996); (2) restoring an abandoned tide channel
system (Cox Canyon Marsh restoration project, completed
1996); (3) constructing a meandering tide channel using
explosives (Dalton Creek Marsh restoration project, completed
1998); and (4) enhancing a ditched tide channel system using
large woody debris (Fredrickson Marsh restoration project,
completed 1998). All of the projects involved dike removal
to restore full tidal flooding to the sites. Dike material
was used either on-site or to rehabilitate nearby abandoned
logging roads or historic upland borrow pits. The final
phase of the project, including the restoration and re-construction
of a 0.5 mile long upper watershed stream channel (non-tidal),
will be completed in 2002 (Anderson Creek restoration project).
Research and restoration monitoring efforts are focused
on the use of estuarine habitats by juvenile anadromous
fish, quantification of stream turbidity and temperature
associated with stream construction and habitat development/recovery,
development of vegetation, invertebrate and microbial communities
at restored sites, and channel development and topographic
change at project sites. Over the next two to five years,
reserve staff will continue to collect monitoring data from
all sites and compile results into manuscripts to be submitted
to appropriate peer-reviewed journals and general publications.
Contact:
Craig Cornu, Stewardship Program Coordinator; South Slough
National Estuarine Research Reserve; PO Box 5417; Charleston,
OR 97420; (541) 888-2581 x301; craig.cornu@dsl.state.or.us
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Tillamook Bay / Wilson River
 Location:
The river delta at the southeast corner of Tillamook Bay,
just west of the Tillamook (Tillamook County)
Project goal: Acquire 375 acres
of diked former tidelands at the mouth of the Wilson River
for wetland restoration and long-term protection.
Partners: Tillamook Estuary Partnership,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Watershed Enhancement
Board, Trust for Public Land, Tillamook County, Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife.
Notes: The Tillamook Estuary
Partnership has purchased two of three properties targeted
for acquisition at the mouth of the Wilson River. A $750,000
grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Coastal
Wetland Conservation Grant program funded the purchases.
The Trust for Public Land, which has negotiated all of the
acquisitions, has an option on a third 142-acre property
at the end of the peninsula between the Wilson and Trask
rivers. Tillamook County will own all three properties and
the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will manage the
wetlands. The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board committed
$250,000 for habitat restoration as the state’s match
for the federal grant. The three properties include diked
pasturelands and tidal channels with floodplain forests
in higher areas. Future restoration could include dike breaching
to restore tidal wetlands and reconnection of sloughs. Restoration
of tidal wetlands was among the highest priorities identified
in a comprehensive restoration and management plan developed
by the Tillamook Bay National Estuary Project. Tillamook
Bay is one of the most important stopovers along the Oregon
Coast for migrating waterfowl and shorebirds, and is used
by large numbers of wintering waterfowl. The project will
also enhance habitat for threatened coho salmon, as well
as chinook and chum salmon, steelhead, and cutthroat trout.
Contact: Derek Sowers,
Tillamook Estuary Partnership, Box 493, Garibaldi, OR 97118;
503-322-2222; dsowers@co.tillamook.or.us
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Trestle Bay
Location: Fort
Stevens State Park on Clatsop Spit at the mouth of the Columbia
River west of Astoria.
Project: Estuary restoration project
completed in 1995 removed a 500-foot section of the South
Jetty to open up wetlands in Trestle Bay to provide fish access
and full tidal circulation.
Size: 600 acres
Partners: Corps of Engineers, Oregon
Parks and Recreation Department, City of Warrenton, Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Columbia River Estuary Study Task Force, National Marine Fisheries
Service, Coastal Studies Technology Center, Clatsop County
schools.
Benefits: Additional high quality habitat
for juvenile salmonids, crabs and other estuary dependent
species. Monitoring indicates increased use by bald eagles
and other birds.
Contact: Geoff Dorsey, Corps of Engineers,
Box 2946, Portland OR 97208; 503-808-4769.
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 Whalen
Island
Location: Sand Lake Estuary, four miles north of Pacific
City in Tillamook County, OR.
Goal: Protect 180 acres of tidal wetlands and forested uplands
on undeveloped island in Sand Lake.
Partners: Trust for Public Land, Oregon
Watershed Enhancement Board, Oregon State Parks, Tillamook
County, and the Federal Highway Administration.
Notes: The state’s purchase of Whalen
Island in September 2000 marked the first major land acquisition
funded through Ballot Measure 66, a 1998 initiative that allocated
15 percent of the state’s lottery revenues to state parks
and habitat conservation and watershed restoration efforts.
The purchase by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department,
with additional funding from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement
Board and the Federal Highway Administration, effectively
protected the heart of the last largely natural major estuary
in Oregon. The property, which was zoned for development of
40 two-acre homesites, includes 100 acres of high quality
tidal marsh. The Trust for Public Land negotiated the sale
and helped secure funding for the purchase. Sand Lake estuary
provides habitat for small runs of coho, chum and chinook
salmon, steelhead and sea-run cutthroat trout. Whalen Island
is also prime foraging ground for one of the most productive
bald eagle nests on the Oregon coast (consistently two young
per year) and numerous peregrine falcons.
Contact: Michelle Michaud,
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, 1115 Commercial St
NE, Salem OR 97310; 503-378-4168; michelle.michaud@state.or.us
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Woahink Bog
Location: Four miles south
of Florence, Oregon.
Project: Acquisition of
an 18-acre property within Woahink Bog.
Partners: The Wetlands Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy,
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Friends of Woahink
Bog, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
Notes: The National Fish
and Wildlife Foundation provided funds for The Wetlands
Conservancy to purchase the property. Project partners will
conduct a biological assessment and develop and execute
and a management and maintenance plan for the property.
The 18-acre parcel is part of a 40-acre site of statewide
ecological significance. Woahink Bog borders Gibbs Creek
and Woahink Lake and is part of a system of emergent wetland,
wetland scrub shrub, riparian and open water habitats that
provide important habitat for waterbirds and at-risk populations
of anadromous fish and a rare wetland plant community found
nowhere else in the state of Oregon. In addition to marsh
and swamp communities Woahink Bog contains a globally significant
Labrador Tea/darlingtonia/sphagnum bog and an unusual occurrence
of black crowberry. The Nature Conservancy has identified
at least six wetland plant communities on the site that
are classified under the Natural Heritage Program’s
global ranking system as "critically imperiled"
or "imperiled" (S1 or S2) at the state level.
One of these plant communities is considered "imperiled"
(G2) at the global level.
Contact: Esther
Lev, The Wetlands Conservancy, Box 1195, Tualatin OR 97062;
503-691-1394. Estherlev@wetlandsconservancy.org
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 Yaquina
Bay
Location: Along the Yaquina
River between Newport and Toledo on the central Oregon coast
(Lincoln County).
Project: Protect and restore
tidal wetlands in Yaquina Bay estuary.
Partners: The Wetlands
Conservancy, the Central Coast Land Conservancy, Oregon
Watershed Enhancement Board, Pacific States Marine Fisheries
Commission, the Midcoast Watersheds Council, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
Notes: Partners are working
to acquire and restore more than 600 acres of high priority
tidal wetlands identified in a comprehensive assessment
of Yaquina estuary. Yaquina Bay has lost 70% of its historic
estuarine marshes. The remaining marsh habitat supports
the second highest waterfowl use in Oregon. Completion of
this project will provide permanent protection to habitat
that is critical for migratory birds, salmonids, and a half-dozen
at-risk species, including coho salmon, brown pelicans,
bald eagles, marbled murrelets, sea-run cutthroat trout
and steelhead trout. The Timber Company and Simpson timber
have already agreed to invest $26,000 to restore 75 acres
of high priority estuarine marsh habitat on lands they own.
Restoration activities are also being planned by the City
of Toledo and The Oregon State University Hatfield Marine
Science Center. Grant proposals requesting more than $1
million for acquisition of targeted properties were submitted
to two federal grant programs in summer 2002. Funding decisions
are expected late this year.
Contact: Esther
Lev, The Wetlands Conservancy, Box 1195, Tualatin OR 97062;
503-691-1394. Estherlev@wetlandsconservancy.org
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Updated
November 14, 2002
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