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Connecting Green

Planning and conservation  ›  Natural areas, parks and trails  ›  Connecting Green

The Metro Council and other community leaders are working together to create the best system of parks, natural area and trails in the world.

Surrounded by buttes and volcanos, laced with rivers and streams, gifted with ancient stands of trees, rolling hills and deep, forested canyons, our region has a unique natural inheritance. It provides us with clean air to breathe, clear water to drink and play in and trails and parks to enjoy. Nature is always nearby. This wealth of nature gives us an opportunity to create one of the greatest park, trail and natural area systems in the world. This opportunity, however, will not be realized unless action is taken to capitalize on it. Connecting Green is that initiative.

Making the Connecting Green vision a reality is the work of the Connecting Green Alliance, a group of non-profits, state and local agencies, businesses and citizens from across the region working to plan, develop and promote Connecting Green – the region's system of parks, trails and natural areas. For more information about the Connecting Green Alliance and how you or your organization can join the effort, send e-mail to info@connectinggreen.org.

Making progress on key Connecting Green initiatives

Land acquisition
Tualatin Hills Parks & Recreation voters narrowly passed a $100 million measure November 2008 that included millions for natural area land acquisition, investments in trails and other important Connecting Green projects. Connecting Green Alliance members, with Trust for Public Land in the lead, worked with the campaign to help pass the measure. Metro has been working to implement the 2006 voter-approved Natural Areas bond measure. So far we have protected an additional 900 acres of land and 9 miles of streams and assembled land in a dozen different significant natural areas that will benefit fish and wildlife for generations to come. Local park providers have also been implementing projects with these Metro bond funds - already completing about one-quarter of the local projects that were funded.
Find out about natural areas that are being protected around the region

Regional Trails and Greenways
Metro's Blue Ribbon Committee for Trails presented their case in November 2008 for a new strategy that puts more money into non-motorized transportation projects that connect people and communities and includes a recommendation for investing in a small number of strategic trail demonstration projects. The committee makes the case that success will set the stage for greater public investment in regional trails in the future.
Read the report from the Blue Ribbon Committee for Trails

Environmental education
A small group of environmental educators have been meeting since 2007 to talk about how the region can develop a unified vision and long-term strategy for meeting the region's environmental education needs by institutionalizing and permanently funding environmental education programs. This discussion has identified the need to conduct a gap analysis of environmental education programs, support current legislative efforts to fund the development of a statewide environmental literacy plan ("No Child Left Inside"), and to involve environmental educators and business, environmental and civic groups in an effort to develop new partnerships. Work will continue throughout 2009 to further refine a work plan by and for this group.
Find out more about No Child Left Inside

Regional System of Parks and Natural Areas
Twenty-five local and regional park directors, Metro staff, land use and watershed health professionals, and others met for two days in Forest Grove at the end of 2008 to develop both short term and long term strategies to move the bi-state region forward in defining and expanding the regional system of parks, trails, and natural areas. They explored ideas about how public agencies can work together more collaboratively to manage the system and how they will provide greater access to the public in the future. Promoting the system to visitors was also idnetified as an immediate priority for this group of park officials.

Habitat Restoration
A team of scientists, natural resource managers, planners and land mangers held three meetings in 2008 to assess current management of our natural areas; identify future restoration needs for the ecological health of the region's ecosystems; and describe what steps are necessary to improve and restore habitats around the region.

Metro at work as a member of the Connecting Green Alliance

Metro is a member of the Connecting Green Alliance, contributing expertise, leadership and financial resources to plan and build regional parks and trails, restore natural areas and habitat protect water quality and realize the Connecting Green vision.

• Co-hosting the 20 years of Regional Parks and Green Space Planning Celebration and launch of the Connecting Green Alliance on April 23, 2008 at the Bridgeport Brew Pub + Bakery.
• In April 2008, the Metro Council convened a Blue Ribbon Committee for Trails to identify funding strategies to complete the region's trail network. Read the report from the Blue Ribbon Committee for Trails
• In June 2007, Council President Bragdon invited speakers from various disciplines and different parts of the country to talk about their experiences and present innovative ideas for developing a connected parks system. Find out more about the Connecting Green 2007 event
• In 2004, the Metro Council convened a group of citizens, local elected officials, park directors and civic leaders to assess the state of the greater Portland region's park system and make recommendations to the Metro Council for action. This group, called the Greenspaces Policy Advisory Committee, created a vision and described some needed actions focusing on collaboration by individuals, institutions and business. Read more about the Greenspaces Policy Advisory Committee

Related Links

Active Transportation Partnership

Find out about the partnership working to secure funding to complete a regionwide pedestrian and bike network.

Blue Ribbon Committee for Trails

A committee of civic, business and elected leaders gathered at Metro to think big about regional trails. Read their recommendations for investing in and planning our transportation systems to maximize mobility, livability and community.