Throughout these updates we talk about bond refinement. Bond refinement is the department-wide effort to build each of the six programs outlined in the 2019 parks and nature bond measure, which is a promise made by Metro to the voters of the region to build upon its decades of conservation work and continue its mission to protect clean water, restore fish and wildlife habitat, and provide opportunities for people to connect with nature close to home.
Bondwide
Contact: Beth Cohen, [email protected]
Metro is hosting two virtual information sessions to provide an update on the progress of the 2019 parks and nature bond measure. You’re invited! This will be an opportunity to share with you the status of the work to launch the bond.
The info sessions will be focused on two of the six bond program areas: protect and restore land and the region’s biking and walking trail network.
Come hear from the Parks and Nature staff members developing these programs, learn about upcoming opportunities to weigh in this fall and ask questions about the bond’s work.
We are hosting two events at the end of September. The same information will be presented at both meetings. If you have participated in a stakeholder interview for the protect and restore program this summer, the information shared at these sessions may be similar to what you’ve heard. Please visit one of the links below to RSVP. If you need interpretation, closed captioning, or any other accessibility services, please let us know when you RSVP or email [email protected].
Oversight committee
The natural areas and capital program performance oversight committee has a meeting on September 15. Visit the committee’s webpage for more information about the meeting and an agenda.
Program updates
Protect and restore land
Contact: Shannon Leary, [email protected]
$155 million
Over the past month, the protect and restore land team held more than a dozen information-gathering sessions to learn from folks who have on-the-ground experience at the target areas identified by the bond. Six of the sessions were devoted to the urban target area, a new target area and the biggest.
More than 102 people representing 43 partner organizations in the region, including park providers, soil and water conservation districts and watershed councils, shared their expertise. The local data, policies, plans and studies they brought to the sessions will bolster and fill in possible gaps in the region-wide data used for the ecological assessments done this summer.
We’re so thankful to everyone who took part in the sessions. It makes our collective work better.
Up next, the team will focus on braiding together everything they’ve learned so far during the refinement process. Next month, we will share the ecological assessments on the bond webpage. We’re looking forward to community engagement in November to share all this information and gather additional feedback that will influence the land acquisition program’s priorities, goals and objectives.
Local parks and nature projects (local share)
Contact: Alex Gilbertson, [email protected]
$92 million
Engagement opportunities
The local share team convened a roundtable for local share partners to discuss strategies to advance equity in contracting and workforce diversity. Eighteen representatives from 13 jurisdictions participated to discuss how the parks and nature bond local share investments can help support more opportunities for minority-owned and women-owned firms and for women and communities of color to work on parks and nature related projects.
Participants learned about the strategies that Metro staff are implementing across the agency, including the Construction Career Pathways Program and had an opportunity to ask questions about what these strategies could look like in their local share projects. A few partners also shared some of the successes and challenges they have seen with doing this work. You can find a recording of the roundtable on the local share webpage.
Next month’s roundtable will be an opportunity to learn from culturally specific community-based organizations about partnerships and community engagement strategies.
Metro park improvements
Contact: Melissa Bergstrom, [email protected]
$98 million
Out at Blue Lake Regional Park, a request for proposals (RFP) has been issued for some of the upcoming park improvement projects. The RFP is the first to use our Construction Careers Pathways Project framework, which aims to increase access to the trades for women and people of color in greater Portland. Essentially, the Blue Lake project will have specific diversity goals alongside its construction requirements.