 Urban & Community Conservation
The Urban Conservation Cluster focuses on the cities, towns, villages and hamlets of Clackamas County. The Cluster helps landowners in the private, public, educational, institutional and non-profit sectors implement conservation practices on their properties. These conservation practices include: low impact development strategies such as rain gardens, bioswales and green roofs, invasive plant removal and native landscaping, wildlife habitat creation, and community gardens. Successful conservation is achieved by providing technical assistance to individual landowners, creating conservation plans, involving multiple landowners in projects, and collaborating with multiple partners for more conservation leverage on larger projects and initiatives. Current programs in the Community Conservation Cluster include:
Urban Green
This program provides technical assistance to both the landowners who want more natural yards and those that prefer high-quality green lawns while reducing the money spent on chemicals and water. It also focuses on invasive plant removal and planting native plants & habitat through out our urban areas.
Golf Course Quality Lawns
Urban Conservation has launched the Golf Course Quality Lawns™ program. We will utilize marketing and education to attract multiple landowners to demonstrate how to reduce landscape inputs while still supporting high-quality lawns.
Native Landscaping
We provide technical assistance to landowners who want to eliminate invasive weeds and plant natives on their properties. It focuses on plant communities, habitat value and the various formal and/or informal designs one can create using native plants.
Natural Areas
We collaborate with multiple landowners and/or multiple partners to create or improve larger swaths of land as natural areas within the urban fabric. These areas are used and needed by both humans and wildlife.
Urban Water
This program helps landowners and communities reduce and filter stormwater, conserve water and existing natural site features and restore urban stream uplands, while creating beautiful places.
Low Impact Development Approaches (LIDA)
LIDA are integrated, small-scale stormwater strategies that collect, filter, slow down and often infiltrate rainwater from the many urban
impervious surfaces such as roofs, walkways, roads, and roofs. We provide technical assistance and create conservation plans to design and implement these strategies which include rain gardens, green roofs, pervious pavers, rainwater harvesting, and bioswales.
Rain Gardens: Local Examples, References & Planting Plan Example (PDF 3.16 MB)
Locating and Sizing a Rain Garden (PDF 534 KB)
Urban Streams
Streams and waterways are largely impacted from urban areas resulting in increased flooding, flash floods, high sediment loads, invasive plant species, and incised channels. Working in collaboration with stream experts, we create riparian upland restoration planting plans, habitat plans and designs for interpretive paths along riparian areas.
Urban Community
This program promotes community participation in conservation efforts, focusing particularly on urban food production. As one of the largest agricultural counties in Oregon, Clackamas County has the opportunity to be a leader in urban locally-produced food.
Urban Seeds
There is a flow of services and goods between urban and rural areas, particularly in the urban-rural interface. It is vital for cities to incorporate some of the rural services, such as agriculture within the urban growth boundary. Urban seeds helps fulfill the mission of infusing agriculture into the city by facilitating, designing and implementing community demonstration gardens, community supported agriculture and edible walls.
Education and Outreach
Urban conservation cannot be successful unless it is understood and appreciated by urban residents. We conduct workshops, classes, and talks about urban ecology, urban conservation techniques and new strategies within the urban areas of Clackamas County.
Engagement, Participation & Partnerships
Many people learn best when they are actively participating in particular endeavors such as restoration. Collaboratively, we work with schools and students directly, citizen groups and various organizations to complete specific urban conservation and restoration projects.
Urban Wild
This program creates habitat and connections to habitats for wildlife living and using urban areas. It provides technical assistance to landowners interested in attracting wildlife to their yards.
Birdscaping
Planning landscapes for particular species creates a more focused design and makes setting project goals easier. Birdscaping is landscaping for the birds that live in and use our urban areas. We assist landowners in creating mainly native landscapes based on the specific birds using the property, site analysis of their property, and the basic essentials birds need for survival.
Hedgerows
Hedgerows are living fences of trees, shrubs and various other plants that provide many benefits such as: provide wildlife habitat, conserve water, reduce soil erosion and help suppress weeds. We provide technical assistance and create hedgerow plans for urban landowners interested in using hedgerows as alternatives to fences.
Green Corridors
For urban areas to be functioning ecosystems, it is necessary for wildlife to be able to move within the city as well as through to other habitats beyond the city boundaries. Green corridors are strategically planned with specific habitats and urban wildlife in mind to provide for movement and wildlife habitat connectivity throughout the urban areas. We help to plan these connective corridors in the urban areas throughout Clackamas County.
For more information on Urban Conservation, contact
- Nikki Cerra, Conservation Specialist – Urban and Community, email
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