Offer to Purchase West Hayden Island

February 15, 2005

Mr. Bill Wyatt
Port of Portland
PO Box 3529
Portland, OR 97208-3529


Dear Mr. Wyatt,

We, the undersigned organizations, respectfully request that the Port of Portland (Port) agree to enter into discussions regarding the permanent protection of West Hayden Island in its entirety as a natural area to benefit the fish, wildlife and human populations of the Portland-Vancouver Metropolitan Region. Because of its size, habitat types and quality, restoration potential and proximity to other natural areas, West Hayden Island is arguably one of the most valuable pieces of unprotected habitat left in the Metropolitan Region.  We would like to work with the Port to develop a package that meets the financial and developmental needs of the Port while ensuring that West Hayden Island will be protected and restored to its full potential.

West Hayden Island is a special place. Its 826 acres of undeveloped habitat are part of a much large network of natural areas that includes Smith and Bybee Lakes, Sauvie Island, Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, Kelley Point Park and Vancouver Lake Lowlands. It sits at the intersection of two major wildlife corridors and is utilized by wildlife moving north-south between Smith and Bybee Lakes and Ridgefield and east-west between Sauvie Island and the Sandy River. At least 39 acres of protected wetlands currently exist on the island. The island also includes one of the largest intact stands of cottonwood-ash bottomland forest left on the Lower Columbia. Cottonwood-ash forest was once the dominant habitat type along the Lower Columbia, but today West Hayden Island represents approximately 4% of all that remains between Astoria and the Bonneville Dam.

At least eighty-one bird species, nine mammal species, four amphibian species and nine Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species have been observed on the island. Among these are several species of concern including bald eagles, pileated woodpeckers, bank swallows, willow flycatchers and western painted turtles.  Federally listed Chinook, chum and sockeye salmon and steelhead trout all utilize the aquatic environment surrounding the island.  Salmonids are also known to use at least one of the island’s wetlands. West Hayden Island would be considered a valuable natural resource no matter where it was located. That it functions as part of a network of natural areas allowing the movement of wildlife on a landscape that is otherwise highly urbanized makes it all the more valuable. Allowing for development or further degradation of West Hayden Island would eliminate a resource of regional significance and undermine the integrity of the entire natural area complex of which it is part.

As you know, the Port has owned West Hayden Island since 1994. Despite two attempts to develop the site for waterfront industrial and marine uses by the Port and prior owner PGE, development of West Hayden Island has been stymied by strong public concerns about traffic congestion, access to greenspace, and the need to preserve intact wildlife corridors. The loss of more than 16,000 acres of wildlife habitat in the Metropolitan Region during the 1990’s has made the preservation of that which remains all the more critical. Seeking a cooperative long-term plan for the future of West Hayden Island could help give the Port an opportunity to focus on its core capacities while saving ongoing management costs and embracing wide community support for protection of these important habitats. Conserving this area for its natural resource values could benefit the Port, the community, and fish and wildlife.

We believe that this is an opportune time to investigate opportunities to permanently protect West Hayden Island. First, the undersigned groups are committed to finding funding sources to facilitate the purchase of West Hayden Island from the Port. Significant potential funding sources have already been identified. The Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership's Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan recognizes the need for habitat conservation and restoration under Action 2, which states, "Protect, conserve, and enhance identified habitats, particularly wetlands, on the mainstem of the lower Columbia River".   Second, Metro’s recent announcement that it intends to proceed with a Greenspace Bond Measure in 2006 creates additional potential for significant funding targeted at acquiring natural areas such as West Hayden Island. West Hayden Island has already been identified as a regionally significant natural area and a “habitat of concern” under Metro’s Goal 5 Inventory. Finally, the development of the Columbia Gateway Project coupled with the Cooperative Intergovernmental Agreement recently signed both by the Port of Portland and Port of Vancouver creates an opportunity for bi-state cooperation and consolidation not available in prior years. We are eager to work with both Ports to ensure that strategic development and redevelopment occurs in a way that meets the region’s shipping needs and allows for the protection of the most valuable remaining natural areas.

West Hayden Island presents a tremendous opportunity for collaborative problem solving to meet both economic and environmental regional objectives. By protecting West Hayden Island, the Port would be helping to preserve valuable habitat for fish and wildlife species, many of which are currently in decline, while maintaining a critical bi-state natural area complex. Protection of this vital resource would make a powerful statement that we can continue to grow our economy without destroying the natural resources that are so necessary to the current and future livability of our region. We look forward to hearing from you and working together to explore this opportunity further.

Sincerely,

Bob Sallinger, Urban Conservation Director, Audubon Society of Portland

Deborah Marriot, Executive Director Lower, Columbia River Estuary Partnership

David Moryc, Lower Columbia River Coordinator, American Rivers

Mike Houck, Executive Director, Urban Greenspaces Institute

Travis Williams, Executive Director, Willamette Riverkeeper

Jerry Beale,  President, Vancouver Audubon Society

Gayla Patton,  Former Chair, West Hayden Island Neighborhood Association
 
Ron Carley, President, Coalition for a Livable Future

Sara Vickerman, Executive Director, Defenders of Wildlife

Troy Clark, President, Friends of Smith and Bybee Lakes

Laurence Cotton, President, Columbia Riverkeeper


Cc

Tom Potter, Mayor, City of Portland
Rex Burkholder, Metro Council, District 5
Larry Paulson, Executive Director, Port of Vancouver
Cheryl Koshuta, Port of Portland
John Marshall, US Fish and Wildlife Service
Yvonne Vallette, Environmental Protection Agency
Susan Barnes, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife