The Hayden Island Natural Resource Inventory is a comprehensive survey of flora and fauna with descriptions and maps of riparian corridors and wildlife habitat.
In 2005, Metro adopted the “Nature in Neighborhoods” program which adopts a regional approach to fish and wildlife habitat. The Audubon Society says West Hayden Island is one of Portland’s most important natural areas. Its 826 acres of bottomland hardwood forest, wetlands, meadows, floodplains and shallow water habitat near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers provide irreplaceable habitat for federally listed salmon and imperiled bird, bat and amphibian species. Bald Eagles are also common on West Hayden Island.
The Friends of West Hayden Island note WHI has 81 species of birds (including nesting pairs of bald eagles and heron), nine species of mammals (including deer and beaver), four species of amphibians (including a rare variety of painted turtle), nine species of butterflies, large forests of native cottonwoods, federally-protected wetlands, and shallows for juvenile salmon.