Circle Creek Acquisitions

Accomplishment: Acquisition of 364 acres for protection and restoration of floodplain and wetland habitat along the Necanicum River.

Location: at the south end of Seaside (Clatsop County)

Partners: North Coast Land Conservancy, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon State Parks, the City of Seaside.

Notes: The North Coast Land Conservancy acquired the Circle Creek property in 2004. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Coastal Wetland Conservation Grant program provided $750,000 toward the purchase, with the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and other partners covering the rest of the $1.2 million cost. The property includes 1.3 miles of Circle Creek and 1.7 miles of frontage on the Necanicum River, stream habitat that is important for juvenile salmon and steelhead rearing. The property also includes 160 acres of spruce swamp, a forested wetland type that has largely been eliminated from Oregon, about 60 acres of emergent wetlands and 70 acres of seasonally flooded pastures that provide important habitat for wintering waterfowl and other migratory birds. Two herds of elk use the open fields almost daily during the spring and winter.

Back to Coast Range Ecoregion Page