Metro is steadily protecting water quality, wildlife habitat and opportunities to enjoy the outdoors, an independent citizen oversight committee reported Thursday.
About 71 percent of a $227.4 million natural areas bond measure has been invested, according to the latest report from the Natural Areas Program Performance Oversight Committee. The committee said Metro is on track to meet goals in three major areas: buying regional natural areas, supporting local nature projects and awarding community grants.
The committee is charged with giving the Metro Council and the region an outside review of how Metro invests the bond measure, which was approved by voters in 2006. Fourteen committee members, who bring expertise in business and the environment, dubbed this year’s report Steady Progress.
"Our overall conclusion, as you can see from the report title – even though it may not be very sexy – is that the program continues to make steady progress," committee chair Drake Butsch, vice president of First American Title, told the Metro Council on Thursday. "That’s a good thing, though."
As of June, Metro had used the bond measure to protect about 4,300 acres of wildlife habitat, including rivers, forests, savannas and wetlands. Another 274 acres will help fill in missing sections of trails across the region. The committee promised to keep tabs on a handful of high-priority areas where Metro has acquired little land – typically because property owners are not interested in selling key parcels.
Cities, counties and park providers have spent about 83 percent of the money available for local projects. Recent highlights include transforming the Bluff Trail at Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge in southeast Portland and improving Gresham’s Main City Park to better connect the Springwater Corridor with downtown Gresham.
Metro has awarded about half the $15 million available for Nature in Neighborhoods capital grants. Four community grants were awarded this year, bringing the total number of projects to 28.
Committee members said Metro has developed appropriate tools to track the results of its natural areas work. Next year, Butsch said, the committee plans to evaluate communications initiatives, staff capacity for land acquisition and opportunities to protect critical properties outside the bond measure’s designated “target areas.”
Metro councilors said the report is an important tool for evaluating the bond measure. Committee members’ diligence has a big effect on the region, Metro Councilor Craig Dirksen said.
"That rationality and that steadiness is what has led to the progress and the success that we’ve seen with this program," said Dirksen, who represents the southwest part of the region. "And we have every reason to expect that will continue, because of your diligent oversight."