Columbia Land Trust participates in Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife’s “Hunt By Reservation” program, which provides hunters with managed access to our conserved lands, such as Kerry Island in the lower Columbia River. As a way to give back to the Land Trust for participating in this program, ODFW is organizing a volunteer stewardship event at Kerry Island on Saturday, August 29^th. 

ODFW will work with volunteers and the Land Trust’s Coast Stewardship team to improve site access and habitat through removal of encroaching vegetation. Gloves, tools, water, snacks, and lunch will be provided. This is a great chance to meet other local hunters while caring for a site with great importance for wildlife including juvenile salmon, Columbia white tailed deer, and more

Date: Saturday, August 29^th, 2026 
Time: 8am – 12pm; late arrival is okay. 
Where: Kerry Island is located in Clatsop County, across the road from 10911 Carver Rd, Clatskanie, OR.
Lunch will be provided!

Visit this ODFW form to register by August 27th, and select Kerry Island for the event location (in the RESTORE category). Please contact events@columbialandtrust.org with any questions.

The post Kerry Island Volunteer Day with ODFW 8/29 appeared first on Columbia Land Trust.

For the entirety of Columbia Land Trust’s more than 35-year history, the organization has worked closely with local governments to conserve nature close to home and improve access to nearby outdoor spaces. In the City of Camas, if you’ve ever walked the bustling Lacamas Heritage Trail or paddled at Fallen Leaf Lake you’ve enjoyed a park that Columbia Land Trust helped create! 

As part of this longstanding tradition of partnership, in June the Land Trust transferred a 13.5-acre parcel along the Lacamas Heritage Trail to the City of Camas, as the final step in the property’s conservation journey. The land buffers the beloved trail for nearly a half mile and provides the public with direct access to Lacamas Lake. The Land Trust acquired the parcel in 1999 under a formal agreement with the City of Camas stating that the Land Trust would hold the property on behalf of the city, and support with monitoring, until the city was ready to take ownership. For the next 27 years, Land Trust stewardship staff managed the property in cooperation with the city and Clark County to preserve its public access and natural values. The parcel has already been functioning as part of the popular Lacamas Heritage Trail corridor and now will continue to be maintained for open space, conservation, and recreation. 

The Lacamas Heritage Trail is a wide gravel trail, about 3.5 miles long in one direction (seven miles round trip). It runs from Goodwin Drive near Camas Meadows Golf Club to Lacamas Lake along the south and west side of the lake, offering scenic nature views and multiple points of water access. South of the trail sits Fallen Leaf Lake which Columbia Land Trust helped conserve and transferred to the City of Camas in 2025. The trail is also adjacent to 250-acre Camp Currie, which was one of Columbia Land Trust’s earliest conservation projects. 

The Lacamas Heritage Trail property was originally donated to the Land Trust for conservation by the late Tom Shipler, as part of his vision for a public trail along Lacamas Creek and the south shore of Lacamas Lake. Why did the Land Trust hold it for so long, you might be wondering? Existing conserved lands can often be used to leverage funding for new parks and open space. In this case, the City of Camas strategically deferred taking on ownership to maximize opportunities to obtain grant funding for other conservation projects. 

Founded in Clark County in 1990, Columbia Land Trust serves a diverse region that stretches from east of the Cascade Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, in both Oregon and Washington. To date the Land Trust has conserved about 1,800 acres in Clark County, including portions of beloved Clark County regional parks like Whipple Creek, Daybreak, and Lewisville. Fostering access to nature is a core part of our conservation mission, and projects like these in rapidly developing areas like Clark County work in tandem with our landscape-scale conservation work taking place in more remote areas of the Columbia River region. 

The post Our role in Lacamas Heritage Trail history appeared first on Columbia Land Trust.

Wading through shin-deep water, a small team of scientists, volunteers, and Columbia Land Trust staff spread out across the wetlands of Columbia Stock Ranch in search of a rare plant.

Located in Columbia County, Oregon, the 900-acre site is home to a diverse mosaic of wetlands, forests, and open prairie habitats. Beneath the tall grasses, sedges, and shallow wetland waters, this group was searching for Water Howellia (Howellia aquatilis), a species so rare it was once thought to be extirpated from Oregon. Hidden among dense vegetation, the delicate aquatic plant is easy to overlook, making its discovery feel something like a treasure hunt.

One year after Water Howellia was first discovered on the property, Columbia Land Trust staff joined biologist Jason Clinch of Three Creeks Consulting and volunteers Rick Shory and Larissa Huson in a series of return visits to continue a botanical inventory funded by the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts (COLT).

Over three spring days, the team revisited known Water Howellia locations, surveyed areas that had not yet been inventoried, and set out to better understand the rare plant’s distribution and habitat preferences.

These surveys documented Water Howellia growing in several locations beyond where it was initially discovered in 2025. Observations suggest that the population likely includes thousands of individual plants.

“This is exciting because it tells us the population is more widespread than we initially realized,” said Jason.

The discovery of Water Howellia in the first place remains remarkable because the site doesn’t fit the image you might imagine when picturing rare plant habitat. “It’s a surprising location, not what I would consider traditional habitat for the species,” Jason explained.

Before a majority of the site was conserved by Columbia Land Trust in 2012, it was diked and managed as cattle pasture and hay fields. Much of the site lies within the Columbia River floodplain, and today the property includes a rich mosaic of wetlands, forests, prairie habitats, and seasonal grazing areas that support a growing diversity of wildlife and native plants.

Also surprising was the abundance of Water Howellia blooming among dense stands of reed canarygrass, an aggressive non-native species that Land Trust stewardship staff are actively working to control.

Along with the location and abundance of Water Howellia, the survey team recorded associated plant species, water conditions, flowering activity, and seed capsule development to better understand the ecological conditions that support the species here. Numerous flowering plants and developing seed capsules were observed, evidence that the population is reproducing successfully and continuing its life cycle across the site. Data collected will help guide future stewardship decisions at the site and contribute to a broader understanding of one of Oregon’s rarest plants. “The more we know about our properties, the better we can care for them,” said Columbia Land Trust Coast Region Stewardship Manager Austin Tomlinson.

You might have rare plants, but you’re not going to know unless someone goes out and looks for them.”
-Jason Clinch, Three Creeks Consulting

These plant inventories also help fill an important knowledge gap for Columbia County, Oregon, where much of the landscape is privately owned and relatively little botanical survey work has been conducted. Survey data collected through the project is shared with organizations including the Oregon Biodiversity Information Center (ORBIC), Oregon Flora, and other researchers working to better understand plant communities across the state.

As part of this year’s effort, the team collected Water Howellia specimens for preservation at the Oregon State University and Portland State University Herbarium. These samples will help researchers study the species and provide future botanists with valuable records from one of Oregon’s few known current populations.

“They only have a handful of collections, and most of them are 100 years old or more,” said Jason.

This ongoing botanical inventory work was made possible through funding from the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts with support from longtime conservation advocate Jane Hartline. In a fitting twist, Water Howellia was first documented by botanists on Sauvie Island in 1878—the same island where Jane’s native plant nursery operates today.

For Columbia Land Trust, the discovery of Water Howellia at Columbia Stock Ranch serves as both a conservation success story and reminder that nature still has surprises to offer. Last year’s discovery showed us that this rare species had found a foothold in an unexpected place. This year’s surveys suggest that Water Howellia may be more resilient than anyone realized.

The post Rediscovery of Water Howellia: Part II appeared first on Columbia Land Trust.

“Behrens Woods may only be 2.34 acres, but this small forest plays an important role in the community,” said Hailey Heath, the City of Vancouver Volunteer Coordinator. “This site is a beautiful example of a Douglas-fir and western hemlock forest, an ecosystem that once covered much of the land west of the Cascades. Healthy urban forests like this are increasingly rare, which makes places like Behrens Woods especially valuable.” 

Since 2022, dedicated neighborhood stewards have coordinated volunteer work parties twice a month. Together they have contributed nearly 2,500 hours working towards Backyard Habitat certification. Certification is achieved by conserving or planting native species, removing noxious species, implementing wildlife stewardship and stormwater management measures, and reducing or eliminating pesticides. So far Behrens Woods volunteers have planted more than 330 native plants, and removed over 325 cubic yards of non-native species that crowd out important natives. Beneath an overstory of Douglas fir, big leaf maple, Oregon ash, and Western red cedar, the park is home to smaller native tree species including vine maple and cascara, tall shrubs such as osoberry and tall Oregon grape, small shrubs such as Cascade Oregon grape and snowberry, and groundcovers like fringecup, inside-out flower, and trillium. 

One of the volunteer stewards leading the restoration effort is Karen Garmine, who works alongside her husband, Fred, to help transform the forest. “Behrens Woods is a great model for what can be done,” said Karen. “Every single tree used to be covered in ivy. The transformation is remarkable, and the park really healed itself. Once the non-native plants were out of the way, the native species came back on their own for the most part.” 

The Backyard Habitat Certification Program is co-managed by Columbia Land Trust and Bird Alliance of Oregon, and in addition to residential yards, the program certifies public community spaces, including parks, natural areas, schoolyards, places of worship, and apartment complexes. Certification criteria are slightly different for these public ‘demonstration sites’, which foster access to nature and inspire visitors by providing accessible examples of naturescaping. At Behrens Woods, there are interpretive plant identification signs and compacted gravel paths that meet U.S. Forest Service Trail Accessibility standards. 

In December 2024, Behrens Woods achieved Backyard Habitat’s Silver certification. Then in June 2026, with a final push from Columbia Land Trust staff ,the park reached Gold certification. And it doesn’t stop there, community stewards and city staff are excited to keep working towards Platinum certification for the entire park! 

The City of Vancouver’s Naturespaces program has been instrumental in supporting the restoration here. “Behrens Woods became part of the city’s Naturespaces program because of its value to nearby residents,” said Hailey, explaining how the park improves air quality and cools temperatures near Highway 14, and provides access to nature close to multifamily housing. Across Vancouver, the goal of Naturespaces is to build environmental stewardship and community engagement, while fostering healthier ecosystems, healthier neighborhoods, and stronger connections between people and nature. 

The post Behrens Woods Goes Gold appeared first on Columbia Land Trust.

The beloved Backyard Habitat Certification Program began as a small pilot project in May 2006, founded in southwest Portland by a collaboration of agency, nonprofit, and municipal supporters. In the first year and a half, just over 40 participants enrolled in the program.

The current structure of co-management by Columbia Land Trust and Bird Alliance of Oregon took shape in 2009 and since then, the program has expanded into the urban/suburban areas of Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington Counties in Oregon, and Clark County in Washington.

Yard by yard, we’ve grown a powerful grassroots movement, (except we’re replacing lawns with native plants!) Today more than 14,000 participants are enrolled in the Backyard Habitat program. That large scale matters and is critical to the program’s success, demonstrating the far-reaching positive change when individuals collectively make small, positive changes. The more yards that participate, the more easily birds and pollinators can move throughout the region to find food and shelter, the more water is conserved, and the more native trees and shrubs there are shading and cooling our communities.

“Having a real live human come see my garden and discuss realistic plans, options, and habitat needs was incredibly helpful. It also built my confidence as a new gardener to have an experienced gardener educate, encourage, and guide me.”

-Kiley M.

“So much in our world feels out of my control, so when I realized I can control and make a positive difference on my little plot of land, it was freeing. Once you start naturescaping it’s inspiring to see the tangible difference you are making.”

-Anonymous

Collectively, these greenspaces also create links to larger conserved lands, like those that Columbia Land Trust protects and cares for from the Pacific Coast to the East Cascades. Together, we’re building corridors for wildlife and strengthening ecosystems across the region. We’re also generating local economic activity and building community by encouraging people to spend time outdoors and get to know their neighbors.

Every participant’s naturescaping journey is different and special. Some begin with a nearly blank canvas while others spend years removing ecologically harmful plants to clear space for native plants to thrive. Some thoughtfully tend to a mason bee colony of super pollinators, while others construct catios rivaling luxury apartments in design and sophistication.

Portland-Vancouver metro area communities benefit from increased air and water quality, reduced heat stress, energy savings, and the beauty and peace of additional greenspaces, including those at community sites like schools and places of worship.

“The success of the Backyard Habitat program is due to its strong partnerships and community-focused approach,” said program co-manager Katherine Noble. “The program harnesses folks’ individual passions for plants, birds, pollinators, etc. and transforms that enthusiasm into tangible actions, sending ripple effects through their neighborhood and beyond. We often hear how the meaningful changes participants witness in their own greenspaces inspire them to engage with conservation actions more broadly, and how the program offers a sense of hope for the future we are building together.” Cheers to the next 20 years of Backyard Habitat!

“We are so grateful for this beautiful community. We learned valuable insight at our site visit, by visiting open gardens, from all the resources, and from partner nurseries like Sparrowhawk. Our garden has brought us such peace through the storms of life and we have this community to thank for it.”

-Emily K.

BACKYARD HABITAT BY THE NUMBERS

14,500 households enrolled

3,800 acres enrolled

4,500 certified yards

420,000+ native plants planted

35,000+ actions taken to manage stormwater (restoring soils, caring for large canopy trees, installing raingardens, removing impervious surfaces, conserving water)

26,000+ actions taken to improve wildlife habitat (planting pollinator meadows, installing bird and bat nest boxes, incorporating snags and nurse logs, wildlife water features, keeping cats indoors)

549 metric tons of carbon sequestered and

11.2 million captured gallons of water per year estimated, according to a 2024 study

The post It’s All Connected appeared first on Columbia Land Trust.

2025 was an exciting year at Columbia Stock Ranch, a 900-acre site in Columbia County, Oregon. Thanks to financial support from the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts, we conducted a complete botanical inventory of a large portion of the property that tallied 259 species of vascular plants. The survey led to the surprising discovery of a robust population of Water Howellia (Howellia aquatilis). This rare species was once thought to be extirpated from Oregon, and the discovery was even more surprising given that the plant was growing in a minor, disturbed swale.

Much of Columbia Stock Ranch is located within the Columbia River floodplain. Prior to being conserved by the Land Trust, it was diked and used as cattle pasture and hay fields. Over the last 12 years it has been grazed seasonally as a temporary strategy to manage vegetation while restoring habitat for Columbian white-tailed deer. 

Jason Clinch of Three Creeks Consulting led the botanical survey team, which included expert volunteers Rick Shory and Deanna Michinski (who was the first to find the Water Howellia).“I remember getting a call from Jason, he was nearly speechless with excitement,” recalled Land Trust Natural Area Manager Austin Tomlinson. “I’m not surprised a rare plant like Water Howellia was found at Columbia Stock Ranch, it’s a really special place!” 

The Discovery 
by Jason Clinch

“Is this Water Howellia,” Deanna asked, holding up stringy bits of pondweed that she had pulled from a mucky pool of water in the middle of a cattle pasture. It was an unusually warm day in late May, and most of the vegetation nearby was non-native grasses with some sedges and rushes mixed in. Water Howellia was not a species we anticipated finding. 

With the scientific name of Howellia aquatilis, one can surmise it inhabits ‘aquatic’ habitats. The genus, Howellia, is monotypic, meaning there is only one species within the genus, and was named after the brothers Thomas and Joseph Howell, early Oregon botanists who first “discovered” the plant on Sauvie Island in 1878. More collections of Water Howellia were made from Sauvie Island, Lake Oswego, and Salem, by different botanists over the next thirty years. Its habitat was generally described as “stagnant ponds in the timber”. Then nearly 75 years went by without it being seen, and it was thought to be extirpated from the state. 

“There’s no way,” I sputtered in response to Deanna’s question, even though my brain was saying “YES!” 

I had seen Water Howellia before, in vastly different habitats than where we were on this day. After it was “rediscovered” in 2013 at Metro’s Peach Cove Fen, I visited the natural area in West Linn. There, the fen occupies a depression within bedrock scoured out by the Missoula Floods. Fens are wetlands fed by groundwater and precipitation, and Peach Cove Fen has a floating peat mat that rises and falls with the water level. Water Howellia was generally found around the shaded, shallow edges of the fen and in nearby wetland ponds. Some describe these geologic features as “kolk ponds”; “kolk” meaning “underwater vortex created by water rushing rapidly by an obstacle”.

Filled with enamor for this plant, I volunteered to monitor the known population at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.

At Columbia Stock Ranch, after settling into the realization that Deanna had indeed found this rare species, we celebrated and surveyed the rest of the wetland to document the full extent of the population. We found more Water Howellia co-mingling with other aquatic and emergent vegetation. 

Subsequent visits to Columbia Stock Ranch didn’t turn up additional Water Howellia, although more potential habitat is present. The warm, dry spell in late May and early June 2025 accelerated the growing season and dried things up quickly. Water in the wetland where we originally found the Water Howellia had dropped from a depth of about 16 inches to a scant few inches. 

As exciting as it was to discover a second known extant population in Oregon, the realization that Water Howellia may tolerate a broader category of habitats than just Missoula Flood-related kolks was equally interesting.

ABOUT WATER HOWELLIA
Plant Anatomy
Water Howellia is in the Bellflower family (campanulaceae) but lacks the broad bell-shaped flowers the family is named for. It more closely resembles species found in the Lobelioideae subfamily of Campanulaceae (formerly Lobeliaceae). Water Howellia has two types of flowers; submerged, cleistogamous (self-pollinating) flowers, and emergent, chasogamous (cross-pollinating) flowers. 

Vegetatively, Water Howellia is similar to other aquatic species it sometimes occurs with, particularly Potamogeton (pond weed) and Callitriche (water starwort) species. Its leaves are typically arranged alternately along the stem, arising from a fibrous root system. 

Habitat and Life Cycle
It usually floats in or on top of the water column. As water recedes, Water Howellia begins to decompose, making it harder to identify except for its distinguishing fruits. Eventually, even these disintegrate and release their tiny seeds. 

As an annual, Water Howellia seeds typically germinate in late fall or early winter on bare ground that will eventually become inundated. Seedlings over-winter underwater and mature into fertile plants by late spring as water warms and precipitation slows. Depending on weather conditions, and how fast the water recedes, Water Howellia can be found blooming generally in May and June, but sometimes as late as August. 

The post Rediscovery of Water Howellia, Part I appeared first on Columbia Land Trust.

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Agriculture, including ranching, timber, and farming, plays a central role in Klickitat County’s economy, while also preserving open spaces that benefit wildlife. Columbia Land Trust prioritizes working with agricultural landowners to conserve working lands and protect connected open spaces.  

Columbia Land Trust recently partnered with the Fahlenkamp family to secure an agricultural conservation easement protecting 647 acres along the Little Klickitat River, outside Goldendale, Washington called Tupper Ranch. A conservation easement is a legal tool that pays landowners for their development rights to permanently maintain open space. This project aligned with the Land Trust’s conservation goals because it secured nearly 650 acres of farmland in an area of the state that faces significant subdivision and development pressure. This site of the new easement protects a mile of shoreline along the Little Klickitat, and its conservation offers numerous benefits for wildlife. 

The now-conserved farmland is owned by two brothers and their spouses, Adam and Molly Fahlenkamp, and Karen and Keith Fahlenkamp. Keith and Adam’s family have deep ties to Klickitat County. “This area, just east of the Klickitat River, is a really special ecological transition zone,” said Keith. “Both sides of my family have a long history here,” said Keith.  

Keith and Adam grew up on land adjacent to Tupper Ranch, and another farm outside Goldendale has been run by the Fahlenkamps since the late 1800’s, making it one of a small number of Century Farms in Washington State. (A Century Farm is one that has been operated by the same family for more than 100 years.) 

The brothers approached Columbia Land Trust with this conservation project because they valued conserving the land and enhancing its wildlife habitat. The income they received from the sale of the conservation easement to the Land Trust will help them build a sustainable agricultural business for the next generation.  

“I appreciate the care that Columbia Land Trust has for the land, and how they work to find balance. We had a lot of shared values in our desire to conserve these open spaces,” said Keith. 

When Adam and Keith purchased Tupper Ranch, they didn’t know much about conservation easements, but they met with Land Trust staff to learn more. “We have seen other ranches in the area bought up by developers and subdivided into 20-acre lots, and we didn’t want that to happen here,” said Keith. “It has been a good match and good partnership working with Columbia Land Trust.” 

Much of the ranch will continue to be managed for cattle rangeland and hay production, but several pockets of oak habitat, pine forest, and riparian habitat will be managed for wildlife. In 2023, the Fahlenkamps completed a riparian enhancement project with Yakama Nation to improve beaver habitat along Blockhouse Creek. This included fencing to keep cattle out of the creek, improving water quality and benefiting salmon. But cattle need water to drink, so the family installed a solar panel to power a small pump, and now water runs from a well up into a 100-year-old water tower and then into a steel tank in the cattle pasture, on demand. “An excellent blend of old and new,” said Keith, adding that they hope to continue with additional habitat enhancement projects in the future.  

The family cares deeply about supporting soil health, water quality, and wildlife habitat. They do not use herbicides or chemical fertilizers, and they employ regenerative agriculture practices that help keep water in the ground to recharge the Little Klickitat River basin aquifer and limit erosion. 

“My parents were also conservation and wildlife habitat minded,” said Keith, explaining how his dad participated in Washington State’s Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, which compensates farmers for voluntarily planting native vegetation along salmon-bearing streams to help keep water clean and cool for salmon, improving habitat and water quality. “He planted thousands of trees and shrubs to create shelter belts all over the ranch. It was really positive and made a big difference for wildlife, especially birds.” 

“Working with the Fahlenkamps to keep this ranch together will have long-term benefits for federally threatened mid-Columbia steelhead and Washington State – endangered western gray squirrel, in addition to maintaining open space for numerous other species,” said Land Trust Conservation Director Nate Ulrich. “It takes all of us to maintain these important places, and we are fortunate to be able to support the ongoing stewardship work of the family.” 

Funding for this conservation project was provided by Washington Wildlife and Recreation program and US Natural Resources Conservation Service, as well as a donation from the Tupper-Fallenkamp Family.    

The post Conserved: Tupper Ranch appeared first on Columbia Land Trust.

Columbia Land Trust’s work is grounded in sound science, strong relationships, and collaboration. The impact of our collective effort is meaningful. Over the last year, we have conserved more than 3,000 acres across our service area, conducted prescribed burns on 127 acres to reduce wildfire risk and restore ecosystem health in the East Cascades, and continued rebuilding an oak prairie on the Tualatin River. These efforts matter—for biodiversity, for climate resilience, and for future generations, and our 2026 Conservation Report summarizes and celebrates what we have accomplished together in the last year.

The post 2025-2026 Conservation Report appeared first on Columbia Land Trust.

This spring, Columbia Land Trust is organizing two volunteer stewardship events at two conserved forested wetlands along Baker Bay in Washington. These sites, at the mouths of the Chinook and Wallacut rivers, are located in the ancestral lands of the Chinook Indian Nation and are home to an incredible array of wildlife. 

• Wallacut River Confluence: “Wallacut” is located where the Wallacut River runs into Baker Bay. The Land Trust reconnected more than 100 acres of tidal floodplain here in 2016, and the land is home to an incredible array of wildlife, from bear and deer to ruby kinglets and song sparrows. 

• Chinook River Confluence: Conserved by the Land Trust in 2024 and stretching along Baker Bay for more than a mile, this site is home to 197 acres of intertidal wetland habitat that supports migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, and other species. 

Join us for one of two mornings of land tending consisting of litter pickup and manual weed removal. We will be prioritizing the removal of Scotch broom and English holly which crowd out native vegetation throughout coastal forests.  

Please register using the links or buttons below. You will receive a confirmation email with directions to your work site, both of which are located near the town of Chinook, Washington. 

• Register here: Friday, May 8, 2026 at Wallacut River Confluence  

• Register here: Saturday, May 9, 2026 at Chinook River Confluence 

What to Expect: Both events will begin at 9:30am with a quick orientation, followed by volunteer work from 10:00am until 12:30 pm. This activity involves manually removing litter and pulling weeds with gloves, shovels, and weed wrenches that Columbia Land Trust will provide.  

Participants are encouraged to bring a reusable water bottle, snacks, work boots, and attire suitable for physical work outdoors. Supplemental water and some light snacks will be available. Restrooms are not available on site but can be accessed nearby at the Chinook County Park on Highway 101. We plan to work rain or shine! 

For more information, please contact events@columbialandtrust.org.  

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