Sauvie Island

Accomplishment: Restoration and enhancement of 2,000 acres of wetlands and floodplain forests on the Sauvie Island Wildlife Area.

Location: Sauvie Island (Columbia County), northwest of Portland at confluence of Willamette and Columbia rivers.

Partners: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Ducks Unlimited, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Oregon Duck Hunters Association, private donors.

Notes: Aided by a variety of partners, ODFW and Ducks Unlimited have revamped significant portions of the 12,000-acre state wildlife area in the bottomlands along the Columbia River. Investments of more than $3 million have allowed managers to convert croplands back to wetlands and manipulate water levels to promote native plant communities with high habitat value for breeding and wintering waterfowl, migrating shorebirds, and a variety of other wildlife. The wildlife area typically hosts peaks of up to 200,000 waterfowl in winter. Breeding duck populations have increased dramatically, with biologists banding more than 2,500 birds in 2007.

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