By Tamara Anne Fowler | CNA Media Team

The small crew of two year olds and five year olds embarked on their journey around Whitaker Ponds. Part of Ladybug Nature Walks, they set out to discover what moss feels like, what a beaver chew is, how to touch thistle so it won’t poke you.

Rain or no rain. Wind or no wind. They strapped on their tiny, borrowed ladybug backpacks, and off they went.

Each backpack contained the tools needed for this all-important mission: plastic magnifying glass, thick paintbrush, plastic cup and beaded multi-colored bracelet to be used as a color wheel.

These four ecologists and their parents and grandparents left the Whitaker Ponds gazebo at 10 a.m. on a Thursday. Their red ladybug backpacks bobbing in the wind, they were not to be distracted.

Whitaker Ponds Nature Park was originally the site of a landfill. After Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) acquired it in 1998, hundreds of tires and toaster ovens were removed.

PP&R collaborates with Portland Bureau of Environmental Services and works with the schools and with Verde, a local nonprofit, to conduct year-round restoration and education events at the natural area.

Whitaker Ponds Nature Park is undergoing significant restoration. To monitor local wildlife, turtle trapping takes place every May and September. The turtles are tagged to provide generational data. PP&R is making note of any turtle injuries as well as tracking growth rates across time.

The southern trail is newly regraveled. PP&R repaves every couple of years. “There is an old baseball field here,” noted Laura Guderyahn, PP&R natural resource ecologist. “We want to clear away the field and fencing, and convert the land to a native forest area.

“We will likely have a community process to see what the neighborhood would like to see replace it. I would like to see a few big trees with a native garden demo area for folks to get ideas to take back to their own yards,” she added. “I’d also like to turn part of it into healthy nesting area for the turtles.”

Then there’s the invasive Yellow Flag Iris to be removed and replaced with native rushes, sedges, grasses and cattails to help pull pollutants from water. This will have benefits to native wild life – for native geese, ducks, beavers, frogs and turtles.

“We will be engaged in restoration until the end of time,” Laura said with a smile. Those ladybug walkers and community volunteers have no objections.

Editor’s note: For a list of ladybug walks throughout Portland and/or to volunteer at Whitaker Ponds, contact Yoko.Silk@ PortlandOregon.gov.

Tamara is Edit Kitten, a writer with 20-plus years of experience offering a softer, gentler approach to editing and coaching. Her personal editors – Armani, Max Factor and Spicey’D – are also her cats. Visit her at EditKitten.com or contact her here.

By Thomas Buell Jr. | CNA Media Team

It’s just after lunchtime on a recent Friday afternoon as a line of about 25 fifth graders on bicycles rolls cautiously onto the streets of Concordia from Faubion School.

Under the watchful eye of teachers and volunteers, the young cyclists ride along Holman Street, across 33rd Avenue in the crosswalk by McMenamins Kennedy School, and on to Fernhill Park. All the way they demonstrate proper hand signals and observe the rules of the road, with plenty of encouragement from the adults riding along with them.

This community ride caps off the two-week Safe Routes to School Bike Safety Education Program offered by The Street Trust to all fourth and fifth graders at Faubion. The Street Trust is a nonprofit member organization founded in 1990 as the Bicycle Transportation Alliance.

“It’s a great program because it’s so important to provide safety training and help make them real Portland bikers,” said Faubion teacher Jamie Makara. “Some of these students don’t have that much opportunity to ride a bike and, if they do, they may not get proper safety training.”

Earlier in the week, the students prepared for the ride with classroom sessions focusing on the basics of safe riding, proper helmet fit and the importance of following traffic laws. Bikes and helmets for the classes are provided for all the students as part of the Safe Routes to School program.

Similar classes are presented throughout Portland Public Schools and neighboring districts, thanks to support and funding from the Portland Bureau of Transportation and the state of Oregon.

The Street Trust partners with community groups, schools, businesses, government agencies and elected officials to promote walking, biking and riding transit.

The Street Trust describes its vision of a strong community as one “where everyone from all racial backgrounds has access to safe, healthy and affordable transportation options in the neighborhoods where they live, work, learn, pray and play. We want all residents to equally share in the prosperity created by investments in active transportation regardless of race, income and socioeconomic status.”

Back at Fernhill Park, the Faubion students have a choice of riding down a hill and up the other side, or walking their bikes down a gentler slope before making their way back along Ainsworth Street.

At the intersection on 33rd, they wait for a green light before crossing in smaller groups and returning to school safe and sound.

Thomas Buell Jr. is an award-winning writer, editor and content strategist living in Concordia.

Editor’s note: If off-road bicycling is to your liking, see Dan Werle’s story here.

By Dan Werle | CNA Media Team

For decades, off- road cycling enthusiasts in Portland have been at loggerheads with city officials and residents who don’t ride mountain bikes about what many see as a lack of safe, fun, easily-accessible nonpaved riding areas within Portland.

In response to these concerns, and to better understand the many variables associated with off-road cycling, in 2015 several city agencies began working together with a project advisory committee and input from the community to draft the Portland Off-Road Cycling Master Plan.

Development of the plan took a year longer than expected, according to Jocelyn Gaudi Quarrell, a committee member and certified mountain bike instructor.

Although it was a fun process to be a part of, she said, “There was no way we could have accomplished this in a year’s time. The committee made a vested effort to teach people what mountain biking is, and how resources such as bikes and helmets for kids could be obtained.”

For two years, the discussion draft creators worked to learn more about the interests of off-road cyclists, potential environmental and community impacts, and how more off-road cycling options could be introduced and maintained within the city.

Their draft identified potential sites for new or expanded bike parks, offroad trails, and connectivity options. A 125-page discussion draft was released in October and identified 30 sites throughout the city as places where off-road options exist and need improvement, or where options are recommended for potential development.

With support from the Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA), Fernhill Park was identified as one of the recommended locations for future development of a bike park and/or loop trail for cycling, walking and running.

Daniel Greenstadt, former CNA Board of Directors member, pointed out, “For Concordia residents who might develop skills and further interest in off-road cycling, the next opportunity is six miles away – 30 minutes by bicycle – at Gateway Green. That’s where larger scale facilities and more bicycle-specific opportunities are currently available and are undergoing further development.

“Any significant bicycle trail opportunities in Portland would have to focus on Forest Park,” he added. “However, there is significant controversy there as some members of the community wish to continue the 30-year exclusion of cyclists from any narrow trails in the 5,000-acre park.”

Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) is reviewing the draft plan, and seeks public input before developing a recommendation for city council. Your next opportunity to make your voice heard is Tuesday, April 3, at the PP&R meeting. Contact Tanya Holmes for the time and place.

Dan Werle lives in Concordia with his wife, Anna, and their dogs.

By Tamara Anne Fowler | CNA Media Team

“He’s my baby. He’ll come back.” Nic’s positive. Nic is the parent of Finn, the cat who hangs out at New Seasons on 33rd Avenue and Killingsworth Street. Finn is so well-known he even has his own Facebook page.

Finn made himself the local ambassador at the store. He would stand at the front doors greeting all who wanted to shop. People started leaving food out for him which store employees would discourage, because that would attract rodents.

Ever the adventurer, Finn loved to jump into cars. New Seasons employee Keith said Finn had been holding court there for about three months before he disappeared.

Finn has been missing since Jan. 2, when somebody came to Nic’s house to deliver his empty collar. It was found in the grocery store’s parking lot, and Nic concluded someone had stolen him.

Shortly after moving to Concordia 13 months ago, Nic went to the Oregon Humane Society in search of a cat.

Finn had been surrendered in 2014 at age two, when his owners’ son had become more and more allergic. They had been leaving Finn outside. It grew terribly cold and was getting colder all the time. The family did not want an only outdoor life for Finn.

Nic discovered Finn and fell in love immediately. “He is quite the charmer.”

Finn is an indoor/outdoor cat and happy to be in both worlds. He spends his time lounging with his family indoors, and he will sit by the door when he wants to go out and visit his friends at New Seasons.

Finn was also an ambassador for outdoor cats. Nic thought it was important for him to correct misunderstandings about indoor/outdoor cats and outdoor cats in general.

“I’ve seen outdoor cats get a bad rap because of studies supposedly showing that cats kill billions of birds a year. I looked into this and found that most studies on this subject are inaccurate, due to wildly extrapolated statistics.

“Cats do have an effect on wildlife, but so do a lot of predators: coyotes, birds of prey, dogs, humans, etc.”

What Nic wants people to know is: Finn has a family, is loved and is eagerly awaited at home. If you have any information on his whereabouts, call 888.466.3242 toll free.

By Melissa Bearns

Six east Concordia kids huddled over large pieces of paper in my living room, intently sketching pictures of the gigantic red oak tree at 4810 N.E. 40th Ave. They painstakingly added details including squirrels, birds and acorns, along with personal notes to the man who will develop the property.

“Thank you for not cutting down the tree,” wrote 7-year-old Roxy. “I love the oak tree because you can ride your bike around it and you don’t have to go too far.”

When the property was sold last summer to Eric Thompson of Oregon Homeworks LLC, neighbors were deeply concerned the oak tree with a trunk diameter of 49 inches would be removed. In November, after a few visits to the planning department for research, I called the developer, who told me he intended to preserve the tree.

He has since filed his initial site plan with the Portland Bureau of Development Services, which shows the tree intact on the lot.

For the past decade, the former property owners hosted annual Labor Day potluck barbecues under the oak’s sprawling canopy. Across the years, residents enjoyed impromptu gatherings and other holiday celebrations.

“The oak has played a really important role in our community,” said Carol Apple, a neighbor of that property for 42 years. “It’s a place where kids love to play. As adults they return, and the oak tree is still there. It creates a sense of continuity. Having a focal point on the block where people gather helps build strong relationships.”

Prior to the sale, the property owner and her neighbor, Cindy Black, nominated it for Heritage Tree status, which would give it a high level of protection in both residential and development situations. The Heritage Tree Committee approved a lesser designation of Tree of Merit.

That affords no additional protection for a tree; however, our red oak appears to be safe from the chainsaws for now. Unfortunately, that cannot be said for many other magnificent trees that are equally important across Portland.

City code Title 11 governs tree management. It includes special protections for trees with trunk diameters greater than 36 inches. But Title 11 also has loopholes, which allow developers and property owners to skirt those protections and cut down even very large trees like the red oak.

I’m researching how the tree code was developed and compromises that were made to honor the different needs in our rapidly growing city. My goal is to find a way to balance those needs and still protect large, valuable trees like this oak.

Melissa lives near the red oak and has nine trees on her property. She has always loved trees, but gained a deeper understanding of their value to the planet and people while reporting on Ascending the Giants, an ongoing project of two Portland arborists to climb and measure the world’s champion trees. She has climbed some of the world’s largest trees, many of which are located in the Pacific Northwest.

Editor’s note: Melissa has more to share on this topic. For the rest of the story, visit ConcordiaPDX.org/preservinggiantoak. And, if you’re interested in following what’s happening with the red oak tree, Developer commits to preserve giant oak “The oak has played a really important role in our community.” – Carol Apple learning more about Portland’s trees and neighborhood tree-related events, or wanting to get involved, email Info@SaveOurTreesPDX.org.