CURRENT ACQUISITION PRIORITY:

Balch Creek Watershed Conservation Easement Program

Friends of Forest Park, in collaboration with the Three Rivers Land Conservancy, Portland Parks and Recreation, and Metro, is pursuing a conservation easement and land acquisition program in the Balch Creek watershed. The watershed contains regionally significant properties adjacent to Forest Park that are important to the area's biodiversity and water quality. Several large tracts within the watershed are undeveloped and currently zoned for commercial forest use.

The Balch Creek watershed is critical to the health of Forest Park's flora and fauna. A significant portion of the upper watershed is undeveloped. Most of the upper watershed remains in forested cover providing the cool, clean water necessary for the near-endangered native cutthroat trout, as well as 11 species of amphibians, 10 types of reptiles, 112 species of birds, and 62 species of mammals. In addition to quality habitat, the watershed provides these species with the connectivity to a larger ecosystem provided by Forest Park's 5,000+ acres.

The Balch Creek watershed also provides scenic vistas and adds to the quality of the recreational and educational opportunities the public experiences in the southern portion of Forest Park. This is one of the most highly-used sections of the Park, and the public enjoys the natural forest vistas of the watershed on their way to trailheads.

The area is crossed by city and county boundaries, as well as the urban growth boundary. It contains an alphabet soup of zoning uses, including commercial forest and residential development, which do not necessarily ensure a future without subdivisions and/or clearcutting. In fact, this is highlighted by recent examples of large tract clearcutting and subdivisions.

Preserving the natural character of Balch Creek and the surrounding areas is also important to many of the neighborhood's residents.

An active acquisition and conservation easement program plays an important long term role in supplementing land use regulations and environmental overlays to protect sensitive environmental areas such as the Balch Creek watershed.