Lewis and Clark's Columbia River
Lewis & Clark's Columbia River - "200 Years Later"
"Vanport Wetlands, Oregon"
Includes ... Vanport Wetlands ... Columbia Slough ...
Image, 2006, Vanport Wetlands, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Looking across part of the Vanport Wetlands. View from West Delta Park. Image taken January 18 2006.


Vanport Wetlands ...
The Vanport Wetlands Wildlife Habitat is a 90.5-acre wildlife habitat site located in the Columbia Slough corridor of Portland's Kenton District, between Interstate 5, the Multnomah Expo Center, Portland International Raceway, Heron Lakes Golf Cource and Force Lake. To the west lie Smith and Bybee Lakes. The site was formerly known as the "Radio Tower Site" before being renamed to "Vanport Wetlands" in 2001 as it was developed into a wildlife habitat. The name "Vanport" is reminiscent of the 1948 flood which wiped out the community of Vanport.

Vanport Wetlands Natural Area ...
Site History:
""Vanport Wetlands" was once a part of the much larger Force Lake and the Columbia River floodplain. Force Lake was drained in the 1920s to create farmland used from 1930 through 1965. It is now a much smaller lake, located west of this site. KGW, the historic Pacific Northwest radio station, used Vanport Wetlands as its broadcast location from 1931 until 1992. In 1948, the Vanport flood destroyed many homes in the area called Vanport City, which included World War II-period housing and schools."

Pre-Restoration Site Conditions:
"In 1999, the Port of Portland purchased this 90.5-acre site to restore as compensation or "mitigation" for wetland impacts from development projects on Port-owned property. At that time the historic lakebed had been continuously drained, which created conditions that allowed the invasive reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacaea) to thrive."

Urban Habitat for Wildlife:
"More than 160 species of birds and other wildlife, and over 80 species of native plants, trees and shrubs have been observed at Vanport, which speaks to the success of the Port's restoration efforts."


Source:    Vanport Wetlands Information sign, Vanport Wetlands, visited July 2016.


Image, 2016, Vanport Wetlands, Portland, Oregon, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Vanport Wetlands Information Sign, Portland, Oregon. View from West Delta Park Dog Park. Image taken July 6, 2016.
Image, 2016, Vanport Wetlands, Portland, Oregon, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Detail, Vanport Wetlands Information Sign, Portland, Oregon. View from West Delta Park Dog Park. Image taken July 6, 2016.
Image, 2016, Vanport Wetlands, Portland, Oregon, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Vanport Wetlands Wildlife Habitat Area Sign, Portland, Oregon. Image taken July 6, 2016.


Early Vanport Wetlands ...
In the mid 1800s the area of today's Vanport Wetlands, Force Lake, and Smith and Bybee Lakes was a mixture of lakes, sloughs, and marshes.

Prior to the 1920s the largest lake in the area was called "Force Lake". The lake was named after George W. Force, an early settler.

In the early 1920s the KGW radio tower was built on today's Vanport Wetlands property. After the 1948 flood which destroyed the nearby city of Vanport, the area was refered to as the "radio tower site".

"To protect the site from seasonal flooding, a complex of dikes, drainageways, and mechanical pumping station were installed beginning in 1917 ... In the early 1920s the lake was drained [Force Lake] and the majority of the site converted to agricultural row rops. Agriculture continued at the site when the community of Vanport was developed on the surrounding areas to serve the war effort of the 1940s. Also during this time, the site was used for transmitting radio signals, with transmitter towers installed in the 1930s, and a transmitter building constructed by 1935. The radio station, KGW-AM, was one of the earliest commercial stations in Portland, and the site has long been associated with this use." [Vanport Wetlands Comprehensive Management Plan, Port of Portland, 2004]

On May 30, 1948 the Vanport Flood inundated the community of Vanport and the area of today's Vanport Wetlands.

"The Vanport flood temporarily disrupted both agricultural and radio transmission activities, with numerous residential buildings floating onto the site from nearby housing complexes along with other flood debris." [Vanport Wetlands Comprehensive Management Plan, Port of Portland, 2004]

In the 1999 the Port of Portland purchased the area to create a wetlands as a trade for their filling the wetlands near the Portland International Airport.

"The Port purchased the Vanport Wetlands property in May 1999, effectively ending commercial radio's tenure at the site. In December 2000, the Port removed the underground copper grounding wire network, and on December 26, 2000, the two 625-foot high transmission towers were removed. The radio transmitter building and access roads are all that remain on the site today from its use as a transmission facility." [Vanport Wetlands Comprehensive Management Plan, Port of Portland, 2004]

Views ...

Image, 2006, Vanport Wetlands, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Looking across part of the Vanport Wetlands. View from West Delta Park. Image taken January 18 2006.
Image, 2018, Vanport Wetlands, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Vanport Wetlands, Portland, Oregon. View from West Delta Park. Image taken March 7, 2018.
Image, 2016, Vanport Wetlands, Portland, Oregon, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Vanport Wetlands as seen from N. Expo Road, Portland, Oregon. Image taken July 6, 2016.
Image, 2017, Vanport Wetlands, Portland, Oregon, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Vanport Wetlands, Portland, Oregon. Portland Expo Center is just visible on the far side of the wetlands. Image taken October 2, 2017.
Image, 2017, Vanport Wetlands, Portland, Oregon, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Vanport Wetlands, Portland, Oregon. Portland Expo Center is just visible on the far side of the wetlands. Image taken October 2, 2017.
Image, 2013, Vanport Wetlands, Portland, Oregon, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Mallard family, Vanport Wetlands, Portland, Oregon. Image taken May 17, 2013.
Image, 2011, Vanport Wetlands, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Great Blue Heron, Vanport Wetlands, Portland, Oregon. Image taken June 11, 2011.
Image, 2011, Vanport Wetlands, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Ruddy Duck, male, Vanport Wetlands, Portland, Oregon. Image taken June 11, 2011.
Image, 2013, Vanport Wetlands, Portland, Oregon, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Virginia Rail, Vanport Wetlands, Portland, Oregon. Image taken May 17, 2013.
Image, 2011, Vanport Wetlands, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Yellow-headed Blackbird, male, Vanport Wetlands, Portland, Oregon. Image taken April 27, 2011.


Vanport Wetlands, etc.

  • Mud Slough ...
  • Portland Expo Center ...
  • Radio Tower Site ...
  • West Delta Park ...


Mud Slough ...
A tributary to the Columbia Slough.
[More]

Image, 2018, Vanport Wetlands, Mud Slough, Portland, Oregon, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Mud Slough, Vanport Wetlands, Portland, Oregon. View looking east. Image taken March 7, 2018.
Image, 2018, Vanport Wetlands, Mud Slough, Portland, Oregon, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Mud Slough, Vanport Wetlands, Portland, Oregon. View looking west. Image taken March 7, 2018.


Portland Expo Center ...
[More]

Image, 2006, Vanport Wetlands, looking towards Expo Center, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Vanport Wetlands, looking towards the "Expo Center", Portland, Oregon. View from West Delta Park. Image taken January 18 2006.
Image, 2006, Multnomah Expo Center, Vanport Wetlands, Portland, Oregon, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Vanport Wetlands and the Portland Expo Center, Portland, Oregon. View from West Delta Park. Image taken January 18 2006.


Radio Tower Site ...
(to come)

Image, 2016, Vanport Wetlands, Radio Tower Site, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Vanport Wetlands Radio Tower Site, Portland, Oregon. Image taken July 6, 2016.
Image, 2016, Vanport Wetlands, Radio Tower Site, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Vanport Wetlands Radio Tower Site, Portland, Oregon. Image taken July 6, 2016.


West Delta Park ...
(to come)


From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...

Clark, April 2, 1806 ...



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*River Miles [RM] are approximate, in statute miles, and were determined from USGS topo maps, obtained from NOAA nautical charts, or obtained from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers website, 2003

Sources:
  • McArthur, L.A., and McArthur, L.L., 2003, Oregon Geographic Names, Oregon Historical Society, Portland;
  • Port of Portland website, 2007;
  • Port of Portland, 2004, Vanport Wetlands Comprehensive Management Plan;


All Lewis and Clark quotations from Gary Moulton editions of the Lewis and Clark Journals, University of Nebraska Press, all attempts have been made to type the quotations exactly as in the Moulton editions, however typing errors introduced by this web author cannot be ruled out; location interpretation from variety of sources, including this website author.
/Regions/Places/vanport_wetlands.html
March 2018