Columbia Bottom Conservation Area stands where the great waters meet. Named long ago for the symbolic lady of the United States, Columbia was also a mid-1800s river town in the area. In 1997, work began to shape more than 4,000 acres into a mosaic of bottomland habitats, including 6.5 miles of river frontage, croplands, 800 acres of forests, and a 110-acre island. Wetlands, hardwood forests, and prairie were designed as blended habitats to attract migrating waterfowl as well as wetland wildlife. A flood protection levee surrounds most of the bottomlands, though flooding still occurs here and may restrict access to some locations, and portions of the area may have limited access during migration seasons.
