Click the image to read the winter 2019 issue of Our Big Backyard in a PDF format.
Community members will soon have opportunities to shape the future of two places largely hidden from public view in North Portland: St. Johns Prairie and Willamette Cove.
Metro is restoring the former St. Johns Landfill, which received Portland's garbage for decades, into a prairie full of native wildflowers and other plants. St. Johns Prairie, part of Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area, will soon include a public trail to a scenic overlook offering views of four peaks.
A few miles south on the banks of the Willamette River, contamination from decades of industrial use restricted public access to Willamette Cove, a 27-acre Metro natural area. The site is included in the federal Environmental Protection Agency's Portland Harbor Superfund site.
The Portland Harbor Community Coalition is now gearing up to steer a public involvement process as the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, the Port of Portland and Metro work to finalize a cleanup plan for the Willamette Cove property. The community coalition works to elevate the voices of disproportionately impacted communities with ties to the river and upland areas, including communities of color, homeless people and local residents.
Learn more about both properties, other parks and nature news, and find fun nature classes and events in the winter 2019 issue of Our Big Backyard, Metro's quarterly parks and nature magazine.
Find a copy of Our Big Backyard at a local public library branch, the Oregon Zoo, a Metro park, or at various community centers and senior centers. Or read individual stories online on Parks and Nature News or click the image on the right to read a PDF of the magazine.
Also in the winter 2019 magazine:
Subscribe to the print edition
Subscribe to nature updates by email
Read individual stories or view a PDF of the magazine on Parks and Nature News