An illustration of Willamette Cove as it is today in North Portland near St. Johns. Illustration by Aki Ruiz.
Why is Metro informally consulting with Tribes on Willamette Cove?
The Willamette River is of significant historic, cultural and ongoing importance to multiple Tribes in the region who have maintained strong ties to and relied upon the river, its resources and lands for traditional and cultural practices, sustenance and subsistence, and trade and travel since time immemorial. Beginning in fall 2021 Metro invited staff-to-staff consultation with the six Tribes involved in the broader Portland Harbor Superfund Site to inform Metro’s near and long-term efforts at the Willamette Cove site.
As Metro works to clean up the cove and build the nature park, Tribes are informally consulted early so the projects can support the Tribes’ respective rights, interests and policy priorities, like nurturing strong salmon and lamprey populations.
Tribes involved in the project:
- Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation
- Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
- Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
- Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
- Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon
- Nez Perce Tribe
Willamette Cove offers one of the only natural places where people and wildlife can connect with the Willamette River in North Portland. It’s a refuge in the middle of the city and a perfect place for a nature park. Community members like you will help to design a park that has nature at its heart.
Metro is developing Willamette Cove nature park’s master plan in informal consultation with Tribes and with meaningful contributions from the people of greater Portland, including the Indigenous community, communities of color, the disability community and North Portland residents, among others.
The nature park will include a stretch of the North Portland Greenway Trail, habitat for wildlife, beach access and more. Through the design process, community members like you will help create a vision for Willamette Cove Nature Park that:
- Provides habitat for fish and wildlife and nature friendly recreation for people.
- Provides safe and accessible layout for connection to the Willamette River and North Portland Greenway Trail.
Community members have expected Willamette Cove to become a park since Metro purchased the property in 1996. Just as it did 30 years ago, it holds the promise of becoming a haven for birds, animals and people in the heart of North Portland. Metro invites you to help realize this long-seen potential.
What is a nature park?
Metro’s nature parks are places people can connect with thriving nature close to home. They create a careful balance of fish and wildlife habitat alongside low-impact recreation activities and nature-friendly amenities. Metro plans that Willamette Cove will be home to oak and madrone woodlands supporting various birds and small mammals, willows and other shrubs on the riverbank, and shoreline hideaways and resting spots for migrating salmon and lamprey. Amid this habitat, the park will include ways for people to access nature like trails, nature-viewing points, beach and water access, nature art, information signs, and space for education and cultural practices.
Tribal partners and community members will help shape the park through the planning process.
What is a master plan?
A nature park master plan is a high-level design of a park. It lays out where people will park, where trails start and if they’re soft or paved, how many benches and picnic tables there will be, which habitats will go where, what kind of materials will be used for structures, and all the other things that make a nature park a nature park. Master plans are needed to plan a budget for a project and create engineering plans. Master plans are the first step of detailed engineering plans used for constructing the park.
The planning process
Community engagement will begin in the spring of 2024 and go through 2025. The planning process will be in four phases. Tribes are consulted at the beginning of each phase.