This project involves earthwork and reforestation designed to increase the quantity and quality of side channel and floodplain habitat available to native fish and wildlife species on the mainstem Willamette River at Snagboat Bend (RM 144) and Sam Daws Landing (RM 147). Work will be split into three phases. This first phase will involve the removal or alteration of 14 constructed features in the floodplain and side channels and the reforestation of 30 acres of historic floodplain forest. Phases two and three will focus on the reforestation of an additional 170 acres and implement restoration solutions at the remaining constructed features that disconnect floodplain and side channel habitat at the two properties.  

Snag Boat Bend is a 340 acre unit of William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge purchased in 2001 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) from a private landowner. It lies at the confluence of Lake Creek and the Willam... ette River, about one mile south of the community of Peoria. At Snag Boat Bend, a series of features constructed by previous landowners disconnects 52 acres (2.4 linear miles) of side channel and floodplain habitat from the Willamette River. These features were built to facilitate access to remote parts of the property and to impound water for waterfowl habitat.

Sam Daws Landing, located about one mile south of Snag Boat Bend, is an Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) property acquired during the development of the Willamette River Greenway. The 172-acre property lies across the Willamette River from the historic mouth of the Long Tom River. Constructed features at Sam Daws Landing disconnect 9.4 acres (0.9 linear miles) of side channel habitat.   Show More