Oregon hopes to expand one of the last wetlands habitats in Willamette Valley
Proposed land acquisitions near Eugene are part of a settlement between the Bonneville Power Association and State of Oregon
Limited edition: The Fern Ridge Wildlife Area is a popular birding area. Photo: Rick Obst/Flickr
By Kendra Chamberlain. October 23, 2024. Acre by acre, the state of Oregon is protecting what’s left of the wetlands habitats that were once abundant in the Willamette Valley.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is proposing to acquire three parcels of land near Coyote Creek outside the city of Eugene to add to the Fern Ridge Wildlife Area (FRWA).
The FRWA encompasses nearly 6,000 acres of riparian, wetlands, wet and upland prairie habitat.
Wetlands habitats, which are some of the most biologically diverse habitats in the state, were once dominant through the Willamette Valley. They have become nearly non-existent thanks to agricultural and urban development in the valley.
According to some estimates, only 8 square miles of wetland remains in the valley.
The biggest chunks of that habitat—composed of wildlife areas managed by state and federal agencies—form a chain stretching along the western side of the valley and in floodplains along the Willamette River.
The Fern Ridge Wildlife Area is one of those precious blocks of habitat. This makes the management area significant to wildlife that depend on it.
It hosts at least 289 species of birds, 49 species of mammals, 19 species of fish and 22 species of reptiles and amphibians.
It’s home to the state’s largest breeding population of purple martins, and hosts one of the largest breeding populations of western pond turtles in the region. Tundra swans, white pelicans, beavers, foxes and bobcats, bats, Pacific chorus frogs, rubber boas (a native species of constrictor snakes) and a unique population of cutthroat trout that migrate between the Fern Ridge Reservoir and the Long Tom River, also inhabit the space, along with endangered species such as the Fender’s blue butterfly and Kincaid’s lupine.
Colorful neighbors: The purple martin (this male was photographed in western Washington) is among many species that depend on the Fern Ridge wetlands. Photo: VJAnderson/Wikimedia Commons
The majority of the Fern Ridge Wildlife Area is owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and is managed by ODFW. ODFW has also acquired more than 600 acres of adjacent land to manage as part of the FRWA.
The three parcels of land proposed for acquisition are adjacent to ODFW-owned land and would add 222 acres of conservation habitat to the FRWA.
The land acquisitions are part of the wider Willamette Wildlife Mitigation Program, created through a 2010 settlement agreement between the Bonneville Power Association and the State of Oregon.
The land acquisitions would help fill in some of the jigsaw puzzle gaps between existing FRWA parcels, according to Justine Brumm, interim program coordinator of the Willamette Wildlife Mitigation Program at ODFW.
“Habitat connectivity and adjacency to Fern Ridge Wildlife Area are key reasons that these particular properties have been prioritized for acquisition,” Brumm told Columbia Insight. “All three of the properties fall within a Priority Wildlife Connectivity Area identified through ODFW’s Oregon Connectivity.”
Most of the land is already riparian, wetlands or upland prairie habitat.
Some has been converted to agricultural land, which ODFW plans to restore to native habitat.
If the deal goes through, the new parcels would result in two miles of contiguous Coyote Creek riparian habitat being protected, and would better link the FRWA to Coyote Prairie, a nearby wildlife reserve owned by the City of Eugene.
The land acquisitions aren’t a done deal yet.
The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will vote on the proposal in December. If approved, the deals are expected to be complete by September 2025.
