Metro's Natural Areas Program had another busy year in 2009, buying land across the Portland metropolitan area to safeguard water quality, protect wildlife habitat and ensure access to nature for future generations. More than 1,200 acres have been preserved so far, using about $47 million of a $227 million bond measure that voters approved in 2006.
This year's acquisitions ranged from wetlands to cliffs, from big to small, from Cornelius to Gresham. Here are some of the highlights:
- A rare type of wetland called a "fen" was the prime attraction on 13 acres in the Willamette Narrows area near West Linn. A fen, which features a shallow lake with a floating bed of peat moss, provides habitat for important – and very unusual – plants. Metro acquired part of this fen with funds from a previous bond measure in 1998, and completed the job this year.
- Metro continued preserving Council Creek with the purchase of seven acres near Cornelius, west of Susbauer Road. Plans are under way to restore a 670-foot section of creek and improve a small wetland and upland forest. Metro crews share the property with beaver, river otter, deer and ducks.
- An 1,800-acre swath of land near the Sandy River is now in public ownership, thanks to Metro's purchase of a 42-acre gap along Gordon Creek. The new property, which provides spawning areas for threatened Sandy River fall Chinook and winter steelhead, is close to Metro's Oxbow Regional Park, other Metro natural areas and Bureau of Land Management property.
Metro will continue to purchase land next year in 27 target areas across the region. But that's not the only reason to celebrate: Graham Oaks Nature Park is slated to open in September, providing trails, wildlife viewing and nature activities in Wilsonville.