Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve
Encyclopedia
Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve in Hillsboro
Hillsboro, Oregon
Hillsboro is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Lying in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city is home to many high-technology companies, such as Intel, that compose what has become known as the...

, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, is a 725 acres (293.4 ha) wetlands area along the Tualatin River
Tualatin River
The Tualatin River is a tributary of the Willamette River located in Oregon in the United States. The river is approximately long, and it drains a fertile farming region called the Tualatin Valley southwest and west of Portland at the northwest corner of the Willamette Valley...

 in Washington County, Oregon
Washington County, Oregon
- Major highways :* Interstate 5* Interstate 205* U.S. Route 26* Oregon Route 6* Oregon Route 8* Oregon Route 10* Oregon Route 47* Oregon Route 99W* Oregon Route 210* Oregon Route 217* Oregon Route 219-Demographics:...

. Located on the south end of the city along Highway 219, this lowland area is a designated Important Bird Area
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird Area is an area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of bird populations. Currently there are about 10,000 IBAs worldwide. The program was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International...

 and hosts such birds as Buffleheads, Dusky Canada Geese, and Tundra Swans.

History

The Atfalati
Atfalati
The Atfalati, also known as the Tualatin were a tribe or band of the Kalapuya Native Americans who originally inhabited the Tualatin Valley in the northwest part of the U.S. state of Oregon...

 band of the Kalapuya people, who were the first inhabitants of the area, hunted and gathered in the area including hunting waterfowl
Waterfowl
Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....

 and digging up camas
Camassia
Camassia is a genus of six species native to western North America, from southern British Columbia to northern California, and east to Utah, Wyoming and Montana...

 roots. Then when European pioneers settled the area beginning in the 1830s farms were established in the area, with the wetlands area usually not being used due to the annual flooding. However, bridges were built across the river and steamboats plied the river before the railroads came to the valley.

In 1910 the city of Hillsboro began using the Jackson Bottom area for water waste disposal. By the 1930s farmers in the community protested the water pollution
Water pollution
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies . Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds....

 that resulted from waste dumping into the river. Then in 1939 the city purchased part of the area and began using it as a sewer
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...

 farm that produced a variety of produce and the city made some money off the venture. By the 1970s the city had acquired most of the land in that area, stopped using the farm, and let the area become grassland
Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...

. Next, in 1980 the Jackson Bottom Coordinated Resource Management Plan was developed and the area was transformed into a wetlands area. In 1999, the wetlands received a National Wetlands Award for Education and Outreach from the Environmental Law Institute
Environmental Law Institute
The Environmental Law Institute is a non-profit, non-advocacy environmental group, which specializes in producing publications and research that target legal practitioners, business leaders, land managers, land use planners, environmentalists, journalists, and lawmakers...

.

Features

This area contains forest areas along the river bank, a forested wetland area, ponds, marshes, meadows, slough areas, and a forest section of mixed deciduous and conifer trees. Jackson Bottom is home to a diverse group of plant and animal species. Animals that call the wetlands home include beavers, minks, nutria, ducks, blue and green herons, warblers, frogs, owls, red-tailed hawks, woodpeckers, opossums, deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

, raccoons, newts, sparrows, finch, coyotes, and many other small rodents, birds, and reptiles. Migratory waterfowl
Waterfowl
Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....

 include Northern Pintails, Canvasbacks, Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, Dusky Canada Geese, and Tundra Swans. Plant life there includes, reed canary grass, dogwood trees, Douglas fir, white oak, cocklebur, Columbia River sedge, red willow, Oregon ash, and other grass and tree species.

Human oriented features of Jackson Bottom include hiking
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...

 trails, an education center, environmental monitoring and research, and bird watching.

Education

On September 27, 2003, an education center was opened at the preserve. The 12000 square feet (1,114.8 m²) building is used to educate visitors of the wetlands. The Wetlands Education Center includes an exterior 3000 square feet (278.7 m²) deck that wraps around the structure. This building houses a classroom
Classroom
A classroom is a room in which teaching or learning activities can take place. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, including public and private schools, corporations, and religious and humanitarian organizations...

, nature store, and exhibits
Art exhibition
Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...

.

In January 2007 the education center received a new natural exhibit piece. Inside the building is an intact bald eagle
Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...

 nest. This 7 by, 1,500 pound nest
Nest
A nest is a place of refuge to hold an animal's eggs or provide a place to live or raise offspring. They are usually made of some organic material such as twigs, grass, and leaves; or may simply be a depression in the ground, or a hole in a tree, rock or building...

 is believed to be the only intact nest on display in the United States. The nest was built in 2001 by an eagle family along the Tualatin River and removed in 2005 when the tree it was built on began falling down. Inside the nest are the remains of the animals the eagles dined on including fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

 and other birds.

Jackson Bottom also conducts many education programs in cooperation with local schools, operates summer camp
Summer camp
Summer camp is a supervised program for children or teenagers conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as campers....

 programs, and has a teacher education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

 program. These are all designed to increase knowledge about wetlands, water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

 resources, and preservation of the natural environment.

See also

  • Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge
    Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge
    The Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge is a wetlands and lowlands sanctuary in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. Established in 1992 and opened to the public in 2006, it is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Located in southeastern Washington County, ...

  • Noble Woods Park
    Noble Woods Park
    Noble Woods Park is a wooded city park in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Located on approximately along Rock Creek, the nature park with wetlands and forests is situated between West Baseline Road on the north and Southwest Borwick Road to the south near the Orenco neighborhood...


External links

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