gee creek watershed restoration - WSU Clark County Extension ...

1879 Nonnative carp make their way intoColumbia River lowland lakes andsloughs, changing native wetlandstructure and functionFrom first shipments to Willamette Valley 1879, 1880.High floodwaters release fish into Sandy River andColumbia 1881. More shipments made. By 1892reported at nuisance levels in the Oregonian.Sytsma, Mark et al, June 2002.Draft Literature Review andSampling Plan, Lower ColumbiaRiver Aquatic NonindigenousSpecies Survey. Portland StateUniversity.1880's Beaver near extinction. [Wetlandecosystems have had beaverremoved at scale for more than 70years.]1888 Roads shown alongside middleGee Ck and crossing creek atPioneer Rd and Main Streetlocations. Other roads cross atRoyle and Carty Roads and inseveral places across upper GeeCreek Tributaries along later line ofHWY 99/I-5.1890 RR construction impacts: UnionPacific route crosses Gee Creek,confining and constricting creekand slope runoff patterns, withassociated constructiondisturbances.Clark Conservation District web site publication.1888 Plat Map - Road west into Ridgefield followscurrent route west from I-5 location along Smytheroad loop to current Pioneer street crossing vicinity(now SR 501), straight to Main St, then north to PekinFerry?For route between Vancouver and Kalama, Ridgefieldis the center of construction activity. Barges andvessels crowded in Lake River. Concrete footingspoured for Columbia River bridge. Work suspendedafter one year.http://www.clarkcd.org/pdf/Beavers4.pdfhttp://www.rootsweb.com/~waclark/clark.htmClark County History1890'sEarly Industries: Chair factory onGee Creek; Creamery and flour millChair factory on Gee Creek "probably the firstindustry near the settlement" [Union Ridge - laterchanged to Ridgefield]. Creamery is on QuigleyClaim; 3-story steam-powered grist mill between ridgeand Lake River operates for 2 years.Clark County History52