Submitted by Clover Park Rotary.
The South Puget Sound Urban Wildlife Interpretive Center is a 90 acre parcel of land located in the City of Lakewood.
In 1852 Adam Byrd, a pioneer from Wisconsin, arrived in the Steilacoom area by way of the Oregon Trail. A homestead claim of 318.2 acres was granted to Adam Byrd’s family showing continuous residence from June 1, 1852. Adam Byrd’s son Andrew, received a homestead claim of 168.79 acres encompassing land on either side of Chambers Creek at its source and extending into Steilacoom Lake. Adam Byrd died shortly after on April 26, 1853 and was buried atop an Oak shaded prairie hilltop which subsequently was named the Byrd family Cemetery. From that time until 1881, about 100 of the original pioneers to the area were also buried there. This historical cemetery is located at the center of the present Urban Wildlife Interpretive Center.
In 1890, the property was sold to the State of Washington, in trust, for use by the Hospital for the Insane (now Western State Hospital), for $4,760. This included all of the property except the one acre Byrd Family Cemetery which was sold to descendant George W. Byrd for $100.
When the asylum authorities took possession of the land surrounding the cemetery for use as a farm and cattle ranch for the Hospital, they built a barn and chicken coop over some of the grave sites and allowed their cows to trample the graves and destroy the markers. The majority of the original oak trees in the graveyard were cut down. The asylum farm was abandoned in 1920, and in 1922 the State of Washington Department of Fisheries and Game acquired ownership of the property for use as a game farm and fish hatchery. In 1931, only after years of constant lobbying, George W. Byrd succeeded in getting the State to remove the buildings which extended into the cemetery. Thirty one years later on June 7, 1962 a wire fence was finally constructed around the original cemetery perimeter.
The South Tacoma Game Farm and the South Tacoma Fish Hatchery (now Lakewood Hatchery) were extremely popular with the public and upwards of 40,000 people a year visited and toured the two facilities. Children from the surrounding school districts held day long field trips to the area, and could see pheasant, chukar, deer, Steelhead, trout and even a caged black bear. Due to changing recreational interests and fiscal constraints, the South Tacoma Game Farm closed down in 1985. The Lakewood Fish Hatchery continues to operate on the site.
In 1987, the Marine Mammal Project of the Department of Wildlife began use of some of the buildings on the site for office and lab space. The remainder of the site remained idle until 1988, when it was decided that the area would be transformed into the Department’s first and only Urban Wildlife Interpretive Center.
Situated in the heart of Lakewood, surrounded by housing developments and business districts, this 90 acre site is a magnet to a large number of native non game wildlife species due to the available open space, natural springs and semi native habitat. In 1989, a grant was secured from the Charlotte Y. Martin Foundation to begin the development of the area. The old bird pens and brooder houses were removed and detailed landscape plans were completed by a landscape architecture class from the University of Washington.
In 1994, a partner project with Pierce County was completed which constructed three small ponds in an area which had been a few spring fed channels. Shortly after completion, it was decided to use this pond area as a release site for captive raised endangered Western Pond Turtles. Today, the population of turtles is about 28. Three female turtles successfully nested in 2003, and 13 baby turtles hatched onsite.
For the last 6 years, a public environmental education event, “NatureFest” has been held the first Sunday in October. This event is sponsored by Tahoma Audubon, Pierce County, Cascade Land Conservancy and WDFW. In 2003 approximately 950 people attended the event.
The urban wildlife area is currently in development to restore it to its native oak woodland prairie ecosystem, with associated spring fed wetland environments. When completed the area will be a showcase urban wildlife environmental center. Presently, the area has been adopted by Clover Park Rotary and other local service organizations intent on improvements and restoration of the area. The top the one third of the area is open to the public for walking and hiking tours and public school environmental education purposes.
Many thanx for providing this history. I had no idea this was the land’s background, especially the original land owners.
This is very interesting to my wife, Jen, whose ancestors also came over the Oregon Trail in the1860s, but instead settled into the Willamette Valley near a town by the name of Lebanon. This little town, nestled at the base of the Cascade Foothills, alongside US Hiway 20 (the longest Hiway in the US) was also eventually part of the Oregon trail thru the Santiam Pass.
The Willamette Valley was and still is one of the richest farming lands in the US, known for growing fruits, vegetables, mint, rye, wheat, and other crops. Today it is the largest producer of hazelnuts in the US and is also reponsible for producing 5% of the World’s crop.
Two of her original pioneer family’s homes are still in the Willamette Valley, just off of Hiway 34, about 5 miles West of Lebanon. When Jen was12-14 years old she actually lived in one of the homes and remembers being with her Grandparents who were the children of the original Oregon Trail pioneers. There is a pioneer cemetery just southwest of Lebanon by the name of Sandridge Cemetery. It is the resting place for Jen’s ancestors, immediate family, and will be ours as well.
Both of us lived in Lebanon while kids…me from 1954-1967, and Jen was there from 1963-65. We eventually met each other in 1966 at a Lebanon Armory dance….and the rest is history.
Let applause ring from our Lakewood surround to say THANK YOU to Clover Park Rotary with special thanks to Alan Billingsley for their leadership to foster and realize such a visionary recovery of this natural treasure. Recalling the exotic and the native, peacock and bob white, this patch of Earth restores our stewardship and lights discovery.
Another win for Lakewood where emphasis is on infrastructure and preservation rather than subsidized consumption.
Are ya listening Tacoma?
My ancestors settled in Nebraska post Civil War. There are sequential generational tombstones in the local cemetery of food-producers whose descendants carry on to this day.