the intertwine & the intertwine alliance addressing climate change: a regional response mike...
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The Intertwine & The Intertwine Alliance Addressing Climate Change: A Regional Response
Mike Houck, DirectorUrban Greenspaces Institute
My Assignment
Example of an Existing Program, The Intertwine Alliance
Success Through Regional Collaboration
Challenges We’ve Faced
Regional Conservation Strategy, A Model?
Role of Watershed Planning
Replication Through the Willamette Valley
Example of an Existing Program, The Intertwine Alliance
Success Through Regional Collaboration
Role of Watershed Planning
Urban Biodiversity Is Not An Oxymoron
DIFFERENT SCALES =DIFFERENT SCALES =DIFFERENT ANSWERSDIFFERENT ANSWERS
• Same 57 speciesSame 57 species• Same Coarse FilterSame Coarse Filter• Different MMUDifferent MMU
Gap AnalysisGap Analysis
Metro GapMetro Gap
LowRichness
HiRichness
Pond Turtle
“What’s the extinction of the Condor to a child who has never known a wren?”
Robert Michael Pyle, “The Extinction ofExperience” from The Thunder Tree
Dr. David Goode, Director of the London Ecology UnitSpeaks at City Club of Portland as Country in the City
keynoteaddress
East Bay Regional Park District Tour 1990
PSU’s Dr. Joe Porascky andgraduate student Paul Newmancreate first regional naturalareas map for Metro regionalpark study and inventory, June, 1989
~ July 22, 1992 ~
Greenspaces Master Plan is adopted by Metro Council
1995 bond measure
• 62% voted “yes”
• $135.6 million total
• 8,120 acres and 74 miles of river and stream frontage
• $25 million local share for over 100 natural area related projects
Natural Areas, Parks & StreamsBond Measure, Fall 2006
• $227.4 million total package:
– $168.4 million for regional target areas
– $44 million local share
– $15 million opportunity grant fund
• Cost to property tax payers is estimated at 22 cents per $1,000 assessed value.
Natural Areas in the Metro Region
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
18,000
20,000
1870 1891 1913 1933 1953 1973 1993
Year
Ac
res
Forest Park
Oxbow Park
Washington Park Linnton & Holman Parks
Tryon Cr. Park
THPRD Nature Park
Smith & Bybee
'95 Bond Measure
'06 Bond Measure
The Intertwine Vision
Exceptional interconnected system of parks, natural areas, and trails, equitably throughout Portland-Vancouver region…..
Regional Greenspaces System
Metro Fish and Wildlife Habitat withBond Acquisitions, Public Land,
and Anchor Sites
Classes I and II
Classes A and B
Metro Fish and Wildlife Habitat Protection Resources
Urban GrowthBoundary
Existing Anchor Sites
Proposed Anchor Sites
Metro Bond Acquisitions,Parks, and GreenspacesOther public land
Drives the Economy and Tourism
Preserves significant natural areas
The system is considered an essential part of the urban infrastructure.
“Someday, all this will be infrastructure.”
Valuing Nature:Ecosystem Services
Economic benefits of the system are integrated into economic developmentand marketing strategies.
Documenting Ecosystem Services:Portland Bureau of EnvironmentalServices
Johnson Creek floodplain before
After
Protects biodiversity across urban and rural landscapes and beyond the region.
Cascadia
Willamette Valley
Attracts federal, state, and regional funding to expand, operate and maintain the system.
Springwater on Willamette Trail
The Regional Conservation Strategy, A Model?
Regional Conservation Regional Conservation Strategy - GeographyStrategy - Geography
June 20 2006Charette
Willamette BasinEcosystem Consortium
FEMA Floodplains
Metro Title 13Fish and Wildlife
TheNature Conservancy
Oregon Department ofFish and Wildlife
Expert Panel
Metro Parks and Greenspaces
New Look
Charrette with RCS model over
CAP cover (full screen)
April 2009
• Adapt successfully to a changing climate.– Strengthen capacity of natural systems to
respond to more severe weather events, streamflow changes and flooding.
– When planning investments, consider physical, social, environmental, economic and regulatory impacts of mitigating and adapting to climate change.
Climate change already is affecting the region’s air and water resources, the quantity and distribution of habitats, and the ranges and behavior of native fish and wildlife species.
Given the many unknowns and the interconnectedness of natural, built, and human systems, it would be wise to adopt a flexible, proactive approach to climate change that is consistent with the precautionary principle—i.e., to act now and manage assuming severe impacts.
Fortunately, across the region there are on-the-ground examples of how climate change adaptation strategies can be combined with other regional and project-level goals.
Theme:
Protecting existing high-functioning areas, maintaining connectivity across the landscape, restoring and integratingnatural areas and features into the built system provides multiple benefits, including mitigation for and adaptation to climate change.
Challenges We've Faced
Political, resistance to regionalism
Silos, including state and local land use programs
Inadequate documentation and documentationre ecosystem Services and multiple benefits of green infrastructure
Lack of O & M Funding
Moving from “one offs” to sustained effort
Patience
Could The Intertwine Alliance be Replicated in the Valley?