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From long epic miles to gentle bays for birdwatching, there is an adventure for anyone on the Lower Columbia River Water Trail. All you need is a kayak, canoe or stand up paddleboard to launch. The Water Trail stretches 146 river miles from Bonneville Dam to the Pacific Ocean, and that is hundreds of miles of shoreline you can explore. Paddling is our #11 reason to Love the Lower Columbia. If you

by Alex Rhodes, Environmental Educator On a bright and sunny weekend, the first in what seemed like forever, the Blueprint Foundation and the Estuary Partnership circled up on the grass near the busy Cathedral Park boat ramp to build relationships and learn together. The Blueprint Foundation is a family—some related by blood but most tied together by the close-knit Black community of North

It's summer, and you might have noticed the fluffy seeds of cottonwood floating around your local park, looking almost like a layer of fresh snow. Cottonwoods are our #10 reason the Love the Lower Columbia. So why do we love these trees in particular? Black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) has a lot of remarkable features. It is the most massive broad-leaved deciduous tree in the Pacific Northwest

Every year on the first Saturday of June, the City of Ridgefield throws a great big party to celebrate their connection to local rivers. The Ridgefield Big Paddle is our #9 reason to Love the Lower Columbia. The Ridgefield Big Paddle is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year! Since 2012, Ridgefield holds a big party on the Lake River waterfront on National Trails Day. The festival celebrates

We can’t recover orca until we first recover salmon. Washington Governor Jay Inslee Pacific Northwesterners love our orcas. To coastal Tribal people, orcas are cousins, a sign representing power, luck, the strength of love and family, and are the guardians of the sea. The Southern Resident Killer Whales (J, K and L pods), in particular, have captured the hearts of locals throughout Washington and

There is a spot managed by Columbia Land Trust specifically for sandhill cranes. With their tall stature, prominent red crown patch, unique calls and extravagant dance moves, sandhill cranes are a magnificent sight. On the lower Columbia River within the Vancouver Lowlands, Columbia Land Trust manages a 527-acre property that is conserved specifically for these birds and attracts them in high

For nearly a decade, the Estuary Partnership has been working alongside the US Forest Service to restore a critical slice of floodplain habitat in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Floodplain habitat for migrating salmon is especially scarce in the Gorge--this site makes up 31% of this type of habitat in the lower Gorge. Our work has improved fish passage, enhanced habitat quality

We have many amazing creatures that we share the lower Columbia River with. One of them is a fish species that has survived for 300–400 million years, migrates to and from the ocean, and provided sustenance for generations upon generations of Tribal peoples along the Columbia. No, not salmon (that species is far younger), but lamprey! Can you imagine a fish that swims on this Earth today that is

April is Earth Month and the 51st anniversary of Earth Day! For more than 50 years, the world has recognized Earth Day as a day of action. This year the Estuary Partnership is teaming up with nonprofits across the state for the Earth Day Oregon* campaign. And together we are working to Amplify Earth Day! As a nonprofit that supports several of the UN's 17 sustainable development goals, we are

By our count, there are at least 21 Watershed Councils and Friends groups in the lower Columbia River, all dedicated to caring for a tributary river or watershed. That’s not even counting Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Riverkeepers, Land Conservancies and other groups and coalitions dedicated to river health. That’s great news, because the lower Columbia is a huge river system, and each