State agrees to preserve Reardan wetlands

Reardan has gained a permanent wildlife attraction this week and bird lovers have won a small but significant victory against development that’s continually encroaching on wetland habitats.

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission on March 10 agreed to purchase a 278-acre area of lakes, wetlands and associated habitat in Lincoln County that will be called Reardan’s Audubon Lake wildlife watching site.

The area generally known as Reardan Slough just north of Reardan has attracted organized birdwatching groups for half a century or more. A few years ago, however, birders became alarmed to see the private property along much of the wetlands was being platted for development.

The swans, geese and other waterfowl and shorebird species that have flocked to the wetlands for centuries will be guaranteed a permanent pit stop on their annual migrations only because all the modern human forces aligned in their favor.

Everyone from the Reardan Lions Club, Chamber of Commerce and county commissioners supported the effort to preserve the wetlands as a wildlife area, said Chris DeForest of the Inland Northwest Land Trust.

“And we had a landowner willing to hold off for a couple years until we could secure the funding, because she truly wanted this land to be left as it is,” he said.

Local Auduboners and Land Trust members spearheaded a campaign three years ago that raised $51,000 to by a two-year option on the land. As the option period was running out, the Land Trust secured a loan to buy the land until the Department of Fish and Wildlife can formally acquire the property.

DeForest went to the state legislature last year to make sure the Fish and Wildlife Department would get the additional $300,000 to buy the area.

The question of whether to preserve the area was a no-brainer for birders familiar with 80-acre lake, vernal ponds, and shrubby scablands that have been a resting and feeding stop for migratory birds and nesting and breeding grounds for resident waterfowl and songbirds.

But lawmakers wanted to know more before allocating the money.

“The Senate Natural Resources Committee was very interested in how this land purchase would be good for wildlife as well as communities such as Reardan,” he said. “And maybe that’s what’s unique about this. While the biologists were singing the praises of this wetland and its value for migratory wildlife, the town of Reardan also embraced the concept strongly as a permanent attraction for birds and bird watchers.”

With the threat of private development gone, the local community can begin investing in building parking areas, restrooms, trails and blinds to enhance the area as a tourist attraction in a way that will not disturb the birds, said Dale Swant, president of the Reardan Area Chamber of Commerce.

“There will be a little bit of process in this, but we now can look for grants to help us accomplish some of that,” he said, noting that the development on the state-owned land will be managed locally by the Reardan Public Development Authority.

“We’re already tentatively planning to hold our first Reardan Shorebird Festival in 2007,” he added, noting that businesses in small communities across the country have prospered by tapping a piece of the huge bird-watching market.

“The timing is great,” he said. “The Audubon Society has funding for a new state birding trail map for this area, and Reardan will be on it. This will attract wildlife watchers from all over, including Western Washington.”

At least 127 bird species have been documented at this site, the Spokane Audubon Society reports.

Jim Acton, a long-time local Auduboner, said birders go to Reardan with great anticipation, particularly from late August to early October because of the potential for shorebird surprises.

“Practically every sandpiper can show up there at one time or another, even the rare ones,” he said, noting that Reardan wetlands have provided viewing of godwits and white-rumped sandpipers as well as the only documented sighting in Washington of a piping plover.

The ponds are important for numerous other reasons, said Gary Blevins, an expert birder and head of the Biology Department and Spokane Falls Community College.

They are the headwaters for Crab Creek, which stretches 136 miles — the longest creek in Washington and the longest tributary to the Columbia River, he said.

“And the underground hydrology of the ponds apparently feeds Deep Creek, which flows into the Spokane River,” he added. “If you look out over the long term, the benefit of protecting the headwaters of those creeks will be very important.”