Restoration Articles

A BIG thank you to our volunteers who showed up to tackle the ivy in George Himes Park, along the Terwilliger Parkway.

Hillsdale-based Scout Troop 1 offered their muscles and tenacity at Friends of Terwilliger’s restoration site in the SW Bancroft right-of-way on EarthDay 2023.

You may have noticed on-going work here:

Friends of Terwilliger have been working with Portland Parks and Recreation (PP&R) for the past five years to restore a narrow strip (~120ft wide) of ~1 acre parkland centered around the Bancroft St right-of-way just below Terwilliger Parkway and the Marquam Hill hospitals.

Terwilliger Parkway got the best of both worlds last month! Volunteers put in native plants and had time to also do ivy removal! How good is that?

A long-term project to establish a native plant demonstration garden, based upon Frederick Walpole’s illustrations of Oregon Native Plants, is about to begin in Historic Terwilliger Parkway on either side of the SW Bancroft St right-of-way.

Students and coaches from Central Catholic High School gave a few hours of their time to help us clear some ivy near Duniway Track.

Eagle Point, the area of Terwilliger Parkway with spectacular views of the mountains to the east and the Willamette River, got a welcome clean up in July.

Friends of Terwilliger spearheaded work with PGE to cut down a number of large “invasive” black locust trees in the Bancroft Right-Of-Way (ROW). These trees were threatening the main power lines coming up Bancroft St. PGE was told to leave them in place on the ground for Urban Forestry to handle.

Our native Lupine are thriving in Historic Terwilliger Parkway!

We had a tenacious group pulling ivy Saturday, May 21st. We freed 12 trees and cleared 200 sq feet of the forest floor to allow our native plants room to grow.

This year marked the 18th year of No Ivy Day, an annual event put on by Portland Parks and Recreation, to rid our natural areas and parks of invasive ivy. Friends of Terwilliger was a co-sponsor.

60+ volunteer hours were spent clearing and planting 200 native plants in the Bancroft St. right-of-way last month. And that’s only the start!

Our October restoration work party was well attended and the weather was cooperative too.

Have you noticed the flowers blooming in Terwilliger Parkway, between SW Terwilliger Blvd and SW Hamilton Terrace?

Ever wonder what Bioswales are and what they do? Check out this fantastic video made by our partners at the Westside Watershed Resource Center.

Friends of Terwilliger (FOT) Board Members met with the new Portland Parks and Recreation (PP&R) Director Adena Long and PP&R City Nature Manager, Rachel Felice recently. The goals for the meeting were to provide Director Long with information about FOT and its mission of protecting and advocating for Terwilliger Parkway, to describe the challenges FOT sees for the Parkway today, and to review the partnerships FOT has established with PP&R over the past 30 years.

November’s restoration work party brought us back to the Norris “foundation” to remove tree and ground ivy as well as blackberries. This 2-acre site was once considered by the Portland chapter of the Rhododendron Society for its test garden before locating to its current site at Crystal Springs.

Thanks go out to all of you hearty volunteers who made the most of our calm fall weather to rid Terwilliger Parkway of those nasty invasive plants.

Students from Lewis & Clark College, as part of their New Student Orientation (NSO) Service Day, helped Friends of Terwilliger “groom” Eagle Point in preparation for the upcoming Harvest Moon Social September 14th. Check out the before and after photos!

It’s only March and already Friends of Terwilliger’s dedicated volunteers have planted hundreds of native plants.

WOW, another year of amazing Terwilliger Parkway restoration comes to an end. December 15th was our last work party of the year. Mark your calendars for a productive 2019!!

April 2018-Volunteers worked to rid the Terwilliger Parkway of invasive plants.

Earlier this winter Friends of Terwilliger board member Wesley Risher wrote to the City of Portland’s Urban Forestry to find out how to replace the dead Douglas-fir tree (Pseudotsuga Menziesii) planted as part of BES’ SW Vincent Place/SW Capitol Hwy Sewer Replacement Project.

2018 is off to a good start as we battle invasive species, particularly that darn ivy.

We’ve hosted 5 work parties, so far this year, with volunteers coming from all over the Portland metro area as well as from around the world!

Do you know what the state flower of Oregon is?

It is this beautiful woodland native plant, Oregon Grape, Mahonia aquifolium, that can be found growing along Terwilliger Parkway and throughout most of the city. Oregon designated the Oregon grape blossom as the official state flower in 1899. The following description of this remarkable plant has been adapted from the Portland Nursery website (http://portlandnursery.com/plants/natives/mahonia.shtml).

Friends of Terwilliger volunteers have spent thousands of hours over the past 23 years removing invasive vegetation in Terwilliger Parkway. Perhaps chief among the bad-news invasives is English or Irish ivy. We all know what it looks like and that it is Bad—but what is it, really?

With a few good workers, Friends of Terwilliger was able to rid the Terwilliger Parkway of more invasive plants.

We’re Back!! September is upon us and the return of our Terwilliger Parkway restoration work parties.

Work has been completed on the retaining rock wall leading to Eagle Point; part of Terwilliger Parkway. Here’s a photo of the completed wall. Stay tuned for plans to celebrate here in fall 2019!

English Ivy (Hedera Helix) was brought to Oregon in the mid-1800’s as a way to remind early settlers of home. What started out as an innocent plan has come to represent one of the toughest problems Portland’s natural areas face today. It now invades more and more of our parks and will ultimately destroy our cherished tree canopy unless we remove it now. By allowing ivy to grow unchecked it will climb trees where it will mature, produce seeds, and continue the “seeds of destruction” by being transported by non-native birds.

Twenty years ago, we began partnering with a Multnomah County program called Alternative Community Service (ACS) for on-the-ground restoration efforts in the Terwilliger Parkway natural areas.