3.74 Square Miles Added To Willapa NWR

Southwest Washington’s Willapa National Wildlife Refuge grew by 2,366 acres last month, thanks to a land buy and transfer several years in the making and which will add public access and protect salmon streams.

The so-called “Willapa Coastal Forest” sits above the southernmost end of Willapa Bay in two large tracts joined at the hip, per se, on either side of Highway 101 between South Bend and llwaco.

According to Western Rivers Conservancy, which helped acquire the land, it features 39 miles of year-round and seasonal streams, including 3 miles of the Bear River and its Bear Branch, along with some patches of old-growth forest set amongst what was previously industrial timberlands managed most recently by Forest Investment Associates of Georgia.

“When you’re there amidst those trees and you see wild salmon swimming upstream, it’s impossible not to recognize just how important this property is,” stated Alex Barton, WRC project manager.

WRC reports the waters are home to fall Chinook, coho and chum salmon, winter steelhead, coastal cutthroat and lamprey, and many of their young rear in nearby Willapa Bay, reportedly the second largest estuary on the West Coast. The project ties in with past restoration work on the lower Bear River.

The lands also host Roosevelt elk, blacktail deer, black bears and other species.

Funding for the deal largely came from the state Salmon Recovery Funding Board and federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, which WRC used to buy the land and afterwards conveyed it to USFWS and Willapa NWR.

“Conserving habitat in and around the Bear River will complement the refuge’s recent restoration work in the estuary, and adding land to the refuge will improve access to the area for hikers, hunters, wildlife watchers and others,” said Jackie Ferrier, national refuge project leader.

WRC, which is based in Portland, reports the acquisition also helps provide a way to patches of state ground that have otherwise been “very difficult” to get to. They say NWR managers are expected to bring new public access online in 2025 or 2026.

The acquisition was supported by Pacific County.