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1995 natural areas bond measure

Planning and conservation  ›  Natural areas, parks and trails  ›  Acquiring natural areas  ›  Natural Areas Program  ›  1995 bond measure

In the first ten years of Metro's natural areas acquisition program, more than 8,000 acres of valuable natural areas were protected for fish, wildlife and people.

Just minutes from your door, gems of green, breathtaking views, rushing rivers and quiet meandering streams await. Meadows, forests, stream banks and butte-tops provide lasting opportunities for people to connect with nature in their neighborhoods.

8,000 acres saved and counting.

In 1995, voters in the Portland metropolitan region made an important investment for the future with their overwhelming support of Metro’s open spaces, parks and streams bond measure. When the region celebrated the 10th anniversary of the program, more than 8,000 acres of valuable natural areas and nearly 74 miles of stream and river frontage had been protected. More than 100 local park projects in neighborhoods across the region offer biking, hiking and wildlife watching opportunities close to home. By protecting clean air and water and fish and wildlife habitat, this highly successful land conservation effort will benefit the region for generations to come.

In 1995, the voters of the metropolitan region created a model program for landowners, neighborhoods, businesses and government to work together to protect land near our rivers and streams – more than 8,000 acres and counting. By approving the $135.6 million open spaces, parks and streams bond measure, voters directed the Metro Council to protect our precious butte tops, stream corridors, river canyons, wetlands and prairies with significant water quality, wildlife habitat and recreational benefits for the region.

What did we get for our money?

More than 8,130 acres of valuable natural areas and nearly 74 miles of stream and river frontage have been protected by the open spaces, parks and streams bond measure.

The bond measure also gave $25 million directly to local park providers for investment in local county and city park improvements and, in some cases, even more land acquisition. More than 100 local park projects in neighborhoods across the region offer biking, hiking and wildlife watching opportunities close to home.

Exceeding expectations – Metro makes your dollars work harder

The Metro Council and program staff have worked hard to stretch your open space investment. As of June 2005, more than $10 million has been leveraged from state and local partners to buy land. Seven private landowners donated their property to the open spaces program and four more provided partial donations – for a total of nearly 200 acres. In some cases, landowners donated conservation easements or agreed to a “bargain” sale of their property.

When the bond measure was put to voters in 1995, it was estimated that 6,000 acres would be protected and 13.35 percent of the bond proceeds would be spent on overhead and administrative costs. Not only were acreage goals far surpassed, but administrative costs averaged only 9.6 percent.

Read about some of the people, places and ideas that shaped the open spaces acquisition program in a special edition of GreenScene. Detailed information about land acquisitions also is available.

Need assistance?

Natural Areas Program
503-797-1545
naturalareas@oregonmetro.gov

Files and related materials

Related Documents

Files that are downloadable from this page

• 10-year report: Open Spaces. Treasured Places. 1.6M Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published August 25, 2005
• 10-year map of acquisitions and projects 249K Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published June 12, 2007