Scappoose Bay Bottomlands Conservation and Restoration Plan
This plan, completed in 2004 by The Wetlands Conservancy, describes the Bottomlands in terms of historic conditions, ecologic processes, current plant communities, fish and wildlife use, and wetland values.
The plan also summarizes the natural resource and open space components of the Columbia County Comprehensive Land Use Plan, and identifies the major economic conditions, potential opportunities and conflicts for conserving and enhancing sociological and ecological values, and threats to conservation.
Three reference sites within the bottomlands are described; these are sites that are in relatively good ecological condition, primarily because they lie in areas where diking was never done or drainage was ineffective.
Seven privately owned parcels and three publicly owned areas were identified as having the highest priority for conservation and restoration. These areas included the Malarkey and Hogan ranches, Oregon State Parks/Greenland in St. Helens, and the Sauvie Island Wildlife Area (SIWA). The private sites were the main focus of field surveys, and land value appraisals were conducted on four of these sites, where landowners were willing to consider protection easements.
Significant Study Results
- The characteristic habitats, including plant, wildlife, and fish species, for the Scappoose Bay Bottomlands were described.
- Field surveys were conducted of seven bottomland parcels that have the potential to be some of the best remaining habitats in the Lower Columbia River system.
- Conservation strategies were determined for the seven properties, detailing prescriptions for native plantings, crop conversions, reconnections, and managing control structures.