Read Our Big Backyard Winter 2025

A cemetery marker with the text 'Block 14' visible, placed on the grass in a cemetery. The marker is surrounded by green grass and is adorned with flowers and a citrus fruit.

Lone Fir Cemetery's Block 14 will be the new location of a memorial marking the historic Chinese section of the cemetery.

An edge of a river and adjacent rocky bank. The background consists of dense trees, vegetation, and shrubs.

The City of Tualatin purchased of a 2.79-acre property, including 425 feet of Tualatin River frontage, made possible with funds supplied by Metro.

A river bank is covered with grassy concrete. Trees frame the view, and in the distance, a bridge spans the river, with mountains and additional trees visible in the distance. The sky is partly cloudy, and sunlight ref

Broken concrete along the riverbank edge at Willamette Cove. All of the ground and vegetation shown here will be removed during the two cleanups.

A close-up of a garter snake with a dewdrop on its mouth sites amongst blades of grass.

Winner of the Our Big Backyard winter 2025 photo content Michael Beymer of Portland said, “Morning was warming up the meadow at Wilke’s Creek as I completed a cold hike to see the headwaters and trillium blooming. While catching some rays, a garter snake appeared next to me with a dewdrop on their cheek. Probably they were cold too. So we enjoyed the sunrise together."

Jan. 7, 2025 9:39 a.m.



        Our Big Backyard winter 2025 cover

Happy New Year! This issue of Our Big Backyard has details on some properties Metro acquired in 2024 and the ongoing work to restore and protect nature.

Read about a memorial at Lone Fir Cemetery's historic Chinese section that, after years of preparation, will head into a new phase of completion.

Also in this issue: Metro reaches new milestones for the Willamette Cove cleanup. Find out what's next for this anticipated project.

Is waste reduction part of your new year's resolutions? We have tips for you in this issue.

Download the issue:

Our Big Backyard winter 2025

A digital copy of the winter 2025 print edition of Metro's quarterly parks and nature publication.

4.67 MB Adobe Acrobat PDF Published Jan 6, 2025

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Next: Part 2

Memorial at Lone Fir Cemetery's historic Chinese section