Category Overview
Urban Wildlife Habitat projects fund close-to-home places to play and explore nature. As our urban areas are increasingly expanding and densifying, these grants protect important fish and wildlife habitat within five miles of densely populated areas, creating green refuges that help keep our ecosystems healthy and provide places to enjoy nature right in our backyards.
Project Highlights
The Capitol Land Trust will use this grant to buy about 220 acres of undeveloped streambank, wetland, and forest in Tenino. The land contains 1.5 miles of Deschutes River shoreline and .6 mile of Silver Creek shoreline, both providing important habitat to salmon species listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. Silver Creek provides scarce off-channel fish habitat and is a critical source of cold water for the Deschutes River, which suffers from water that is too warm. Most of the land is comprised of prairie soils, and there is oak-prairie habitat along the northern edge. Elk visit the land year-round. The land trust hopes to protect this important wildlife habitat and will add a small parking area and trail for public access to part of the land. Capitol Land Trust will contribute $843,000 in a local grant and a grant from the salmon recovery program.