Mable Kerr Park reopens

Mable Kerr Park in Washougal reopened on Oct. 8 after a three-month closure due to the construction of the Campen Creek Reconnection Project.

The project, led by the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership and the city of Washougal, spanned nine acres of the 21-acre park and cost nearly $1 million, which was secured through five different grant programs, according to a news release.

Washougal City Manager David Scott said the project will help to restore the Campen Creek floodplain to “improve water quality, support stormwater management, reduce peak flows, provide greater habitat complexity and stream conditions for wildlife, increase community recreational access, and provide environmental education engagement.”

“We’re glad to see this project moving forward,” said Washougal city engineer Scott Collins. “It’s the result of a strong partnership with the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership and will provide meaningful environmental and community benefits for Washougal.”

The project aimed to restore Campen Creek, which flows through Mable Kerr Park, by reconnecting it to its historic floodplain in a manner that enhances the park’s visitor experience, improves habitat for fish and wildlife, reduces erosion, and increases the supply of cool, clean water into the creek during the dry summer months, according to the news release.

Visitors to Mable Kerr Park will notice the following changes and upgrades:

• Campen Creek’s artificial, eroding, and degraded single creek channel was restored to a natural floodplain that includes wetlands, a meandering creek channel, and wood habitat structures.
• Approximately 70 hazard trees were cut down within Mable Kerr Park and repurposed as wood habitat structures throughout the project area.
• The small pedestrian bridge was replaced with a longer and larger bridge crossing Campen Creek and providing views of its newly restored floodplain.
• The park’s popular walking trail was extended to allow for more wildlife observation, including a new spur trail that overlooks the southern portion of the park.

“The Estuary Partnership is excited to have had the opportunity to not only restore a highly degraded stretch of Campen Creek but to improve Mable Kerr Park for local residents, many of which enjoy it on a daily basis,” Chris Collins, Estuary Partnership’s restoration program lead, said in the news release.

Project activities will continue for several more months as professional revegetation crews will be on-site throughout the fall and winter to plant more than 20,000 native trees and shrubs in the newly restored area. Maintenance of those plants will continue through 2027 to ensure they are established successfully.

Community members are invited to participate in a community planting event on Dec. 6. For more information, visit EstuaryPartnership.org.