March 05 2021
Margo Craig is a St. Johns-area resident and a tree lover. She writes that we should better use our tree resources.
The latest winter storm claimed at least one of Portland s oldest residents, an Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana), Heritage Tree No. 200. The departed was about 250 years old, one of several old oaks that tower over Willamette Cove from the bluff of North Portland.
The elder oak was a vestige of Oregon s oaky past, when Indigenous burning practices maintained great swaths of oak woodlands and savannah. It was for good reason: oak trees are more resilient to fire than conifers. Scientists call White Oak habitat magnets, that support birds and plants. Indigenous people took advantage of this, as well as the elk and deer that oak attracted. Oak trees will provide essential housing for the animal kingdom s inevitable climate refugees.
EPA loans $727M to Portland for water filtration plant March 05 2021
The EPA funds will be used to help pay for construction of a new water filtration plant in Boring.
Federal funds will help Portland pay for a new water filtration plant, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday, March 4.
The $727 million loan the largest to date granted via the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act will flow to the Portland Water Bureau s Bull Run Treatment Program, which will construct a water treatment plant and pipelines in Boring to remove cryptosporidium and other contaminants from the city s public drinking supply, as well as reduce corrosion of pipes and prevent lead poisoning.