Yakima Sportsman State Park is a 247-acre camping park created in 1940 by the Yakima Sportsman’s Association to promote game management and the preservation of natural resources. The park is on the floodplain of the Yakima River and is an irrigated “green zone” in an otherwise desert area. The park has a variety of deciduous trees that shade camping and picnic areas. One hundred and forty bird species have been identified in the park. Ponds lure fishers to the river. Old clay-pigeon traps may still be found in the park. They are remnants from the Yakima Sportsman Club, a hunting, fishing and shooting club that created the park in 1940. The club donated the park to Washington State Parks in 1956.