Bordered by the Westport Channel of the Columbia River and the adjoining mouth of Grove Slough, the Robert W. Little Preserve on Puget Island provides native tidal spruce swampland important for the survival of the endangered Columbian white-tailed deer. A densely wooded shrub swamp, the preserve is also home to shaggy Sitka spruce trees.

In addition to sheltering the deer, the Little Preserve serves as a sanctuary for beaver, raccoon, great blue heron and other wetland wildlife. Seasonally, it also becomes home to numerous migratory bird species.

Not long ago, all of Puget Island was covered with trees. Now most of this land on the Columbia River has been logged, diked and converted to pasture and croplands. Today, native woodlands account for less than 300 of the island's 8,000 acres.

Accompanying the demise of the riverine woodland habitat along the Columbia River has been the decline of the Columbian white-tailed deer. Historically, the Columbian, one of 38 subspecies of white-tailed deer in the Americas, ranged from the southern end of Puget Sound to the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Today, only two populations can be found, one near Roseburg, Oregon, and another on a few small islands and in isolated areas of the lower Columbia River near Cathlamet, Washington.

Efforts to save the Columbian white-tailed deer from extinction began in 1972, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) established the 4,800-acre Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-Tailed Deer near Cathlamet. By securing habitat for a minimum of 400 deer in at least three viable herds, USFWS hopes to one day achieve the recovery goal for this animal.

The Nature Conservancy of Washington has cooperated with USFWS to support the habitat protection for the Columbian white-tailed deer. To expand protected deer habitat, the Conservancy acquired this natural wooded area on Puget Island—a 30-acre peninsula of undiked river flood plain. In 1991, the family of Robert W. Little donated funds to buy this property to commemorate Mr. Little and his strong belief that the Earth and its natural diversity should be preserved.

Total numbers of the deer in the lower Columbia River population have increased in recent years. However, the deer have shown no ability to expand their range and establish new, viable subpopulations outside of their current lower Columbia River habitat—a range to which they have been limited for many decades. Until long-term trends for comeback of the deer can be established, the Little Preserve will remain a valuable haven for the white-tailed deer.