Conservation of Pratt Property

Just off of highway 224 in Clackamas County, near the river, lies an amazing landscape of cliffs, boulder caves, and old growth forest. Western red cedars, Douglas firs and western hemlocks as old as 200 years tower overhead.  Western dogwoods, Pacific madrones, and vine maples fill the understory.  A variety of woodland plants, including duck’s foot, thimbleberry, vanilla leaf and salal cover the ground.  This is perfect habitat for the abundance of wildlife which thrives here, from pileated woodpeckers and migratory songbirds to salamanders and other amphibians.

The site’s boulder caves also create a unique habitat.  Known as Carver Caverns, these caves are home to several “at-risk species” of bats, including the fringed bat (Myotis thysanodes), the long-eared bat (Myotis evotis), and the Pacific big-eared bat or Townsend’s bat (Corynorhinus townsendii).  The caves were most likely formed during the Pleistocene Age, when large slabs of the Sandy Ridge sandstone formation collapsed.

Many of the native species found here are sensitive to the presence of humans.  Bats, for example, will abandon their roost if they are repeatedly disturbed. 

Jeff and Lita Pratt own 34 acres of this beautiful landscape, with its diverse and fragile ecosystem.  Their property is part of a parcel purchased in 1941 by the Pratt family.  This land is located within a larger natural area south of the City of Damascus now being considered for protection — The Clackamas River Bluffs and Canyons Natural Area. 

As Clackamas County readies for urban development in the next few years, the residents of the Damascus area have expressed a strong desire to protect green spaces and wildlife habitat.  Jeff and Lita are two such residents.  They decided to put that desire into action by placing a conservation easement on 29 acres of their land which will protect it from logging, mining, and subdivision forever. 

 “My wife and I had felt for several years that it would be a good idea to put in place some kind of safe-guard to ensure that our beloved forest would be protected from exploitation should something happen to us.  As we watched the incorporation of Damascus proceed, and followed the ongoing public discussions regarding land use in our area, it became clear to us that now would be an opportune time to take action,” explains Jeff, who grew up on this land.  “It is our hope that by establishing this conservation easement on our property, we can not only protect and preserve it, but also provide some momentum toward establishing a ‘Big Park’ in the area.”

After she visited the Pratt property, Three Rivers Board Member Emogene Waggoner described it as “a wonderful treasure added to our inventory of conservation easements. The carpet of ferns and native plants enhances the beauty of the majestic old growth. Walking through the grove is reminiscent of walking through Muir Woods in California, and the bat caves add an element of mystery that truly makes this a special place.”

Conserving the property has been a whirlwind 9-month process. Three Rivers applied to Clackamas County for funding under the Federal Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-determination Act of 2000 and was awarded the grant in January 2005. Through a collaborative process with the Pratts, a professional negotiator, Clackamas County Soil and Conservation District, and resource and forest management consultants, Three Rivers produced a Resource Management Plan for the property and agreed on the specifics of the conservation easement.  In September, final documents were signed, sealed and recorded, and this beautiful land with ecological, geological and historical importance was permanently protected! The Pratts will continue to live on the property and manage it under the guidance of the Resource Management Plan with assistance from Three Rivers.

As wild and natural as much of the Pratt property is, it has not escaped the encroachment of non-native species. As with most edge-habitat environments, the 29 acres the Pratts placed under conservation are under attack by the usual outside invaders, including English ivy and holly, Himalayan blackberry, clematis and laurel.  In dealing with these problem species, which can quickly displace native wildlife, the Pratts and Three Rivers will work toward control and eradication of these non-natives. The Resource Management Plan will also guide habitat restoration, and thinning of second-growth trees on a portion of the conserved property.

No words better express the bigger vision behind the Pratt’s decision to conserve their land than Jeff’s own: “If the Clackamas Bluffs and Canyons Park becomes a reality, it will be to the Damascus area as Forest Park is to Portland; or as Golden Gate Park is to San Francisco; or Central Park to New York City – something that people a hundred years from now will look at and be thankful that this generation had the intelligence to recognize it, the heart to value it, and the will to preserve it.”

To learn more about our work in this area, please click here.