Community members are invited to participate in a community planting event on December 6

The city of Washougal and the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership (Estuary Partnership) invite community members back to Mable Kerr Park beginning on Wednesday, October 8, 2025. The park was closed to the public for the construction of the Campen Creek Reconnection Project on August 11, 2025.  

Community members are invited to participate in a community planting event on December 6, 2025. Details about the volunteer event will be available on the Estuary Partnership’s website shortly. (www.EstuaryPartnership.org) 

The Campen Creek Reconnection Project spans nine acres of the 21-acre park and costs nearly $1,000,000. The Estuary Partnership and the City of Washougal secured the full project funding through five different grant programs. 

“The Estuary Partnership is excited to have had the opportunity to not only restore a highly degraded stretch of Campen Creek but to improve Mable Kerr Park for local residents, many of which enjoy it on a daily basis,” stated Chris Collins, Estuary Partnership Restoration Program Lead. 

“We’re glad to see this project moving forward,” said Scott Collins, Washougal city engineer. “It’s the result of a strong partnership with the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership and will provide meaningful environmental and community benefits for Washougal.”

Washougal City Manager David Scott has said the project will help to restore the historical Campen Creek floodplain to “improve water quality, support stormwater management, reduce peak flows, provide greater habitat complexity and stream conditions for wildlife, increase community recreational access, and provide environmental education engagement.”

The project’s goal is to restore Campen Creek, which flows through Mable Kerr Park, by reconnecting it to its historic floodplain in a manner that enhances the park’s visitor experience, improves habitat for fish and wildlife, reduces erosion, and increases the supply of cool, clean water into the creek during the dry summer months. 

Visitors to Mable Kerr Park will notice the following changes and upgrades:

• Campen Creek’s artificial, eroding, and degraded single creek channel was restored to a natural floodplain that includes wetlands, a meandering creek channel, and wood habitat structures. 
• Approximately 70 hazard trees were cut down within Mable Kerr Park and repurposed as wood habitat structures throughout the project area. The hazardous trees were standing dead alder trees that could have fallen on park visitors. 
• The small pedestrian bridge was replaced with a longer and larger bridge crossing Campen Creek and providing views of its newly restored floodplain. 
• The park’s popular walking trail was extended to allow for more wildlife observation, including a new spur trail that overlooks the southern portion of the park. 

Campen Creek Reconnection Project activities will continue for several more months as professional revegetation crews will be on-site throughout the fall and winter to plant over 20,000 native trees and shrubs in the newly restored area. Maintenance of those plants will continue through 2027 to ensure they establish successfully.

This project is made possible through funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, the Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the Washington Department of Ecology’s Centennial Clean Water Program (funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under an assistance agreement to the Washington State Department of Ecology. The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, nor does the mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.)

About the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership 

The Estuary Partnership was established in 1995 by the Governors of Washington and Oregon and the U.S. EPA to provide regional coordination, to advance science, and to get on‐the‐ground results in the lower Columbia River and estuary. It is a collaborative program of the states of Oregon and Washington, federal agencies, tribal governments, non‐profit organizations, businesses and economic interests, and citizens. The Estuary Partnership restores and protects habitat, improves water quality and reduces pollution, and provides information about the river. The lower Columbia River and estuary is an “Estuary of National Significance,” one of only 28 National Estuary Programs in the nation. The U.S. EPA administers the National Estuary Program, created in the 1987 amendments to the Clean Water Act. The Estuary Partnership is a 501(c)3 non‐profit corporation. For more information, visit www.estuarypartnership.org.

Information provided by the city of Washougal.