Snag Boat Bend is a 341-acre unit of William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge, and is owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It is located just across and downstream of the historic mouth of the Long Tom River, on Peoria Road between Harrisburg and Corvallis. It is open to the public and has a number of trails you can walk to check out the extensive habitat restoration work LTWC is working on with USFWS. As of 2024, we have replanted 220+ acres of floodplain that was historically forested before conversion to agriculture. In addition to the reforestation activities, we have worked to reconnect the river to its floodplain, remove passage barriers for aquatic species, and eliminate fish stranding risks by removing constructed features at 10 sites that disconnected 50+ acres of side channel and floodplain habitat. We have completed other work to enhance habitat complexity in off-channel areas like side channels and alcoves. Activities have included removing constructed berms and water control structures installed by previous landowners for waterfowl hunting, replacing an 18” culvert with an 18.5’ wide concrete box culvert, excavating a floodplain swale to provide high-flow refuge habitat for juvenile fish, and installing 12 log jams in Lake Creek and Willamette River alcoves.
We are currently working on a project to reconnect the Willamette river to over a mile of its historical channel that was disconnected when a large revetment was installed to reduce bank erosion on the property when it was privately owned in 1964.
