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Columbia Quiet Waters

A Rare Forested Wetland System

The wetlands of the lower Columbia River are a high priority for NCLC conservation work. We are particularly focused on the lower Skipanon River and upper Neacoxie Creek near Warrenton and the extensive wetlands and fens among the dunes here. The Sitka spruce wetland forest and swamp community found here is considered globally rare. It contains an intact and ecologically high-functioning forested wetland habitat network of a kind that may be unique in the world. Our goal in this pristine, minimally fragmented landscape is to maintain and promote wildlife corridors and other types of ecological connectivity.

Read the Columbia Quiet Waters Conservation Plan [pdf]

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PROPERTIES CONSERVED UNDER THIS INITIATIVE

The site is a freshwater forested wetland with primarily Red alder and Sitka spruce canopy, willow and sough sedge understory...

In the late fall of 2012, North Coast Land Conservancy was pleased to complete the acquisition of the first 11 acres of an eventual 77 acre parcel...

Tucked between Ridge Road and downtown Warrenton, Clear Lake was the last undeveloped interdunal lake on the Warrenton peninsula...

The Creep and Crawl Lake property actually encompases three of Warrenton’s interdunal lakes, including part of Crabapple...

Bounded on the east side by a high ridge, Wild Ace Lake is part of a four-mile-long corridor of wetlands lying in the dune swales west...

Sand Creek consists of three donated properties, but they are managed as one due to their connectivity. They are part of an extensive...

A mature Sitka spruce forest dominates the stabilized dune ridge surrounded by the open water system of Cottongrass Lake...

Nestled in a bend of the John Day River, this forested wetlands is braided with tidal channels and is within the salt water wedge of the tidal...

Many housing developments seem to take their names from the natural features or wildlife that used to live on the land. While NCLC staff joke that the name...

Ridge Road Swamp is located at the heart of NCLC’s Columbia Quiet Waters Initiative area, and is another key link in the growing network of lakes, swamps and wetlands in the Warrenton...

The Gaston family had owned 121 forested acres in the Crosel Creek watershed southeast of Astoria since World War II...

Wolf Bay parallels Prairie Channel of the Columbia River and is upstream of the mouth of the John Day River. The saltwater intrusion at this river mile is very low and thus this wetland...

This alder dominated forested wetland really has bloomed since its acquisition in 1994. It has a high integrity as it is bordered by development...

Skipanon Forest includes land on both sides of nearly a half-mile of the Skipanon River where it flows through a forest of Sitka spruce and native crabapple...

The forested wetlands and upland dune ridges of Skipanon Wetlands contain a rich diversity of plant communities and habitat types...

Little Skipanon, adjacent to Warrenton High School, is a forested wetlands that is well connected to the Skipanon River...

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