Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership

Yesterday we had Rainier City Administrator Scott Jorgensen and Public Works Director Russ Reigel to tour Fox Creek, where a new beaver has recently moved in!

Fox Creek is small urban stream located in the heart of Rainier. Our Community Programs Team began working at this site in 2019. When we began, the floodplain was dominated by dense reed canarygrass with little native vegetation or shade (see pic 5). Our team has taken on restoring this site over time with the help of local students, volunteers, Ash Creek Forest Management, and a partnership with Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, the City of Rainier, Friends of Fox Creek, and the Lower Columbia Watershed Council.

Since we began work to restore and steward this site we have engaged 584 people in hands on stewardship work and planted over 8,700 native trees and shrubs. This dense planting and interplanting have been needed due to the large amount of browse from wildlife and the aggressive nature of the reed canarygrass in this floodplain. This spring for the first time we were excited to discover a beaver dam in the project area built from the red alder and Oregon ash trees we had planted! Beaver dams help to improve water quality by storing cool water in summer, creating habitat for native fish. They also help to slow water down, filter water, and remove pollutants. Additionally, beaver ponds store groundwater which fuels riverside vegetation. This vegetation, in turn, shades rivers and streams, further cooling the water for native fish.

We love getting students out for educational field trips to Vancouver Lake! Students always love spotting (and poking, and pretending to pick) this nose-like tree burl as we hike through the woods. 😁 And they engage their inner engineer--working together to make a model of the area on the sandy shoreline to see how rivers and lakes flow together (and yes, just having fun digging in the sand).

You can find a fun, interactive map of Vancouver Lake made by Art Nature Place in both English and español on our website: https://www.estuarypartnership.org/vancouver-lake

Big thanks to Vancouver, Washington City Government, Port of Vancouver USA & Clark County, WA for supporting critical outdoor learning time for these kids!