Photo courtesy of City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services.
The Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge is the largest remaining natural area within the Lower Willamette River floodplain. The complex of meadows, woodlands and wetlands offers a unique opportunity for large-scale, tidally influenced floodplain and wetland area to be restored in the heart of the city, at approximately River Mile 16 just north of the Sellwood Bridge.
During the summer of 2018, the Corps is undertaking alarge-scale habitat enhancement project in partnership with the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services and Parks & Recreation. The project will improve hydrology and habitat for protected wildlife species, including amphibians, reptiles, birds, bats and salmon. Right now, migrating salmon cannot safely access Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge on their journey to and from the Pacific Ocean because an existing culvert and water control structure blocks fish access into the refuge.