Natural Heritage Parks Program
Recognizing that the loss of historical ecosystems has had negative impacts on biodiversity, environmental functions, and educational opportunities in the county, Marion County Parks is working to restore some of the landscapes that greeted the area's pioneers and sustained the Native American tribes. These ecosystems included oak savannas, upland prairies, wet prairies, woodlands, riparian gallery forests, shrublands, and rare peat bogs. The Natural Heritage Parks Program was developed by Marion County as one way to begin the restoration of these historical ecosystems.
Dogs are not allowed at Bonesteele Prairie and Aumsville Wetlands parks.
Natural Heritage Parks Sites
Showy Tarweed, a native
prairie plant
Typical scene in the pre-EuroAmerican settlement Willamette Valley.
"Wallamette", Capt. Henry V. Warre, 1845.
Boyd, John J. ed. (1990) Indians, fire, and land in the Pacific Northwest. Oregon State University Press. Corvallis, OR.
