Metro's Natural Areas Program recently purchased 215 acres of the Killin Wetlands in Washington County. Killin is the largest remaining peat soil wetlands in the Willamette Valley.
Two natural areas in western Washington County recently got bigger, with help from Metro’s 2006 natural areas bond measure.
Significant expansions to the Killin Wetlands near Banks and the Wapato Lake natural area near Gaston are designed to protect water quality and wildlife habitat. That’s good for people, too, said Metro Councilor Kathryn Harrington.
“There’s a real connectedness between bugs, frogs, birds, floodplains, flowing streams and rivers and our clean drinking water and air,” said Harrington, who represents the west side of the region. “The prosperity of wildlife, our natural areas and people are connected.”
Metro’s Natural Areas Program invests money from a voter-approved bond measure to buy land from willing sellers in 27 areas across the region, including the Killin Wetlands and Wapato Lake.
Last month, a 215-acre purchase expanded the Killin Wetlands to a total of nearly 600 acres. A draw for elusive marsh birds, the natural area represents the Willamette Valley’s largest remaining peat soil wetlands and some of the region’s last scrub-shrub marsh. It supports a rare collection of plants and animals.
The new addition includes nearly a mile along the west fork of Dairy Creek, as well its confluence with Cedar Canyon Creek. Metro will continue leasing the land to a farmer while developing a long-term plan to restore the site’s historical wetlands.
A $500,000 contribution from a grant managed by Ducks Unlimited, Inc., a wetland conservation organization, helped Metro with the $650,000 purchase. Acquiring natural areas such as these is a great investment for wildlife, fish and the environment, said Chuck Lobdell, conservation manager for the nonprofit organization.
“The upper Tualatin River Valley is particularly important waterfowl habitat, and Metro’s work is helping us accomplish our mission in this region,” Lobdell said. “It’s a unique habitat. You don’t find that many blocks of land that size that are valuable to waterfowl and haven’t been degraded to the point they can’t recover.”
Ducks Unlimited has managed the complex process of applying for and administering North American Wetlands Conservation Act grants, which have gone toward buying and restoring Metro natural areas, as well as dozens of projects on Sauvie Island and the surrounding area. Ducks Unlimited also provides skilled engineering, design and project management, further extending Metro’s resources to make the most of new natural areas.
Lobdell said the longstanding partnership with Metro has helped Ducks Unlimited secure additional grants and protect more wetland habitat. “Not only are a number of great properties secured forever and restoration projects able to start, but we’re able to leverage the purchases of these properties into federal grants to accomplish much more conservation work,” he said.
A purchase of land near Gaston expands the Wapato Lake natural area to 500 acres.
A dozen miles south, near Gaston, Metro expanded its Wapato Lake natural area by 150 acres near Southwest Fern Hill Road, creating a 500-acre expanse of protected land. The new addition, purchased for $1.3 million, includes a hazelnut farm and a forest with Douglas fir trees and scattered maple, ash and Oregon white oaks. This growing natural area is part of a habitat corridor linking the Tualatin River floodplain to Metro’s 1,200-acre Chehalem Ridge Natural Area.
Harrington, the Metro councilor, recalls riding her bike through the area a couple of winters ago and stopping in awe as she surveyed the natural area – the floodplain was barely visible because of all the birds.
“I couldn’t believe there were so many birds,” Harrington said. “It was just an amazing experience.”