Grays River Conservation Area

This project resulted in the acquisition and permanent protection of 291.5 acres in the Grays River Watershed in southwest Washington. The project site is in Wahkiakum County. The property consists of upland forest and productive riparian habitat, including the headwaters of Crazy Johnson Creek, 0.5 miles of the Grays River, and a number of unnamed tributaries. The project supports lower Columbia fall Chinook, winter steelhead, chum, and coho. Acquisition of the property enables Columbia Land Trust to manage the forest to improve riparian condition and reduce erosion and sedimentation.

The original goal of this project was to purchase the fee simple ownership of 536 acres of riparian habitat and upland forests along the Tier 1 reaches of Grays 2D and Crazy Johnson Creek to: 1) Protect and enhance chum, coho, fall Chinook, and winter steelhead habitat and habitat-forming natural process, 2) Enable riparian and upland management practices that will increase habitat quality and quantity and reduce impacts of sediment over time. Desired biological outcomes are healthy forested management corridors that foster intact riverine processes and structurally diverse upland forests that benefit a multitude of species. Because the landowner would not sell Fossil Creek – North, the acreage acquired using this funding was the 291.5 acres of Fossil Creek – South (85% of the property), with the additional 50 acres of Fossil Creek – South (15%) billed to 20-1509.