An Audubon Portland Action Alert

Metro and Counties Prepares to Designate Long-term Urban and Rural Reserves.


Decisions will shape regional growth for decades and determine the fate of some of the region’s critical biodiversity lands and surrounding farmland.

Should Metro expand the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) south of the Willamette River?

Should additional urban development be allowed on the west flank of Forest Park?

Should we allow urban growth to consume ecologically rich bottomlands and high value agricultural areas in Washington County?

Or should these natural and working landscapes that powerfully define our region’s sense of place and quality of life be put off-limits to new urban development the next 40 to 50 years?

These are some of the questions the region will grapple with over the coming year as Metro and Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington Counties embark on a planning process that will guide future expansions of the UGB and determine the shape of the region for decades to come.

Under a new state law passed by the 2007 Legislature, Metro and the Counties can simultaneously designate “long-term” (40 to 50 years) urban and rural reserves. Urban reserves will identify lands where Metro will expand the UGB- as currently required by state law- over the next 40 to 50 years. Rural reserves, conversely, will designate lands off-limits to UGB expansion over the same time period.

Metro and Counties must designate urban and rural reserves simultaneously and in coordination. In doing so they must consider a variety of factors. Rural reserves will be designated based largely on the quality and location of high value farm, forest, and natural areas outside the UGB that is vulnerable to future urbanization. The designation of urban reserves must consider the suitability of the land for urbanization; the ability to protect important natural landscape features such as steep slopes, floodplains, stream corridors, and wildlife habitat; and whether urbanization would displace high-value farmland and biodiversity lands.

All this is a new approach, especially in considering impacts to natural areas. For the first time the value of rural lands for fish, wildlife, clean water, and sense of place will be considered equally with commercial forestry and farming values in deciding where and when the region expands the urban growth boundary.

In the past, state law has generally required cities to avoid high-value agricultural soils first in determining which lands to urbanize. As a result, cities are often forced to expand onto the most sensitive natural resource lands. As precious as farmland is, we need a better balance. Both agricultural and natural landscapes should be treated as an integrated whole, equal parts of a holistic landscape mosaic that define our region’s economy and culture.

To inform the designation of urban and rural reserve decisions, Metro brought together natural resource professionals and regional experts to map the “natural landscape features” that ecologically and culturally define the region. The inventory extended from Marion and Yamhill County in the south to Clark County Washington in the north and from the Coast Range to the Cascade foothills. Natural landscape features near the existing UGB include the Clackamas River Corridor, the Willamette River, Willamette Narrows, the Sandy River Gorge, Tonquin Geologic Area, the Chehalem Mountains, Forest Park, and Sauvie Island (above, photo by Mike Houck). A subsequent public workshop hosted by Metro found that citizens identified these same geographic features as critical to the region’s sense of place and natural heritage.


Will urban and rural reserves support the long-term protection of these natural features? It is to early to tell, but below a number of questions citizens should be asking:

1. How much land will Metro need to bring in the UGB and how large should the urban reserves be?

2. Will Metro base its land needs on how we have grown in the past in an era of highways and low-density sprawl or on how we know we should grow in the future in order to meet the challenges of global climate change, peak oil, and the imperatives for greener, smarter, and more pedestrian and transit oriented urban communities?

3. Will Metro avoid important natural landscape features that could be lost or irreparably jeopardized by future UGB expansions?

4. How will Metro and the Counties ensure natural features brought into the UGB are adequately protected, restored and managed in designing and developing vibrant new urban communities?

5. Will rural reserves include the highest value natural landscape features with the highest value forest and farmlands?

Audubon Society of Portland believes working and natural landscapes are complementary elements of the region’s sense of place and ecological sustainability. Rural reserves should include those high value natural features and agricultural lands that would be irreparably lost or jeopardized by urbanization. Those natural features included in the UGB must be protected as part of a more livable and more walkable urban landscape. Keeping nature nearby is critical ingredient to a regional growth strategy that fosters more compact, livable urban communities and reduces the need to expand the UGB in the future.

This spring Metro and the Counties will be taking a first round of public input in the process to designate rural and urban reserves. Audubon Society of Portland encourages you to get involved in these important decisions and ask hard questions of County and Metro staff. This is your region and your voice should be heard in making these critical long-term decisions about where and how we grow.

Washington County Farmland and Riparian Corridors: In rural Washington County high value agricultural lands and riparian corridors intersect in a mosaic of working and natural landscapes. Audubon Society of Portland and others believe these lands should be among the top candidates for long-term rural reserves in order to prevent urbanization for the next 40 years or more, and protect wildlife and farmland. Photo by Mike Houck.


How do I get and stay involved?


There are at least three ways you can get involved and help a strong voice for protecting our region’s natural and working landscapes:

1. Check out the websites for the Urban and Rural Reserves set up by Metro, Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas Counties. Metro has a Reserves Steering Committee made up of local elected officials that meets once a month (this Tuesday May 14th). The Counties also have policy advisory committees that are meant to represent you!

2. View a slideshow by Mike Houck (9.8 MB) to the Reserves Steering Committee on developing an inventory of important natural natural features for the Portland-Vancouver region.

3. Email Jim Labbe at Audubon Portland if your are interested in getting more detailed updates and information on the Urban and Rural Reserve Designation Process.

4. Check the Portland Audubon Conservation web page for updates and find out how you can get involved.