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sh1njuk1This is the third of my candidate books for local ecology. The title is The Willamette River Guide: 200 Miles of Adventure from the Cascades to the Columbia. The author is Travis Williams. It was published in 2009 by Timber Press in Portland, OR. Its ISBN is 978-0-88192-866-2.
SUMMARY: This is an amazingly comprehensive book about the geography, the ecology, the main flora and fauna, the history, and the public's view of the Willamette River, the waterway at the center of the ecological region in which I live.
NOTE: There's so much great info here it's hard to summarize. I'll be doing a few different varieties of review.
First, the following text is a list of towns/major waterways that feed into the Willamette River, from its headwaters to the Columbia River which it feeds into. I write this to solidify my new understanding of the valley's geography.
Coast Fork --> Cottage Grove --> Middle Fork --> Springfield --> Eugene --> McKenzie River --> Junction City --> Harrisburg --> Monroe --> Long Tom River --> Corvallis --> Calapooia River --> Albany --> Luckiamute River --> Santiam River --> Independence/Monmouth --> Rickreall Creek --> Salem --> Mill Creek --> Keizer --> Lambert Slough --> Dayton/Lafayette --> Yamhill River --> Dundee --> Champoeg Creek --> Wilsonville --> Pudding/Mollalla River --> Canby --> Tualatin River --> Tanner Creek --> West Linn --> Oregon City --> Clackamas River --> Lake Oswego --> Tryon Creek --> Kellogg Creek --> Crystal Springs Creek --> Sellwood --> Stephens Creek --> Portland --> Sauvie Island --> Columbia River.
Second, a review of the insets about native flora and fauna of the river, with at least one fact that I didn't know before. (All the birds were also in my Birds of the Willamette Valley book! :)
Willamette Mission State Park (a historic site of attempted Christianization):
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Willamette+Mission+State+Park/@45.0710938,-123.0659134,14z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x5495512da45ca3bb:0x757d6f109efa24a6!8m2!3d45.0756967!4d-123.0402929
Champoeg State Park (the true first spot of white settlement along the river):
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Champoeg+State+Park/@45.2527251,-122.8960684,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x549543243850cf51:0xc695db3ce2a3a550!8m2!3d45.2523588!4d-122.8878716
Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge (will combine with McMenamins, next week!!):
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Oaks+Bottom+Wildlife+Refuge/@45.4700732,-122.6627724,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x54950ae8f9ef5895:0x1e42b62be6509387!8m2!3d45.4700695!4d-122.6605837
WHAT DOES THIS BOOK MEAN TO ME?
The Willamette River has been... right there... for my entire time here in this region, but I was never interested in it whatsoever. Honestly I still struggle to relate to it. It isn't as dramatic as the Columbia, or the rivers to the east of the mountains that can be rafted down. My thoughts about it still go to "wet and swampy." But the man who wrote this book LOVES the Willamette, and his feelings are catching! And I now know a whole bunch of cool things about it - such as that its headwaters spring thundering from a random mountainside deep in the forest, and that they feed some of the most clear and beautiful lakes in the world (Lake Waldo... boy I'd like to see it in person someday...), and that in its wild state, it meanders all over the river valley bottom, instead of staying fixed in one place, and also forms its own extensive habitat with lots of small streams and backwaters. The human history too is fascinating. It's kind of wild that Lewis and Clark completely missed it on their journey west! Also, catastrophic flooding happened ALL the time in the pioneer days, which is probably why they built wayyyy too many dams in the upper part of the river :/ And the Willamette Falls are really cool, and also completely subsumed in industrial junk right now (I saw them when I went to the Oregon City McMenamins). At least they didn't suffer the fate of Celilo, I guess. It's both tragic and somehow inevitable that the north Portland part of the river is so damn polluted. WWII production spared no concern for the environment. I sincerely doubt that we will ever clean up the Superfund sites there. What will the long-term environmental effects be...? Or... will it become an industrial war production site again, as History turns? So many questions.
But there's some good news in this book too - mainly that so many local landowners are willing to donate or modify their properties in order to benefit the river's health. Honestly that is one of the best things about our region - we don't have too many people that are outright FUCK THE PLANET here. Whether it is a guilt/shame thing, or a genuine love for nature, who cares - people do plant their yards with native species and worry about recycling. They really do! And that ethos has gone really, really far to making this area livable and resilient, at least compared to many other parts of the country.
The Willamette River is easy to forget about. But it is what defines and underpins the ecoregion the vast majority of Oregonians live in. And that's why it's essential that we DON'T forget about it. It provides drinking water to a lot of the upstream towns, provides irrigation for a huge percent of our agricultural industry, and is what container ships to Portland use to traverse the area - and will continue even when the gasoline peters out. We need to be conscious of this river in all our actions, so that it can continue to support our lives and livelihoods.
I'll pay it a formal visit sooner rather than later, and keep an eye out for what this book has given me a heads-up about.
SUMMARY: This is an amazingly comprehensive book about the geography, the ecology, the main flora and fauna, the history, and the public's view of the Willamette River, the waterway at the center of the ecological region in which I live.
NOTE: There's so much great info here it's hard to summarize. I'll be doing a few different varieties of review.
First, the following text is a list of towns/major waterways that feed into the Willamette River, from its headwaters to the Columbia River which it feeds into. I write this to solidify my new understanding of the valley's geography.
Coast Fork --> Cottage Grove --> Middle Fork --> Springfield --> Eugene --> McKenzie River --> Junction City --> Harrisburg --> Monroe --> Long Tom River --> Corvallis --> Calapooia River --> Albany --> Luckiamute River --> Santiam River --> Independence/Monmouth --> Rickreall Creek --> Salem --> Mill Creek --> Keizer --> Lambert Slough --> Dayton/Lafayette --> Yamhill River --> Dundee --> Champoeg Creek --> Wilsonville --> Pudding/Mollalla River --> Canby --> Tualatin River --> Tanner Creek --> West Linn --> Oregon City --> Clackamas River --> Lake Oswego --> Tryon Creek --> Kellogg Creek --> Crystal Springs Creek --> Sellwood --> Stephens Creek --> Portland --> Sauvie Island --> Columbia River.
Second, a review of the insets about native flora and fauna of the river, with at least one fact that I didn't know before. (All the birds were also in my Birds of the Willamette Valley book! :)
- Black Cottonwood - this tree loves riverbanks. It often falls into the river once its roots are washed out and creates hazards for boat traffic.
- Osprey - they adjust their prey head-forward once in the air for easier flying.
- Herons, blue and green - the blue ones are about 4 feet tall (!!) and the green ones are tool-using, attracting fish by dropping bait.
- Freshwater mussels - they exist (!) and can live up to 100 years (!!!). Wow!
- American beaver - I really think the most impressive thing about this species is that they still exist, given the beaver holocaust back in the early 1800s. Also - they have a nictating membrane on their eyes that lets them see under water.
- Killdeer - I saw one of these in our local park! They apparently have very annoying calls lol.
- Fender's blue butterfly - super and extremely endangered. Lived in the riverside prairie environment that is functionally extinct in the region.
- North American River Otters - so cute! Also tend to avoid humans.
- Bald Eagle - they prefer to eat fish.
- Common Merganser - likes to dive deeply to get food, lives in areas that it can do so.
- Wood Duck - preposterously colorful waterfowl. Their chicks are the ones that jump down from trees.
- Wapato - large arrow-shaped leaves, requires a rich muck that is submerged year-round. This was the main carbohydrate crop of the local people. Local women would wade into water up to their neck and dislodge tubers with their feet, then throw them into a canoe.
- Canada Goose - arguably the most resilient bird in America today.
- Swallows - I saw one with a purple back in our local park! They have a swooping, zipping style of flight. They fly right in front of rainstorms as they approach.
- Pacific Madrone - the tree of Pacific Grove, at least one of them. Grows on basalt outcroppings here. Beautiful red bark and flat wide evergreen leaves.
- Pacific Lamprey - really gross parasites that were also one of the main food sources of the local people. Apparently "quite tasty" when cooked over an open fire.
- Native fish species include: spring chinook, coho, rainbow trout, cutthroat trout, Pacific lamprey. I am impressed that any of these fish actually remain in the Willamette. Populations were declining, though, even 10 years back.
- Double-crested cormorants - quite shy as people approach.
Willamette Mission State Park (a historic site of attempted Christianization):
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Willamette+Mission+State+Park/@45.0710938,-123.0659134,14z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x5495512da45ca3bb:0x757d6f109efa24a6!8m2!3d45.0756967!4d-123.0402929
Champoeg State Park (the true first spot of white settlement along the river):
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Champoeg+State+Park/@45.2527251,-122.8960684,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x549543243850cf51:0xc695db3ce2a3a550!8m2!3d45.2523588!4d-122.8878716
Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge (will combine with McMenamins, next week!!):
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Oaks+Bottom+Wildlife+Refuge/@45.4700732,-122.6627724,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x54950ae8f9ef5895:0x1e42b62be6509387!8m2!3d45.4700695!4d-122.6605837
WHAT DOES THIS BOOK MEAN TO ME?
The Willamette River has been... right there... for my entire time here in this region, but I was never interested in it whatsoever. Honestly I still struggle to relate to it. It isn't as dramatic as the Columbia, or the rivers to the east of the mountains that can be rafted down. My thoughts about it still go to "wet and swampy." But the man who wrote this book LOVES the Willamette, and his feelings are catching! And I now know a whole bunch of cool things about it - such as that its headwaters spring thundering from a random mountainside deep in the forest, and that they feed some of the most clear and beautiful lakes in the world (Lake Waldo... boy I'd like to see it in person someday...), and that in its wild state, it meanders all over the river valley bottom, instead of staying fixed in one place, and also forms its own extensive habitat with lots of small streams and backwaters. The human history too is fascinating. It's kind of wild that Lewis and Clark completely missed it on their journey west! Also, catastrophic flooding happened ALL the time in the pioneer days, which is probably why they built wayyyy too many dams in the upper part of the river :/ And the Willamette Falls are really cool, and also completely subsumed in industrial junk right now (I saw them when I went to the Oregon City McMenamins). At least they didn't suffer the fate of Celilo, I guess. It's both tragic and somehow inevitable that the north Portland part of the river is so damn polluted. WWII production spared no concern for the environment. I sincerely doubt that we will ever clean up the Superfund sites there. What will the long-term environmental effects be...? Or... will it become an industrial war production site again, as History turns? So many questions.
But there's some good news in this book too - mainly that so many local landowners are willing to donate or modify their properties in order to benefit the river's health. Honestly that is one of the best things about our region - we don't have too many people that are outright FUCK THE PLANET here. Whether it is a guilt/shame thing, or a genuine love for nature, who cares - people do plant their yards with native species and worry about recycling. They really do! And that ethos has gone really, really far to making this area livable and resilient, at least compared to many other parts of the country.
The Willamette River is easy to forget about. But it is what defines and underpins the ecoregion the vast majority of Oregonians live in. And that's why it's essential that we DON'T forget about it. It provides drinking water to a lot of the upstream towns, provides irrigation for a huge percent of our agricultural industry, and is what container ships to Portland use to traverse the area - and will continue even when the gasoline peters out. We need to be conscious of this river in all our actions, so that it can continue to support our lives and livelihoods.
I'll pay it a formal visit sooner rather than later, and keep an eye out for what this book has given me a heads-up about.