As a Metro scientist, Kate Holleran sees nature's biggest challenges and most glorious surprises – and she has the muddy boots to prove it. Read her latest reflections on restoring the land protected by Metro's voter-approved Natural Areas Program.
By Kate Holleran, Metro Scientist
Conserving nature, one acre at a time
Look at all these great vines! The part of my mind that thinks like a 10-year-old boy (since I raised three sons) saw, for a brief moment, thousands of potential vine swings dangling from hundreds of trees. Then practicality kicked in. The River View property, perched above the Willamette River in Southwest Portland, always leaves me feeling overwhelmed and a bit in awe.
Unfortunately, that awe includes a significant dose of “I can’t believe how much ivy, clematis and laurel is here!” These slow-growing invasive plants have been growing over decades and have significantly altered the forest. Ivy and clematis snake 150 feet or more up the trunks of 200-foot trees, spreading over the branches and cascading down nearly to the ground.
Veils of invasive vines hang from the canopy. The hundreds of pounds the vines add to the crowns of the trees have caused some to break and fall. Most of the ground on the property is thickly blanketed with English ivy, creating a mat that is virtually impossible for native shrubs to grow through. Four-foot-diameter tree trunks completely disappear underneath a curtain of clematis vines.
In spite of the challenges, the River View property is a unique habitat. A hopeful way to look at it is as a 145-acre urban forest of large trees and seven steep cold water drainages waiting for habitat restoration to begin. Metro recently partnered with the City of Portland to purchase this property, which the City will take the lead in restoring. Metro has a conservation easement over most of the property to permanently prevent any development.
My role will be to monitor the easement. Practically speaking, that means walking the property, taking photos at established photo points and watching the restoration story unfold. I’m glad we marked the photo points using GPS technology. Without that information, one ivy-covered tree looks too much like the next ivy-covered tree – but not for long. Let the restoration begin!