Clark County

Clark County

East Fork Lewis River. Photo by Rollin Bannow.
  • Number of Projects:12
  • Acreage: 2260
  • Fact: In the 1920s, Clark County was considered the prune capital of the world, which was then the nation’s most popular breakfast fruit. Today Sutter County, California claims the title.
  • Experience: Southwest Washington's population center, Clark County is nonetheless rich in wild splendor. The county includes two wildlife refuges, as well as great Columbia River tributaries such as the East Fork Lewis and Salmon Rivers.
  • What We’re Doing: Columbia Land Trust got its start in Clark County; today we're focusing our conservation work along the East Fork Lewis and Washougal Rivers—some of the best remaining habitat in the area.
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The Big Picture

Columbia Land Trust got its start in Vancouver, and almost 30 years later we’re still working to conserve the natural places here. Over the years, we’ve developed deep and lasting partnerships with people, communities, and elected leaders. Those relationships helped us play a leading role in conserving places like Camp Curry—a 100-year-old children’s camp on Lacamas Lake that was going to be sold for development. Clark County also boasts places where you can get your toes into the Columbia River: The wide sand beaches of Vancouver’s Frenchman’s Bar Park as well as Washougal’s William Clark Park are two waterfront parks where you can get to the water’s edge.

Why It Matters

For 20-plus years, Clark County was the fastest-growing county in Washington, but natural wonder remains abundant. Places such as Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge and the Lacamas Lake north of Camas are strongholds for wildlife and natural beauty. Salmon Creek, which flows west through Vancouver; and East Fork Lewis River, which flows through Clark County, are two of the most important waterways for Columbia River salmon. With the population slated for continued growth, our challenge is providing for more people while also addressing the needs of native fish, wildlife, and plants.

Harvesting at Cranes' Landing
Featured Story

Cranes, Cows, and Crops

Columbia Land Trust works with a local dairy to harvest crops in the Vancouver Lake Lowlands while preparing for the arrival of sandhill cranes

As the crisp fall season makes its way through the Northwest, Columbia Land Trust prepares for the arrival of an abundance of sandhill cranes to its experimental farmed crops in the Vancouver Lake Lowlands, a site also known as Cranes’ Landing. The Land Trust has been farming the property every year since the Port of Vancouver donated the 527-acre property in…

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Updates from the Field
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Transferred: 111 Acres Incorporated into Clark County Parks
Partnering to increase nature access close to home

The most recent achievement in a long history of collaboration, in December 2023 Columbia Land Trust completed the transfer of three properties to Clark County, each of which adds to a well-loved regional park or natural area. Incorporated within Lake Rosannah Natural Area, Lewisville Regional Park, and Whipple Creek Regional Park, all three sites contribute…

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Volunteer Opportunity: Tree Planting at Cranes’ Landing – February 23rd, 2024
Help us create a wildlife hedge by planting bareroot trees and shrubs at Cranes' Landing.

Based on our recent Wild Splendor tours in Vancouver, many of our friends and supporters may be familiar with our farm at Cranes’ Landing where we work to support threatened sandhill cranes. Since we took over stewardship of this site in 2016, we’ve seen a heartening twofold increase in the number of cranes feeding at…

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Volunteer Opportunity: Spring Weeding at the Optimist Club
Help us remove invasive Scots broom at the Optimist Club Youth Camp in Battleground, WA

Join Columbia Land Trust for a morning of volunteer land stewardship at the Optimist Club Youth Camp near Battleground, WA. We will be removing invasive Scots broom and other weeds and monitoring plantings of Western redcedar at this beautiful site near the East Fork Lewis River. A conservation easement on this 46-acre property was finalized…

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