Clackamas. The county business climate is strong and growing with concentrations of metals fabrication, machinery, distribution and computer hardware and software firms. Professional service firms and corporate headquarters cluster in Lake Oswego, Wilsonville and Clackamas Town Center. A thriving, large retail base is located in the Clackamas Town Center area and along McLoughlin Boulevard. Clackamas County has a population of 338,391.Although population density is one reflection of the impacts on bio-diversity, the effects of human development often extend far beyond the immediate location of where people live. Roads show another way the human modification may leave native habitats vulnerable. Some of the highest road densities in Oregon are found in watersheds where extensive road systems have been made for timber harvest. In the Columbia River Basin region most of the land is under private ownership and has already been converted to non-native habitats. Efforts are going to be made to find the last remnants of the regions native habitats and restore them. Federal agencies are working together to develop a scientifically sound ecosystem based strategy to maintain public lands in the Columbia River Basin. This far-reaching effort, the Columbia River Basin Ecosystem Management Project, is trying to help maintain healthy ecosystems and support the economic, social, and cultural needs of the people and communities that live there. This group is trying to restore forests, rangelands, and watersheds. They will also be looking at changes in water quality and quantity, streamside vegetation, extent of weed invasion, native fish and wildlife populations, and numbers and size of severe wild-land fires. Although most of the basin is rural, several urban centers are among the fastest growing in the country. The ultimate measure of success will be when many years from now people living in the Basin will continue a high quality of life, ...
