Metro Passes $26 Million in Parks Funding

The Metro Council this week approved $26 million in public funds for 51 different parks and nature projects across the region.

The projects are funded through the regional government’s parks and nature bond, passed by voters in 2019, and its parks and nature levy, renewed by voters in 2022.

The $26 million in grants flow through five different funding programs. Nature in Neighborhoods Community Choice Grants distributed $3 million in funds, Large-Scale Community Visions allocated $8 million, Nature in Neighborhoods Capital Grants distributed $9.8 million, Community Stewardship and Restorations funded 10 projects with $750,000 and the Protect and Restore Land Program allocated $4.5 million.

Much of the meeting’s deliberation surrounded the distribution of $8 million in funds from the Large-Scale Community Visions program. The council awarded $3 million to the Working Theory Farm, a non-profit organic farm in Washington County; $2.5 million to the Kelly Creek Restoration project run by Mt. Hood Community College; $1.5 million to the Ash Creek Link project in the city of Tigard, and $1 million to the Bird Alliance of Oregon.

The Metro Council passed the resolution by a 6-1 vote.

“I think we all agree that these projects have merit and that we are forced to make difficult decisions with limited funding in what is likely the final round of our large scale grants,” said District 1 Councilor Ashton Simpson during the meeting.

The 30-year 2019 parks and nature bond allocated a total of $50 million to the Large-Scale Community Visions grant program to be distributed over three cycles; the Tuesday vote marks its final allocation. Other grants such as those through Nature in Neighborhoods operate on a recurring funding cycle.

Funding for other projects encompassed in the $26 million, including the 23 projects funded through the Nature in Neighborhoods Community Choice Grants, were decided through Metro’s participatory budgeting process that allows the public to weigh in on funding decisions for the community as a part of the parks and nature bond.

“Thanks to voters, Metro will support dozens of new initiatives that span the region,” said Metro Council President Juan Carlos González. “These projects will do so much—expand green space, restore waterways, support community gardens and farms, create opportunities for young people to learn and play. I’m so proud of the ways we as an agency both create and build upon this legacy of stewardship.”