Mapping the Future

Oregon Metro

This map reflects the areas deemed regionally important by incorporating natural resources available in a GIS database format and the collective expertise of a select group of ecological and park professionals from various federal, state, local, and private organizations.

GIS coverages include soils, slopes, rivers and streams, wetlands, floodplains, parks and natural areas, the 2006 Bond Natural Area for Clean Air and Water target areas, Metro's regionally signficant habitat inventory, greenways, and natural hazard data. Additional data from Clark, Yamhill, Marion, and Columbia counties as well as from the Oregon Natural Heritage Program's habitat priorities and The Nature Conservancy's Willamette Valley Ecoregion protection priorities was also used for this project.

These disparate data sources were presented to a panel of participants who were selected for their intimate knowledge of the regional landscape, their grounding in ecological and landscape ecology principles, and their familiarity with Metro's regional growth management and greenspaces program.

The cartographic product is a map of significant natural systems and land patterns that define the quality and character of the region and a diagrammatic concept for the "system" that captures the region's sense of place, allows for resource protection at a larger landscape and ecosystem scale, and helps define where future growth should and should not occur.

Courtesy of Matthew Hampton.

Map Book Page [PDF]

Sustainable Development and Human Affairs Maps

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