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Eagle Canyon: Natural History
Eagle Canyon | Taima the Eagle | Illahee the Salmon
A changing watershed
Eagles live in healthy watersheds. Over the past 200 years, many watersheds have been impacted by humans. Dams, housing developments, clear-cut forests and agriculture have all created changes that affect eagle habitat. Today, various methods are being used to restore or preserve watersheds. Many communities have passed laws to maintain their local watersheds and to protect them for future generations.
 It's all downhill
Every tree, plant, stretch of hillside and trickle of water you see here is part of a watershed. A watershed is an area of land that catches and collects water from rain and melting snow. Eagles and salmon depend on a healthy watershed for their survival.
Water on the move
In a watershed, water is all around you and it's always on the move. Most of the water from rain and melting snow seeps into the soil and moves underground. The water that doesn't soak in runs along the surface. As it moves downhill, the water finds its way into small brooks and creeks. These, in turn, empty into larger streams, which empty into rivers. Eventually, all of the water in a watershed ends up in the ocean.
Johnson Creek (Metro)
A healthy watershed
Salmon are good indicators of a watershed's well-being. In order to reproduce, they need healthy streams that flow all year round. Cool water is a must. The cooler the water, the more oxygen it holds — oxygen the salmon need to complete their cycle.
The things you do every day can affect streams and the salmon who live in them. When buildings go up and roads get made, trees come down. Then when it rains, the water moves faster and more directly to the stream. Water on the ground picks up everything it touches — fertilizer and pesticide from your yard, moss killer from your roof, leaking oil and antifreeze from your driveway, dirt and manure from your garden — then carries it to the stream.
Eagle Canyon | Taima the Eagle | Illahee the Salmon
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