Columbia Land Trust

Klickitat River habitat conserved for fish and wildlife

Columbia Land Trust acquires 580 acres on Dillacort Creek and the Klickitat River with a generous donation from rancher, Bill Giersch, and a grant from the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board.

Five miles from the confluence of the Klickitat and Columbia rivers, Columbia Land Trust recently acquired 580 acres along the river and its tributary, Dillacort Creek. Landowner Bill Giersch donated 200 acres and the Land Trust received a grant from the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board to acquire 380 acres. Columbia Land Trust conserves the site for salmon and steelhead habitat and for wildlife.

Klickitat River, Klickitat County, Washington

Ranchers Bill and Mary Giersch owned the Klickitat River and Dillacort Creek land for cattle grazing, as part of their OK Ranch. Mary's grandfather, Oliver Kreps, started the OK Ranch in 1883 as a homestead in the Glenwood Valley in north Klickitat County. Bill donated this land for conservation on behalf of his late wife Mary. "She loved that country and wanted to be sure the land stayed open and wild, and I guess I feel the same way," Bill says of his generous donation for conservation.

The beautiful Dillacort landscape is a testament to the Giersch's good stewardship of the land. The relatively undisturbed oak and pine woodlands support abundant wildlife. Native bunchgrasses and flowers prevail on the hillsides and the creek corridor is green with alder and riparian plants.

Yakama Nation Fisheries will partner with the Land Trust to steward and monitor the site for fish habitat. A culvert blocked fish passage to Dillacort for 25 years. Since 1996, when the culvert was replaced, Yakama Fisheries have recorded steelhead redds in the lower creek and juvenile salmonids in the upper, shaded year-round pools. The Land Trust will continue to allow the historic use of limited cattle grazing compatible with protecting its habitat and natural resources.

The Klickitat River flows 96 miles from the north side of Mount Adams to the Columbia River. It is the longest free-flowing river in the Lower Columbia River. As it nears the Columbia, east of the Cascade Mountains, it runs at the base of steep hillsides of oak and pine woodlands, open grasslands and native plants. Near the end, it courses through a narrow basalt canyon historic for Chinook, and steelhead runs and Native American dip-net fishing platforms.

The Klickitat forms a north-south canyon rich with riparian and upland habitat, making it a primary corridor for migrating birds. It provides a long, low-elevation passageway where birds have access to food, cover and water in early spring and fall.

Taking Stock

Glenn Lamb's Musings

Every day I take stock of myself and the world. Lately, I've been having a hard time with this.

Old growth spruce Long Beach Peninsula, Washington

"I live in a world where people fly airplanes into buildings." No matter how many times I repeat this, I still can't believe it.

And I do wake up in the middle of the night, full of fear. I am looking for hope, I am looking for solace.

The day after the attacks, I read that one of the American Airlines pilots was also a farmer. His brother announced immediately that the pilot's farmland would be put in conservation with a land trust. This was his brother's wish.

The Saturday after the attacks, Columbia Land Trust went ahead and held our annual membership picnic. Sixty of you joined us on the high bank above the Kalama River. We stood and talked under the shade of 150-year-old Douglas fir trees. We listened to the constant sound of the Kalama River cascading towards the Columbia. We felt the cool on our faces from the afternoon breeze coming up the river. We smelled the richness of the fir needles turning to soil under our feet.

This is my hope, my solace. Those constant forces in the world, the durability and reliability of nature. The dreams of the dead pilot, coming true. Now more than ever I am committed to our conservation work.

"These lands are your lands, these lands are my lands."

New additions

Patty Raedy

Patty is the accountant for Columbia Land Trust. Patty forgets what she loved to do with her personal time, because it's now become family time with her two children and husband! She does love time with her family, time at the beach and her church involvement. She has a masters degree in administration from the University of California Davis.

Joe Buttafuoco

Joe is the new stewardship coordinator through the AmeriCorps volunteer program. Joe just moved to the Northwest from his home state of New Jersey. He has a B.S. in natural resources from Cornell University. Joe organic gardens, rides his mountain bike, photographs and plays the bass.

Conservation for the Little White Salmon Biodiversity Reserve complete

With a grant from The Paul G. Allen Forest Protection Foundation, Columbia Land Trust has conserved 200 acres of in the Columbia Gorge, on the hillside and above Drano Lake in Washington. The site is near the Little White Salmon River adjacent to the beginning place of the historic Broughton Flume. Columbia Land Trust partnered with Cold Spring Conservancy, a non-profit organization devoted to environmental education, to conserve the site for a biodiversity reserve and for environmental education.

Ian Sinks, conservation director for Columbia Land Trust says, "This area is transitional habitat between east and west and this gives it high biological diversity of wildlife, plants and habitat. Douglas fir forest, oak woodlands, talus slopes, rock outcroppings, wetlands, open fields all contribute to this diverse habitat."

Private landowners, Elisabeth and Gifford Pinchot III, Jane Mulder and Otis Wollan and Sue Hall and Hank Patton worked closely with Columbia Land Trust and the Cold Spring Conservancy to sell their land and develop forest management plans. Each of the landowners donated a portion of the value of their land for conservation and toward the creation of a biodiversity reserve at the site.

The Allen Foundation awarded the Columbia Land Trust a 1.25 million dollar grant in August 2000 to partner with the Cold Spring Conservancy. Today, the two organizations have completed five land transactions, a conservation easement, and a lease agreement to provide for educational and research activities on the properties. Cold Spring Conservancy will continue working in partnership with local environmental education organizations such as, Wolftree, and local community schools to bring school children and teachers to the reserve to conduct biological inventories and learn about watershed and forest health. Columbia Land Trust will own and manage the site for conservation of its natural resources.

Grays river restoration work nears completion

For the first time in over 40 years, the rising tide of the Grays River was once again freely flowing into 116 acres of spruce and shrub wetland in Wahkiakum County, Washington. With a grant from the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board, Columbia Land Trust and Ducks Unlimited successfully acquired the 'old Peterson' property and restored the connectivity between diverse riparian wetlands and the Columbia River estuary.

Restored backwater habitat along the Grays River. Photo courtesy of Ducks Unlimited, Inc.

In August, Burns Construction from Cathlamet, Washington removed six culverts and more than 650 cubic yards of fill material to reconnect the floodplain with the river. The material was originally placed along the riverbank to provide equipment access for logging and flood protection. The removal of this material will benefit all five listed species of salmon and trout that utilize the Grays and Columbia rivers. The final steps to complete this restoration project include planting native spruce and western red cedar trees along the restored channels to provide shading, soil stability and, in the long-term, large wood debris.

As a conservation priority, Columbia Land Trust developed a strategy to conserve and restore habitat function of the Grays Bay/Columbia River estuary. To accomplish this, the Land Trust is working with conservation partners such as Ducks Unlimited and The Nature Conservancy to conserve the last remaining lands that provide critical watershed functions. These areas include spruce and other floodplain wetlands, diked lands suitable for restoration to a naturally functioning condition and upland forest habitats that directly interact with the river and estuarine systems. The focus of this and future projects is to conserve estuarine and riparian wetland habitats crucial to salmon production for all fish in the Columbia River basin. With a rich and productive nursery, rearing and over-wintering habitat provided by Grays River and associated floodplain, the condition and survival rates of juvenile salmon will be greatly improved.

Informal sampling conducted earlier this year with biologists from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Ducks Unlimited and the Land Trust found numerous sub-yearling coho salmon utilizing the backwater areas of the rivers and wetlands for rearing habitat. Future monitoring by the Land Trust and Ducks Unlimited will provide more detail regarding fish use of these important habitat areas. This data will help clarify the role these backwater habitat areas play not only for salmonids, but also for watershed and estuary health.

How you make a difference

By Glenn Lamb

You might wonder how you members are really helping conserve land. Here are a few examples.

One of you came by the office, saw a spectacular Mt. Adams photograph on a computer "screen saver" and asked "Where's that?" We told you that it was a property that we were preparing to conserve, but that we needed $10,000 to take the next step. Within a day you gave us $10,000.

(At least) one of you is a very talented artist. Recently, as you started your business, you decided to give ten percent of your profits to Columbia Land Trust. Not only that, but your gifts are matched dollar for dollar by a matching corporate donation!

Nearly 1,000 of you donate to Columbia Land Trust at least once a year, up from 125 just three years ago. Because each of you joined, we have received some of the largest private foundation grants ever given to a regional land trust in the northwest! These foundations only support us because so many of you, our members, give to Columbia Land Trust.

One of you decided that in addition to joining, you could donate a conservation easement on your own riverfront land. Once you finished that, you started talking to your neighbors. Now we are working with five other riverfront landowners. Soon we may have conserved over two miles of riverfront!

One of you first joined when you were eleven years old. Without your parents knowing, you saved your allowance for weeks until you had enough to join the land trust. Your gift has inspired many others to contribute!

Two of you sat down with your kids and talked about how to manage your family wealth. All of you concurred that you wanted to support charitable causes. You called us and told us that Columbia Land Trust will receive 25% of your estate!

Several of you have donated your own land for conservation. Not only that, but you have given us cash - some of you up to $20,000 - to make sure we have funds in place to take care of those lands, forever!

One of you joined… and then sent in gift memberships for five friends and family members! 

Columbia Land Trust, a private, non-profit organization, was founded in 1990. We're dedicated to conserving signature landscapes and vital habitat together with the communities of the Columbia River region.  Questions, comments, or concerns may be directed to info@columbialandtrust.org

All material on this site, unless otherwise noted, Copyright ©2000-2006, Columbia Land Trust
This page was last updated on June 20, 2003

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