Be sure to turn around here -- the road is gated with no turn around beyond this point!
Willapa National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1937 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to protect migrating birds and their habitat at a time when many estuaries and shallow water bays were being destroyed in the name of progress. The refuge has grown to encompass diverse ecosystems including salt marsh, muddy tidelands, forest, freshwater wetlands, streams, grasslands, coastal dunes and beaches. This rich mix of habitats provide places for over 200 bird species to rest, nest and winter, including over 30 species of waterfowl (ducks and geese) and over 30 species of shorebirds. Other animals such as chum salmon, Roosevelt elk, and over a dozen species of amphibians benefit from the protection of the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Salt marshes are one of the most dynamic and productive habitats on earth. They are coastal wetlands that are flooded by tides. Salt marsh habitat occurs in the estuary where the ground is high enough to support herbaceous plants, but too low and wet to support shrubs and trees (they are not flooded too deeply for too long). As salt marshes were diked, drained and filled during the early part of the 1900s to create farmlands, this dynamic ecosystem was altered affecting a wide range of species. It is believed that Willapa Bay once contained approx. 14,600 acres (5,909 hectares) of salt marsh habitat. Now there are a little more than 5,000 acres (2,024 hectares) remaining. Restoration efforts undertaken in the last few decades have removed dikes and restored tidal action in many places, including areas at Willapa National Wildlife Refuge.