Journal archives for October 2021

October 23, 2021

The River is kind of boring here

So there are two facts about Corvallis: it is considered to be a very environmentally conscious city with many people engaging in outdoor activities, and it is next to the Willamette River.

So it might follow from this that in Corvallis, there are many places to access the Willamette River, and that after doing so, it will be a biologically diverse and interesting place.

So...in the largest part of Corvallis, there is only one real place to access the river, and it is a dingy parking lot. The main thing along the river is a large flock of mallard ducks, who are probably overfed, and lots of invasive weeds. Even the invasive weeds aren't that interesting. It isn't even that interesting as far as the normal animals we might see in a disrupted environment, like not a lot of bees/flies/dragonflies. Every other week or so, wanting to go somewhere to see new stuff, I will go down there, hoping that this day the river will have something new---but usually it is just the flock of mallard.

(In the south of Corvallis, across the smaller Mary's River, there is an extensive river side park, but it is not within easy walking distance of most people here. And even that park doesn't have a lot of natural river environments).

When I visited Eugene, there was an entire loop, going for dozens of miles, of waterfront trails that were mostly natural and had fascinating diversity. Salem and Albany also have multiple places to access the Willamette River in a natural setting. So does Portland, although you have to get away from the city center. But Corvallis? Barely anything.

Posted on October 23, 2021 08:32 PM by mnharris mnharris | 1 observation | 0 comments | Leave a comment