News Release
| Release Number: | 06-160 |
| Dated: | 11/15/2006 |
| Contact: | Matt Rabe, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently awarded a $389,839 contract as the first step to convert nearly 300 acres of pasture land into wetlands and riparian forest.
The site, adjacent to the Columbia River and near Woodland, Wash., is a mitigation project associated with the Columbia River Channel Improvement Project. Under the contract, Ramos Reforestation of Longview, Wash., will remove about 45 acres of hybrid cottonwood trees and stumps, and rototill about 71 acres.
Work is scheduled to begin next spring, and will be part of a larger effort to convert a total of 272 acres at Woodland Bottoms into wetlands after all the land is acquired. The Corps and local port authorities have made offers to purchase the lands required for the project from the current landowners.
The Columbia River Channel Improvement Project is a federal-local effort to deepen the shipping channel by three feet to better allow cargo ships access to and from five Columbia River ports and the Pacific Ocean.
The Corps is required to mitigate for wetlands impacted by the upland disposal of dredged materials during the project’s construction. The Corps is creating about 11 acres of wetlands for every one acre it impacts.
Riparian forest and wetland habitat will be developed at this mitigation location. Development will occur along the Burris Creek levees, overbuilt areas of the perimeter levees and the perimeter of the mitigation site. A riparian forest will be established by planting a mix of native trees, principally black cottonwood, willow species, and Oregon white ash.
The first step is to remove the hybrid cottonwood trees from the site. The Corps will then begin a comprehensive hydrologic analysis to determine the best design for the mitigation site.
For more information on the Columbia River Channel Improvement Project, please visit https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/issues/crcip/home.asp.
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Editor’s Note: A map of the mitigation site is below. A copy of this map is available on the Internet at http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/issues/crcip/docs/Woodland_Bottoms_map.pdf