Wildlife refuge to reopen after $31M restoration project

WASHOUGAL, Wash. (AP) — The largest habitat restoration project along the lower Columbia River is coming to a close this spring. The Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge, east of Washougal in Clark County, is slated to reopen May 1 after almost two years of being intermittently closed to the public. The roughly $31 million project is designed to decrease flooding and increase salmon and steelhead migration. Updates included removing a levee that separated the Columbia River from nearby Gibbons Creek, which officials say reopened a natural pathway for salmon and steelhead migration and will prevent the creek from flooding.