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What’s Being Done

Many government and non-government organizations have been active in protecting habitats used by herons. Government has a particular role in providing legislated protection for herons and their habitats. Governments have also been active with non-government organizations in the purchase and management of habitats important to herons. Listed below are a few examples of these partnerships.
 

GREAT BLUE HERON NATURE RESERVE, CHILLIWACK, BRITISH COLUMBIA

[insert picture] The Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve is a 130-hectares (312 acres) lowland forest in the lower Fraser River Valley managed by the City of Chilliwack and volunteers from the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve Society.  The floodplain habitat is home to over 90 Great Blue Heron nests and a variety of rare wildlife and vegetation. The Rotary Interpretive Centre is open daily (604-823-6603).

How to get there: From Vancouver - take exit 109 onto Yale Road West, turn right on to Sumas Prairie Road; travel south to the end of the road. From Hope - take exit 116, turn left on to Lickman Road traveling south, turn right on Keith Wilson Road, left on Sumas Prairie Road and follow to the end. 

MCFADDEN CREEK HERONRY, SALT SPRING ISLAND, BRITISH COLUMBIA

The McFadden Creek Heronry is located in a 5 hectare (12 acre) mixed forest on the north side of Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. The colony of 130 pairs was abandoned a few years ago. The Waterbird Watch Collective on Salt Spring Island, the Wild Bird Trust of British Columbia and the Islands Trust Fund in Victoria manage the site. The site was identified as an Canadian Important Bird Area for the herons that nested on the site.

BIRCH BAY, WASHINGTON

In 1996, the former Atlantic Richfield Corporation granted Whatcom Land Trust in Bellingham a 77-acre (32 ha) easement protecting the third largest heron colony in the Pacific Northwest, containing about 250 heron nests. The property is located near the company’s Birch Bay refinery in northwest Whatcom County.  Contact the Land Trust at info@whatcomland.com.

MARCH POINT, WASHINGTON

The March Point heron colony is located on a 3.5 acres (1.5 ha) parcel of land. There were 494 breeding pairs of herons there in 2002. The site is managed by Mount Vernon’s Skagit Land Trust. The colony has outgrown its protected core and on to industrially zoned land under immediate threat of development. Skagit Land Trust holds an easement on a large heronry on Samish Island.  For more information on these and other protection efforts, see www.skagitlandtrust.org.

DAVIS SLOUGH, WASHINGTON

The Whidbey Camano Land Trust in Langley purchased a 30-acre (12.5 ha) site that contains 188 heron nests at the northern end of Camano Island. The land trust purchased the site, including all trees with existing heron nests, room for nesting expansion and a buffer zone to provide the seclusion required by the species.  To learn more about the project, see www.wclt.org.

KIWANIS RAVINE, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

Kiwanis Ravine is a block east of Discovery Park in Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood. The urban forest and wildlife corridor is home to about 37 nesting pairs of herons. The park is  8.7 acres (3.7 ha).

BLACK RIVER RIPARIAN FOREST, RENTON, WASHINGTON

The Black River heron colony is located in a 90 acre (38 ha) Park in Renton. The site contains about 110 nesting pairs of herons.