Roughly 60 people came out to Austin Point in Woodland on Saturday to pick up trash, plant saplings and put up signs, the first such community event the Port of Woodland hosted in an effort to revitalize the property’s wetlands.
Within 24 hours, nearly half the signs were knocked over and most of the plants were destroyed after vandals struck, leaving port officials questioning how to take care of the land — and if it’s even possible to do so while allowing public use.
“A few bad apples can ruin it for everybody,” said Jennifer Wray-Keene, Port of Woodland executive director. “I don’t know the motivation of why somebody would do this other than they just wanted to destroy something.”
The volunteers — most of whom were youths, including members of the Woodland High School football team — picked up more than 500 pounds of garbage, planted about 200 saplings and drilled 20 signs into the ground letting visitors know they were entering a protected wetlands area. The port paid about $500 for the plants, and $150 per sign, Wray-Keene said. Eight of the signs were knocked over.
“We can’t do the plantings again,” she said. “It’s starting to be the dry season. We’re going to have to wait until it’s wet again for them to have a chance to root.”
Wray-Keene said damage done to the Austin Point area has increased in recent years with more illegal camping and people dumping items on the property, including boats and vehicles, which are often times lit on fire.
She said the port’s maintenance crew also finds an average of 50 syringes a month at the property. During Saturday’s cleanup, volunteers flagged about 200 spots with syringes for staff to come pick up at a later time.
The damage will be further assessed this week, and Wray-Keene filed a report with the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Department, and said the port intends to fully prosecute whoever is responsible. She put a message on the port’s Facebook page Monday announcing the damage in hopes that someone who knows who vandalized the property will come forward, or the responsible party will turn themselves in.
“This was not their property,” she said. “This is not a place for you to go splash a bunch of mud with your truck. This is for generations after us to enjoy.”
Wray-Keene said a neighbor saw a few pickups drive onto the property sometime after the cleanup and drive out covered in mud later, but there’s not much else to go on, she said. The port of commissioners will meet 10 a.m. Thursday at port property, 1608 Guild Road, for a meeting where they are expected to discuss some possible options moving forward.
Wray-Keene said she doesn’t know how successful it would be to host another cleanup now. She said the port has “grandiose” plans for its property to industrialize it and bring in revenue. With that money, the port has talked about putting in a boat ramp, walking trails and other ways to educate the public on the wetlands.
“When we plant 200 little saplings and put some trees in, and within 24 hours it’s destroyed, what’s going to happen to bathrooms, a boat launch or whatever we put in?” she said. “Everybody deals with this. The sad part is we shouldn’t have to. We should be proud of what we have. We want to provide everybody access.”
