Every inch of this valley floor has aspirations to be a wetland. LIDAR images uncover veins of meander scars converging on the Willamette River from the low hills to the east and west—local tributaries like the Calapooia and Muddy Creek show similar veins. Under the overlay of fescue and orchards and suburbs and roads, a network of buried channels testifies to ancient and not-so-ancient riverbeds and creeks that shielded and nurtured the same populations of frogs, fish, and turtles we now fight so assiduously to preserve.
Greenbelt’s Little Willamette protects a side-channel of the Willamette whose waters fluctuate with the season but thankfully never disappear entirely. Harkens Lake is another such property protected by a Greenbelt easement.
These lands, connecting directly to the Willamette and essentially forming high-water loops, are now lonely witnesses to the once braided river we have channeled and straightened. But lands further afield, with shallower waterways feeding smaller streams, have like-minded aspirations not for fully-fledged riverhood but rather seasonal wetlands with standing pools in winter that dry in the heat of August. Restoring these reintroduces natives, provides local habitat for birds and other species, and contributes to the health of the valley if not the universe (there are no actual data on that last claim . . .)
The “before” photo.
Nearly 20 years ago, we bought 14 plus acres in the grass fields east of Neabeack Hill. A shallow, seasonal stream cuts diagonally across a roughly 8-acre field on the property (the rest is covered with a stand of Oregon oak), eventually emptying into the Marys River. The previous owners cut hay for years on the pasture, but blackberries and hawthorn were defiantly colonizing the collapsed and tangled fencerows on the margins.
Although it wasn’t brilliant as a field, you had excellent clearance for launching and retrieving Estes rockets. But in winter, the stream grew bold enough to wander, and the pasture took on an entirely different attitude. We encouraged that attitude and began reshaping the contours to collect overland flow. Erstwhile Greenbelt director and riparian ranger, Chris Kiilsgaard, acted as the project’s midwife, shooting the levels and sculpting the berms.
The first photo shows the raw results: bare dirt. That winter it was bare mud. But the first spring saw a profusion of fragrant popcorn flowers and camas. Soon the populations of miner’s lettuce and western buttercup were rampant, along with snowberry and cattails. By the next winter, we were on the map for migrating geese and ducks. They brought red alder and willow. Soon it was a Club-Med for tree frogs in such profusion their songs were louder than even the midnight motorcyclist who regularly zips though the curves half a mile from our house. And in due course we had tadpoles and their stalkers, great blue herons.
The “after” photo.
Before we unleashed “the force that through the green fuse drives the flower” (Dylan Thomas, out of context) we conducted a professional bird survey that disclosed 36 species including acorn woodpeckers, common yellow throats, wood peewees, and brown creepers. Since the wetland has been established, the population count has doubled, including red-winged blackbirds, a nesting pair of red-tailed hawks, and a host of water fowl. We’ve even seen wading birds like green herons and greater yellowlegs stop by for a quick snack. This time of year, it’s mostly a curve of trees along the inside of a grassy basin edged with pennyroyal and bees, waiting for the rains.
The habitat mosaic attracts a diversity of wildlife, including elk.
A path overhung by willows runs along the top of the berm before circling the pasture. In the deepest part, up against the tall willows and cottonwoods, there’s still a little water, busy with tadpoles. A few days ago as we walked amid the scolding of the wrens and blackbirds, out stepped two mature bull elk who had been lounging in the shade. Irked, they glanced at us and moved off toward the trees along the creek. I thought of Hopkins’ lines “O let them be left, wildness and wet;/ Long live the weeds and wilderness yet.” We have plans to finish enlarging the wetland this summer.
Blog post and photos: Seymour House, Greenbelt Land Trust’s Board President. For more information about Seymour and our other Board Members, click HERE.
