Connecting the Landscape and People in the Clatsop Plains
In 1805 William Clark described the landscape south of the mouth of the Columbia River as an “open wavering sandy plain.” The unique coastal habitat that has developed here over the past 5,000 years began as a series of parallel sand dunes. Groundwater trapped in dune swales created wetlands, lakes and streams, and the landscape evolved to include native prairie, treed shelterbelts, and other habitats associated with Neacoxie Creek and Neacoxie Lake. The lands here serve as a corridor for migrating birds and other species and are essential habitat for the threatened Oregon silverspot butterfly.
Thanks in large part to NCLC, much of the Clatsop Plains prairie and its connecting forests and wetlands have been conserved, and our focus here is now on stewardship. Our partners in this endeavor currently include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, The Nature Conservancy, The Institute of Applied Ecology, Oregon Air National Guard, and the National Park Service.
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