By Carole Hardy, Forest Park Conservancy

Last May the Portland City Council voted 12-0 to deny PGE’s application to log 4.7 acres of Forest Park to upgrade power lines. They unanimously rejected PGE’s application agreeing with a City staff report, Forest Park Conservancy (FPC), and Forest Park Neighborhood Association (FPNA) testimony that the project violates the Forest Park Natural Resource Management Plan–long-standing public policy that protects Forest Park from non-park related development, requiring adherence to strict land-use criteria designed to project this important public resource.

PGE appealed the decision to the Land Use Planning Board. Following a mediation process requested by PGE, the City of Portland and PGE signed an agreement for a new application. The City Administrator directed staff to write a favorable report supporting the new application in exchange for $5.5 million that supposedly will mitigate the loss of nearly five acres of healthy forest lands.

PGE’s revised application is not substantially different from the original application, yet the city is poised to accept this deal. The $5.5 million will not mitigate the environmental damage to 4.7 acres of intact, mature forest and the headwater stream it protects, the critical wildlife corridor it is part of, or harms to the surrounding forests in the northern management unit of the park that is supposed to be most protected. The money is intended for mitigation in other areas of the park, but it cannot fully mitigate the fragmentation of a closed canopy, loss of habitat connectivity, or loss of habitat for red legged frogs and other species of concern living in this area. The forest loss is permanent–no trees will be allowed to grow underneath the new power lines. As seen under other PGE power lines nearby, there will be a dramatic increase of invasive plants.

FPC and other conservation organizations including Bird Alliance of Oregon, Forest Park Neighborhood Association, Sierra Club, 1000 Friends of Oregon, and 350 PDX among others stand in opposition to this new application and encourage the public to raise their voice during the public hearing process which is now open for comment. The public hearing on this application is scheduled for October 14. From now until October 13, the public can submit written comments. They can also sign up to present oral comments the day of the hearing:

Written comments should be sent to the Hearings Office by October 13: HearingsOfficeClerks@portlandoregon.gov. Be sure to include Hearings Office case number 4260012 with the submission of written testimony. It is advised to include the Planning case number LU 26-051203 CU EN GW. Also, the public is encouraged to attend a rally at the Portland Courthouse on October 14 at 8:45 am.