West Willamette Restoration Partnership

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The West Willamette Restoration Partnership is a collaborative effort to control aggressive weeds in the forests of Portland’s Southwest Hills; namely in the wooded corridor along Terwilliger Boulevard between Forest Park and Tryon Creek State Park. Significant successes have been achieved in preserving forests and natural areas, as well creating trails to link them. It is clear, however, that we must do more than just acquire and protect land. We must be good stewards, taking action to ensure that the health and native vegetation of these natural areas are maintained and restored.

The Goals

The Partnership is incorporating several objectives designed to make progress on the ground and to involve local citizens, land managers and public representatives. Specifically, over the next three years, we will:

Restore 50 acres of natural area (reducing invasive weed cover to less than 10%)
Remove tree ivy from 300 acres
Develop Backyard Habitat Certification Program to educate and support private property owners in removing aggressive weeds on their property, replacing them with native plants
Utilize 7,500 volunteer hours to contribute to the abovementioned restoration goals
Inform and influence local, state, federal and corporate land owners to initiate similar actions

Read here about our latest progress.

Volunteer Restoration Work Parties

Restoration usually begins with the removal of invasive, non-native plants that compete with native vegetation and destroy wildlife habitat. In and around Portland, two of the main culprits are English Ivy and Himalayan Blackberry. Join the West Willamette Restoration Project for removal of these invasive species across the Southwest Portland hills. Look for our signs and banner at the following regularly scheduled volunteer events:

Keller Woodlands Restoration Work Party - First Saturday of every month
Friends of Terwilliger Restoration Work Party - Second Saturday of every month
Marquam Nature Park Restoration Work Party - Last Saturday of every month
Hillsdale Neighborhood Association Restoration Work Party

Backyard Habitat Certification Program

The West Willamette Restoration Project has created the Backyard Habitat Certification Program to help individual homeowners remove aggressive weeds and use native plants in their gardens and backyards.

The process for certification includes an initial home visit and assessment of the property. During this visit, staff will work with the landowner to assess the support they will need to remove the invasive plants from the property. Identification and removal is only the first step. When landowners replant and restore the natural canopy layers of a forest habitat, the entire community reaps benefits.