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The Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge is a wetlands and lowlands sanctuary in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. Established in 1992 and opened to the public in 2006, it is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Located in southeastern Washington County, southwest of Portland, the refuge is bordered by Sherwood, Tualatin and Tigard. A newer area, extending into northern Yamhill County, is located further west near the city of Gaston surrounding the former Wapato Lake. Part of the network of National Wildlife Refuges (NWR), the Tualatin River refuge is one of only ten urban refuges in the United States. Habitats in the refuge include forested areas, wetlands, oak and pine grassland, and meadows, with mixed deciduous and coniferous forests common to Western Oregon. The refuge was established as an urban refuge to provide wetland, riparian, and upland habitats for a variety of migratory birds, threatened and endangered species, fish and other resident wildlife. The refuge is home to nearly 200 bird species and more than 70 other animal species. A visitor center with exhibits and information about the refuge was opened in 2008 off of Oregon Route 99W near Sherwood in the Portland metropolitan area. Next to the center is the refuge's headquarters and an observation deck overlooking seasonal ponds. The refuge has nearly five miles of wildlife interpretive trails open to the public. Up to 50,000 waterfowl can be seen at the refuge during the winter months when officials flood portions of the refuge. ==History== The creation of the refuge was first proposed to the city of Sherwood by a local citizen in 1990.〔Balingit, Moriah. “A refuge opens in suburbia for all species”, ''The Oregonian'', June 2, 2006, p. B1.〕 A year later, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service began looking at creating a national wildlife refuge along the Tualatin River near Sherwood at Rock Creek.〔Foyston, John B. “Only thing refuge needs is money”, ''The Oregonian'', March 27, 1992, p. E2.〕〔Foyston, John. “Refuge’s image gets political boost”, ''The Oregonian'', March 17, 1993, p. C2.〕 The original plans called for a refuge near Sherwood and Oregon Route 99W and then grew to a proposal that would have unconnected parts, with the additional wetlands near Scholls to the west.〔 To press for the creation of the proposed Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, citizens groups lobbied Congress for funding, which included a video narrated by actor Robert Wagner.〔 Initial estimates for the completion of the project were up to 30 years at a cost of USD $10 million for land acquisitions.〔〔 In late 1992, area residents Tom Stibolt and Lisa Brenner donated the first to the project, with the Fish and Wildlife Service then accepting the donation to officially create the refuge.〔Foyston, John B. “Tualtin River Wildlife Refuge up and running”, ''The Oregonian'', January 7, 1993, p. D2.〕 They had purchased the of woodland which adjoined their own property and donated it to the refuge.〔〔Meehan, Brian T. “A refuge from growth”, ''The Oregonian'', November 21, 1994, p. A1.〕 Sherwood donated the second parcel to the refuge, in 1993.〔Gross, Tanya. “Proposed wildlife refuge along Tualatin River wins aid”, ''The Oregonian'', November 5, 1993, p. D2.〕 Congress approved $2 million for the project to purchase more land in November 1993.〔 In January 1994, the Department of the Interior granted the Fish and Wildlife Service the authority to spend the money in order to begin buying land for the refuge.〔Gross, Tanya. “Federal agency to buy land for Tualatin River refuge”, ''The Oregonian'', January 20, 1994, West Zoner, p. 12.〕 Congress gave the project an additional $2.5 million in 1995.〔Fitzgibbon, Joe. “A refuge near the city”, ''The Oregonian'', September 3, 1998, West Zoner, p. 1.〕 In the early years, the facility was only open to the public for a songbird festival in May and National Wildlife Refuge Week in October.〔 A program to restore the habitat to its original state began in 1997.〔 During that year, twenty water flow systems and dikes were added at the refuge to allow managers to flood parts of the land.〔 The refuge grew from what was once a former dairy farm that spanned 〔 to more than by September 1998. In the spring of 1999, the $1.1 million system for flooding parts of the refuge was completed.〔Richard, Terry. “Wildlife refuge tour showcases expansion”, ''The Oregonian'', October 20, 1999, p. E7.〕 In total, the refuge grew to in 1999, and increased the number of bird species from 18 to 146.〔 The facility was further enlarged to in 2003,〔Romans, Phil. “Urban refuge offers visitors a rare view”, ''The Oregonian'', October 28, 2003, p. B2.〕 and received nearly $750,000 to build a new safe entrance to the planned visitor's area.〔 In November 2004, Congress appropriated $700,000 for the NWR to cover the costs of designing a public visitor’s center.〔Harrington, Patrick. Goetze, Janet. “Tualatin's wildlife refuge in Oregon wins federal dollars”, ''The Oregonian'', November 23, 2004. See also: (GPO Access )〕 By 2005 construction had progressed on public facilities at the site that included trails, observations decks, parking, and an entrance from Oregon Route 99W with plans for permanently opening to the public in 2006.〔Goetze, Janet. “Refuge gets windfall to build public areas”, ''The Oregonian'', August 2, 2005.〕 In July 2005, the refuge received $3.9 million from the federal government to complete a visitor’s center and new headquarters for the facility.〔 In February 2006, construction began on the main observation deck at the visitor’s plaza, with plans to open the refuge to the public in June.〔Church, Foster. “Deck part of plan to open wildlife refuge”, ''The Oregonian'', February 24, 2006, p. C3.〕 Regular public access began on June 3, 2006, when roughly of more than of the refuge was opened on a permanent basis;〔 Construction on the visitor’s center began later that month.〔 In March 2007, the Wapato Lake Unit was created to the west near Gaston.〔 In the same month, the refuge received the 2007 ''Sunset'' Magazine Environmental Award, with the magazine honoring the refuge as a "preserved paradise".〔Mortenson, Eric. “More visitors flocking to wildlife sanctuary”, ''The Oregonian'', March 22, 2007, Metro Southwest Neighbors, p. 5.〕〔(Paradise preserved. ) MSNBC. Retrieved on March 27, 2009.〕 The number of annual visitors to the refuge totaled 40,000 in 2007.〔 The Wildlife Center at the refuge was finally completed and opened in January 2008.〔Haight, Abby. “A wet, wild haven for creatures, human spirit”, ''The Oregonian'', January 10, 2008, Metro West Neighbors, p. 14.〕 A dedication ceremony was held at the Wildlife Center on March 29, 2008; 500 people attended the event including Congressman David Wu and author Richard Louv.〔Wilson, Kimberly A.C. “Crowd finds refuge from suburbia in Sherwood”, ''The Oregonian'', March 30, 2008, p. B1.〕 In 2008, the refuge had attracted 50,000 birds in a single day, with 20,000 birds wintering in the refuge.〔 As of December 2008, the federal government had spent $10.4 million on the refuge and it had grown to .〔Fitzgibbon, Joe. (“Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge offers a real show”, ) ''The Oregonian'', December 25, 2008.〕 The refuge submitted a proposal to start collecting user fees in February 2009, with a planned start date of August 2009. In December 2013, the Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge was split out from TRNWF. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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