| Hanford Reach National Monument | |
|---|---|
 Columbia River bend in Hanford Reach National Monument withH Reactor in the distance | |
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| Location | Benton /Grant /Franklin /Adams counties,Washington,USA |
| Nearest city | Richland, WA |
| Coordinates | 46°35′00″N119°31′00″W / 46.58333°N 119.51667°W /46.58333; -119.51667 |
| Area | 194,451 acres (78,692 ha)[1] |
| Created | June 8, 2000 |
| Governing body | U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceU.S. Department of Energy |
| Website | Hanford Reach National Monument |
TheHanford Reach National Monument is anational monument in theU.S. state ofWashington. It was created in 2000, mostly from the former security buffer surrounding theHanford Nuclear Reservation. The area has been untouched by development or agriculture since 1943. For this reason, it is considered aninvoluntary park.
The monument is named after theHanford Reach, the last non-tidal, free-flowing section of theColumbia River in the United States, and is one of eight national monuments administered by theU. S. Fish and Wildlife Service; part of the monument within the Hanford Site is also managed by theDepartment of Energy. PresidentBill Clintonestablished the monument by presidential decree in 2000. In May 2017, theInterior Department announced that Hanford Reach was one of 27 national monuments under review for possible rescinding of their designation.[2]
Ancestors of the Wanapum People,Yakama Nation,Confederated Tribes of the Colville, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation and theNez Perce used the land for hunting and resource collecting.[3]
Geographically, the area is part of theColumbia River Plateau, formed bybasalt lava flows and water erosion. Theshrub-steppe landscape is harsh and dry, receiving between 5 and 10 inches (250 mm) of rain per year. The sagebrush-bitterbrush-bunchgrass lands are home to a wide variety of plants and animals, and the Hanford Reach provides one of the northwest's best salmon spawning grounds. Forty-eight rare, threatened, or endangered animal species have found refuge on the monument, as well as several insect species found nowhere else in the world.[4]
There are two main habitats in the Hanford Reach National Monument: desert and river.
Islands, riffles, gravel bars, oxbow ponds and backwater sloughs provide support to forty-three species of fish. Large numbers of fallChinook salmon spawn in the Hanford reach. Federally threatened species such as the Upper Columbia River Spring Chinook, the Middle Columbia RiverSteelhead and the Upper Columbia River Steelhead use the reach for migration purposes.[5]
The refuge is famous for theelk located on the Arid Lands Ecology Area. Herd numbers vary by time of year with 150 seen during the spring/summer and 350 to 375 during the fall. The elk population reaches its peak in the winter with an average of 670. Archaeologists believed the elk had been in the region for the last 10,000 years. During the mid-19th century, first hand accounts mentioned the disappearance of the species.Rocky Mountain elk were reintroduced into the region during the 1930s,[6] as well as a natural recolonization event from the nearby cascade mountains during the difficult 1978 winter.
The dry, desert region is home to forty-two mammal species. Mice are the most abundant and include the deer mouse, western harvest mouse, northern grasshopper mouse. Mammals that inhabit this refuge includecoyotes,skunks,beavers,mule deer,bobcats,river otters,minks,cougars andbadgers.
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(August 2018) |
The monument is open from two hours before sunrise to two hours after sunset; some areas are open to the public and others are not:
Several sites in the adjacent Hanford Site including theB Reactor are part of theManhattan Project National Historical Park and are accessible on public tours.
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