Crooked Creek Clean-up

The Land Trust and a local family worked together to restore and conserve a local property in Wahkiakum County, Washington

On January 10th, Columbia Land Trust conserved 31 acres along Crooked Creek and the Columbia River at Grays Bay in Wahkiakum County, Washington. The property is situated just south of the Crooked Creek Bridge on Altoona-Pillar Rock Road near Rosburg.

This acquisition builds on 120 acres of conserved lands owned by Columbia Land Trust upstream along Crooked Creek, which is part of the broader Grays Bay watershed. The area provides crucial habitat for Columbia River salmon and steelhead, eulachon, migratory shorebirds, and waterfowl. The Land Trust’s conserved lands on Crooked Creek now total 136 acres.

The landowner, Altoona, Washington native Edna Miller, and her daughter, Val Olsen, reached out to Columbia Land Trust in 2013 looking to sell the property. Edna and her husband had purchased the Crooked Creek property in 1967, but hadn’t lived there for many years. Since her departure, the property amassed a large number of vehicles.

The Land Trust and Olsen recently hired a local contractor to remove 30 vehicles and miscellaneous garbage from the property. Moving forward, the Land Trust will hold the property for the benefit of local wildlife and local fishing communities, along with paddlers and boaters. We are grateful to Miller and Olsen for presenting this tremendous conservation opportunity.