Pierce National Wildlife Refuge

Pierce National Wildlife Refuge
Pierce National Wildlife Refuge
	IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Location	Skamania County, Washington, United States
Nearest city	North Bonneville, Washington
Coordinates	45°37′48″N122°00′01″W / 45.6301°N 122.0003°W Coordinates: 45°37′48″N122°00′01″W / 45.6301°N 122.0003°W [1]
Area	329.38 acres (133.30 ha) [2]
Established	1983 [3]
Governing body	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Website	Pierce National Wildlife Refuge

Last updated May 02, 2019

Pierce National Wildlife Refuge is located in southwest Washington within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. It encompasses wetlands and uplands along the north shore of the Columbia River west of the town of North Bonneville. Refuge habitats include wetlands, Columbia River riparian corridor blocks, transitional woodlands from willows to cottonwood/ash to white oak to Douglas fir, improved pastures with some native grasses, and numerous creeks, seeps, and springs.^[4]

A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is inundated by water, either permanently or seasonally, where oxygen-free processes prevail. The primary factor that distinguishes wetlands from other land forms or water bodies is the characteristic vegetation of aquatic plants, adapted to the unique hydric soil. Wetlands play a number of functions, including water purification, water storage, processing of carbon and other nutrients, stabilization of shorelines, and support of plants and animals. Wetlands are also considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as home to a wide range of plant and animal life. Whether any individual wetland performs these functions, and the degree to which it performs them, depends on characteristics of that wetland and the lands and waters near it. Methods for rapidly assessing these functions, wetland ecological health, and general wetland condition have been developed in many regions and have contributed to wetland conservation partly by raising public awareness of the functions and the ecosystem services some wetlands provide.

The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. It flows northwest and then south into the US state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state of Oregon before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. The river is 1,243 miles (2,000 km) long, and its largest tributary is the Snake River. Its drainage basin is roughly the size of France and extends into seven US states and a Canadian province. The fourth-largest river in the United States by volume, the Columbia has the greatest flow of any North American river entering the Pacific.

North Bonneville is a city in Skamania County, Washington, United States. The population was 593 at the 2000 census and 956 at the 2010 census.

Hardy Creek, which bisects the refuge from east to west, supports one of the last remaining runs of chum salmon on the Columbia River. In addition to chum salmon, the creek also supports small remnant runs of coho salmon, steelhead, and Chinook salmon as well as a variety of native species of freshwater fish. The refuge headquarters also serves as the main office for Steigerwald Lake and Franz Lake National Wildlife Refuges. Visitor opportunities are limited to arranged group tours and viewing from the summit of Beacon Rock and the Hamilton Mountain Trail (both located in Beacon Rock State Park).^[4]

The chum salmon is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family. It is a Pacific salmon, and may also be known as dog salmon or keta salmon, and is often marketed under the name silverbrite salmon. The name chum salmon comes from the Chinook Jargon term tzum, meaning "spotted" or "marked", while keta in the scientific name comes from the Evenki language of Eastern Siberia via Russian.

The coho salmon is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family, one of the several species of Pacific salmon. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". The scientific species name is based on the Russian common name kizhuch (кижуч).

The rainbow trout is a trout and species of salmonid native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coastal rainbow trout(O. m. irideus) or Columbia River redband trout (O. m. gairdneri) that usually returns to fresh water to spawn after living two to three years in the ocean. Freshwater forms that have been introduced into the Great Lakes and migrate into tributaries to spawn are also called steelhead.

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References

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents ofthe United States Fish and Wildlife Service .

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is an agency of the US Federal Government within the US Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people."

↑ "Pierce National Wildlife Refuge (Fws)". protectedplanet.net. Archived from the original on 2012-06-14.
↑ "Annual Report of Lands as of September 30, 2013" (PDF). United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
↑ "About the Refuge". Pierce National Wildlife Refuge. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
1 2 "Pierce National Wildlife Refuge Profile". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

External links

Pierce National Wildlife Refuge U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

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[1] "Pierce National Wildlife Refuge (Fws)". protectedplanet.net. Archived from the original on 2012-06-14.

[area-2] "Annual Report of Lands as of September 30, 2013" (PDF). United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

[about-3] "About the Refuge". Pierce National Wildlife Refuge. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

[profile-4] 1 2 "Pierce National Wildlife Refuge Profile". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.