Below quick Sand River the Countrey is low rich and thickly timbered on each Side of the river, the Islands open & some ponds river wide and emence numbers of fowls flying in every direction, Such as Swan, geese, Brants, Cranes, Stalks [Storks], white guls, comerants & plevers &c. also great numbers of Sea Otter in the river. . .
William Clark, November 3, 1805 describing the area near Government Island
According to scientists, wetlands are very important ecosystems that are being destroyed and degraded. By the early 1990s, lack of awareness of their importance led to the loss of more than 56% of the original coastal and inland wetland acreage in the lower 48 states. The Columbia River Slough is among the 10% of wetlands under federal protection, yet like most wetlands, until recently it was viewed as worthless.
Wetlands are important to an ecosystem because they:
- Provide habitat for a variety of fish, waterfowl, and other wildlife
- Regulate streamflow by storing and releasing water slowly, reducing riverbank erosion, and the frequency, level, and velocity of floods
- Improve water quality by trapping stream sediments and absorbing, diluting and degrading toxic pollutants
- Hold water and thus increase groundwater supplies
- Play a significant role in global cycles of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur
Table – Estimated Riparian Wetland Habitat, Columbia River mile 12 to 145
Chart – Number of Great Blue Heron Nests in the Portland/Vancouver area, 1987
