Updated March 17, 2007 

Introduction to Herons Forever

Herons Forever is a Puget Sound-based all-volunteer nonprofit organization. We are the only group dedicated solely to the protection of Renton’s Black River great blue heron colony.

We strive to build local support to preserve, protect, and enhance the ecosystem of Renton’s Black River Riparian Forest for critical fish and wildlife habitat and for aesthetic enjoyment and recreation of citizens, both local and from afar.

Herons Forever is the primary advocacy voice for Black River on behalf of citizens and several larger organizations. Our first task in the early 1990s was to work with the City of Renton to secure the funds necessary to acquire the land. 

By 1996, Herons Forever had helped secure $8 million in public funds to purchase the nearly 60 acres of private land buffering the heron's nest sites.

Sources of acquisition funds

The acquisition funds came from three sources:

• King County: $7,616,994 (96.03%) Mitigation funds from the expansion of the West Point treatment facility.*
• State: $228,350 (2.9%) Interagency Committee (IAC): Black River received the IAC's very first grant.

• Renton: $86,500 (1.1%)
  
  *Black River was selected as one of the most significant sites in King County, and deemed worthy of one of the largest investments of public funds that has gone toward a single project involving wildlife habitat acquisition in King County’s history.
  
  

Today, 93 acres is permanently protected Open Space for these birds and all the animals living in the wildlife sanctuary.

Bird-lover and conservationist Suzanne Krom founded the organization in 1989 in order to protect the colony from the impacts of nearby development, and she continues to lead the organization as president. Volunteers from the organization monitor the health and population of the colony, and help keep the trail cleared of invasive vegetation and litter.

In 1989, there were only 24 great blue heron nests. By 2006, there were at least 121 to 126 nests, making it one of the largest colonies in Washington today.

As Black River became a destination for nature enthusiasts in the region, multiple threats to the site were emerging. Poorly planned nearby developments have been proposed throughout the last 18 years that could have resulted in deleterious impacts on the herons and other important features of the site. Herons Forever has always been there to successfully challenge these developments to make them more environmentally sound.

Many other animals call Black River home

Black River is a rich oasis for the animals that live there, and as a result, it is a refuge for the hundreds of people who visit this site every year.

It provides habitat for myriad wildlife. Native birds such as bald eagles, great horned owls, hooded mergansers, wood ducks, and neotropical migrants such as common yellowthroats (contrary to their name, their numbers are few and they are rarely seen), Wilson’s warblers, and western tanagers all live in the Black River Riparian Forest. Raptors (hunters like Cooper’s hawks and American kestrels), fish (threatened Puget Sound Chinook salmon, Cutthroat trout, Coho salmon), and mammals (red foxes, river otters, Pacific shrews) can be found among the Black River Riparian Forest’s cottonwood trees, deciduous shrubs, and the P-1 Pond.

The Black River Riparian Forest is one of the last protected lowland, deciduous, riparian forests remaining in Puget Sound. (Riparian: By a river.) This habitat type was once abundant, but is now rare. The protection and preservation of this area and its sensitive wildlife is crucial.

Join Herons Forever

To join Herons Forever, use the link in the left margin. Please be sure to tell us how you heard about Herons Forever.

We do not require dues for membership. When you join, you add your voice toward protecting this colony. You will receive periodic emails about upcoming field trips, the status of the proposed rezone of the quarry, and other Black River-related news.

Note: We will probably not offer field trips this year in order to protect the herons.