Human expansion and settlement have significantly degraded wildlife habitat along the coast. Long after Lewis and Clark, 19th century settlers came to the area and found a rugged coastal landscape dotted with wetlands. Even though the land was marginal for farming and grazing purposes, landowners built levees and other structures to convert wetlands for agricultural purposes. Stromstad recently opened a satellite office in Vancouver, Washington, to step up conservation efforts in the Pacific Northwest. Here Many waterfowl species, including American wigeon , scaup and pintails, use the coastal habitats of the Pacific Northwest, mostly during migration.
Scoters are common wintering birds off several estuaries.
And Aleutian Canada geese stage on pastures along the New River. Coastal wetlands also support juvenile salmon, which rely on estuaries as a halfway stop between their freshwater birthplaces and the salty water of the sea. The average juvenile will double in size during this time of transition, if the estuary's natural processes have not been altered. The estuaries provide a critical interface between land and water. A Wetland Community For Shorebirds, Geese and Frogs DU is working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service to restore several emergent marsh wetlands in the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge.