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Bergquist
Conservation Easement:
75 acres along the Black River.
Conserved in 2006.
The Bergquist property,
situated between the Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve and
the Glacial Heritage Preserve, is part of a larger
strategic effort to conserve high-quality wildlife habitat
along this major bird flyway.
To date, Capitol Land Trust and its project
partners (USFWS, TNC, WDFW, Thurston County and WA DNR)
have preserved fifteen sites protecting more than three
thousand acres of habitat along the Black River.
The 75-acre site provides extraordinary wildlife
habitat.
The
property contains a mix of habitat types, including
riparian, floodplain, and wetland habitat, oak
woodlands, prairie, and conifer forest.
These habitat types accommodate a wide variety of
terrestrial, migratory birds and aquatic wildlife.
The
mainstem and several side channels of the
Black River
flow through the property. The Black River is a high
priority sub-basin in the Chehalis Watershed and is one
of the largest remaining riparian wetland systems in
western
Washington
.
The
site provides spawning, rearing, resting, and feeding
habitat for multiple juvenile and adult salmonid
species, including steelhead and coastal cutthroat
trout, and chum, Coho and Chinook salmon.
The
property lies in one of the most rapidly developing
areas in the state, which in recent years has been
mostly fueled by residential development. These
activities have resulted in loss and degradation of
floodplain and riparian habitat and have led to water
quality/quantity impairments.
The loss and degradation of riparian vegetation
and wetland habitat are directly responsible for the
loss of spawning and rearing habitat for salmonids. By
protecting this property we are providing a safe haven
for salmon reproduction.
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