What To Do With Pamplin's Sliver of Donated, Decimated Ross Island

On her blog PDX Green, Oregonian environmental reporter Shelby Wood has overseen a poll asking Portlanders what to do with Ross Island. As you may recall, this parcel on the Willamette River has been almost completely eradicated from sand and gravel mining there. The island's owner, multi-millionaire Dr. Robert Pamplin, had originally promised to return the whole island to the city, but wound up going back on his word and only donating 45 acres, a fraction of the overall area. At least the government is forcing Pamplin to replace some of the lost soil with what was dug up in the ongoing sewer project..

According to the poll, most Portlanders feel that once Portland gets ahold of Ross Island, we should leave it alone. 33% (246 votes) so far say we should leave the island to the herons and other wildlife. 23% (171 votes) favor limited public access that encourages sightseeing but little else. And 32% (238 votes) want a public beach and recreation spot, available for camping and boating. A pesky 11% voted "other".

There is still time to vote on Ross Island's fate. What would the rest of you choose? Personally, I'd pick the middle option, to allow a couple of trails for humans but overall tread lightly.

Comments

[Mike M]

The big concern to me is how the island would be accessed. Should the tram be extended? Should we have a bridge? Do we want a ferry?

None of these are easy, but they could be pretty cool.

Personally, I think that it should be a nature reserve. Accessible only by boat, with maybe a picnic spot and no more.

[ws]

A nature reserve, and once Pamplin's operation is gone from the rest of the island complex, a warning monument to the destructive consequences of certain industrial activities on invaluable natural resources.

By the way, are many of you aware of the landfill operation that's been going on out on Sauvie Island? That's another example of an invaluable natural resource that's being diminished for personal monetary gain through destructive industrial activity.

It would be wise if Sauvie Island, close in but naturally protected somewhat from the urban center it's adjacent to, was exclusively set aside for the accessible nature experience it offers, and food production, rather than for profit disposal of industrial trash.

This landfill promises to alter the natural geography of the island. That's a shame.

As population density in Portland multiplies, the value of the ability of places like Sauvie and Ross Island to offer a readily accessible experience in nature will increase accordingly.

I can't remember the acreage, but it seems like the Ross Island donation is very small. Could the number of visitors to it be anything but small, in order to avoid disrupting the natural activity taking place on it that we seek to protect?

Sauvie Island on the other hand, seems to be big, and already hosts a lot of visitor regularly. Maybe it would be a good location for a great architectural design in the form of a visitors center. In fact, as a starting point, since the John Yeon Portland Visitors Information Center building on the Waterfront seems to be so neglected and unwanted there, maybe a Sauvie Island site with a view of the river would be a far better home for it.

[DC]

A suggestion Tuesday night at PNCA's pdXLPORE that access should be similar to Oaks Bottom seems appropriate...possibly a suspension bridge linking the two.

[JG]

Interesting, I would have thought that at least one person would have raised the argument that Ross Island best be developed versus left to nature. I agree that the city's parks and undeveloped resources are incredibly important (especially Forest Park and Sauvie Island). However, Ross Island and neighboring Hardtack Island have been ravaged by years of gravel extraction (this is not a pristine wilderness where talking about, more likely it could be designated as an urban brown field.)

The proper development of this area (with a robust flood mitigation plan) could create an excellent destination within the city that actually brings people to the river (ie. urban beach with adjacent commercial/entertainment outlets). Maybe this increased exposure to the river would increase people's desires to clean it up?

By making Ross Island a popular urban destination it could do what both the W. Waterfront and E. Esplanade fail at, creating a physical connection to the water. Just an idea, Ross Island just seems like it could be a real space making opportunity.