Get active. Explore The Intertwine and become active in The Intertwine Alliance

Ross Island Vision Team: Envisioning Ross Island
The Institute has produced, with its partners at the Willamette Riverkeeper, Audubon Society of Portland, Greenworks landscape architecture, architects, and landscape architects a plan for Ross Island, Envisioning Ross Island (.pdf), which lays out scenarios for how Ross and its sister islands Hardtack, East and Toe, might be managed as a unit with the Holgate Channel and the 160-acre city-owned Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge as an urban wildlife refuge complex, public natural area park, and place to contemplate nature in the heart of downtown Portland.

Bi-State Trail Plan Unveiled The long awaited Bi-State Trail Plan was released at a meeting of The Intertwine Alliance on April 9th in downtown Vancouver, Washington. The plan contains information regarding the values of a regional trail network and displays 37 regional trail elements of the proposed regional system. The plan was created by the Urban Greenspaces Institute, National Park Service's Rivers and Trails Conservation Assistance Program, Metro Sustainability Center and Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation. To read the plan click here.

Oregon Public Broadcasting features Portland Memorial Mausoleum mural project. On April 15th OPB's Art Beat Program ran a 10 minute special feature on the 50,000 square foot wetland mural that the Urban Greenspaces Institute collaborated with ArtFX Murals to produce on the Portland Memorial Mausoleum overlooking 160-acre Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge. Click here to view OPBs video.

Urban Greenspaces Institute participates in creating an agricultural and natural resources map for Metro's Urban and Rural Reserves planning.

October 2nd and 3rd Dedication of Portland Memorial Mausoleum and Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge Mural, the nation's largest hand painted mural
[See photo]
[Download invitation]

UGI National Advisory Board member, Jon Kulser , honored by the Association of Wetland Scientists with Lifetime Achievement Award

Institute Director Mike Houck receives The Garden Club of America Club Conservation Commendation from the Portland Garden Club, Wednesday, June 11, 2009

Memorial Mausoleum Mural Completed!

Quiet, No Wake Zone For Holgate Channel and Ross Island

Wild in the City Field Trips - Exploring Regional Greenspaces by Kayak, Bike and Foot

Urban Green, A Radio Documentary on Green Planning in Portland.

Integrating the Built and Natural Environment

The Urban Greenspaces Institute works to create great cities-cities where the built and natural environments are interwoven, not set apart. We promote the integration of urban green infrastructure-parks, trails, streams and wetlands, fish and wildlife habitat, urban forest canopy, and greenspaces-with the built environment. Our motto, In Livable Cities is Preservation of the Wild, reflects our philosophy that well-designed, nature-rich cities are beautiful, equitable, compact, and ecologically sustainable places to live, thereby reducing urban sprawl across the rural landscape.

We work in partnership with other NGOs, agencies, urban planners, the urban design professions, and private groups to achieve the creation, protection, and long-term management of the city's green infrastructure. To achieve this goal our Livable Cities Initiative focuses on:

Regional Planning to address issues associated with regional growth management, protection and restoration of the region's green infrastructure, and integration of the built and natural landscapes.

Green Urban Design of high density, mixed-use centers and urban expansion areas that include ample parks, trails, and greenspaces.

Ecosystem Services documenting economic values of the green infrastructure.

Creating a Healthy Willamette River through recreational activities and events that promote the protection and restoration of the river's greenspaces.

Community Outreach highlighting the social, ecological, and economic benefits of parks, trails, and greenspaces.

Symposia and Workshops for the green building, sustainable development, parks, and greenspace communities.

Policy Work at all landscape scales to ensure that parks, trails, and greenspaces are viewed, and funded, as essential elements of the urban fabric.

Information Sharing at the local, regional, national, and international levels to ensure that we learn from, and share information with, other communities.

Click here for contact information for the Institute.