Visitors to Grant PUD’s Burkett Lake Recreation Area and the popular Turbine Park, at Wanapum Dam will notice hundreds of young native plants taking root to add future color, attract pollinators, out-compete invasive plant species or restore areas scorched by wildfire.
At Burkett Lake, the Grant PUD Fish and Wildlife Department team recently added a mix of shrubs, flowers and native grasses – 340 new plantings in all – to a three-acre tract with limited existing vegetation from wildfire damage years ago.
The new plantings add to some 600 planted last year that are now thriving. The effort will one day enhance the beauty of this lake, which is popular with area anglers, especially after it’s annually restocked with trout in April and October.
“Over the years, this fire-damaged tract will again support wildlife habitat that visitors can enjoy as they hike the winding footpath along the lake,” said Grant PUD Lands Specialist Kate Schmuck. “A huge improvement over the barren landscape we see today.”
Burkett Lake is just inland from the Columbia River near the east end of the old Beverly Northern Railroad Bridge, now a pedestrian crossing.
Following the Columbia upriver to the Grant PUD Visitor Center at Wanapum Dam, our crew planted 150 flowering native-plant starts on a hill behind Turbine Park, a favorite stop for visitors, including many school groups. The plantings will crowd out invasive weeds and put on a colorful show of blooms during spring and summer. They may look small now but give them time!
Finally, the crew added about 650 new native-plant starts along the Columbia River shoreline at the community of Sunland Estates to prevent erosion, attract pollinators and restore native habitat areas.
The work is part of Grant PUD’s Wildlife Habitat Management Plan, an ongoing roadmap to enhance and beautify the native landscape, preserve or restore wildlife habitat. It’s part of Grant PUD’s commitment to generate hydropower while maintaining a healthy environment. Visitors to these and our other recreation areas will appreciate it, too!
—-Christine Pratt, External Affairs
