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Pierce National Wildlife Refuge

IUCN Category IVLandforms of Skamania County, WashingtonNational Wildlife Refuges in Washington (state)Protected areas of Skamania County, WashingtonUse mdy dates from November 2021
Washington (state) geography stubsWashington (state) protected area stubsWetlands of Washington (state)

The Pierce National Wildlife Refuge is in southwest Washington within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. It encompasses wetlands and uplands along the north shore of the Columbia River west of the town of North Bonneville. Refuge habitats include wetlands, Columbia River riparian corridor blocks, transitional woodlands from willows to cottonwood/ash to white oak to Douglas fir, improved pastures with some native grasses, and numerous creeks, seeps, and springs.Hardy Creek, which bisects the refuge from east to west, supports one of the last remaining runs of chum salmon on the Columbia River. The creek also supports small remnant runs of coho salmon, steelhead, and Chinook salmon as well as a variety of native species of freshwater fish. The refuge headquarters also serves as the main office for Steigerwald Lake and Franz Lake National Wildlife Refuges. Visitor opportunities are limited to arranged group tours and viewing from the summit of Beacon Rock and the Hamilton Mountain Trail (both located in Beacon Rock State Park).

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Pierce National Wildlife Refuge (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Pierce National Wildlife Refuge
Cascade Drive,

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N 45.6301 ° E -122.0003 °
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Pierce National Wildlife Refuge

Cascade Drive
98639
Washington, United States
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Fort Cascades
Fort Cascades

Fort Cascades was a United States Army fort constructed in 1855 to protect the portage road around the final section of the Cascades Rapids, known as the "lower cascades." It was built on the Washington side of the Columbia River, between the present site of North Bonneville and the Bonneville Dam in Skamania County. It was burned in 1856, then rebuilt, but abandoned in 1861. A small community, Cascades, formed around the fort, but the largest flood of the Columbia River in recorded history passed over both the townsite and the fort site in 1894. Cascades served as the county seat of Skamania County prior to 1893, when the county records were moved to Stevenson, In 1867, decades before the disastrous floods, famed photographer Carleton Eugene Watkins arrived on the scene. Watkins took a commission from the Oregon Steam Ship Navigation Company to document areas of the Columbia River, with "Cascades" featuring prominently in his Pacific Coast stereoviews collection. Approximately 50 Watkins stereoscopic images of the Cascades area are known to exist, ranging from serials 1250-1302. Labeled "Upper Cascades," "Cascades" and "Lower Cascades," these photographs feature river view landscapes as well as images of the town and fort blockhouses. Aside from capturing scenery, Watkins documents saw mills, as well as train and riverboat traffic vital to the local economy at that time. A few of the images provide a glimpse of salmon fishing before the rapids were submerged by the construction of the Bonneville Dam. Although his negatives were destroyed in the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake, many of his printed images can be found in museums and private collections around the world.Fort Cascades is now on the National Register of Historic Places. There is a self-guided tour through what remains of the fort and the townsite. The trail the tour follows is approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long. There is also a replica of a rock covered with petroglyphs that was originally located at the site but has since been moved to Stevenson. Fort Cascades is one of several forts built to protect the portage around the Cascade Rapids. Others are Fort Raines and Fort Lugenbeel.