Portland Parks & Recreation’s City Nature West Natural Areas work unit manages over 6,000 acres of land on Portland’s west side. This land includes 35 parks, from Forest Park and Hoyt Arboretum in the north part of the unit, to Marquam Nature Park and Terwilliger Wildlands in the central part, and Maricara and Marshall Parks in the south part of the unit. 

When many people think of this landscape, images of towering firs, stately cedars, or swaths of Oregon grape and ferns come to mind. In addition to the trees, shrubs and forbs [broad-leaved plants], our natural areas are home to a variety of birds, reptiles, amphibians, and both large and small mammals.

This past week, one of our neighbors and partners, Gary Ordway, who lives along Balch Creek near Forest Park, spotted three bobcats in his back yard. The photos he took here show what we believe to be a mom and two grown cubs.  This special sighting is just one exam ple of the wildlife diversity that exists in our urban natural areas in Portland. 

If you’d like to find out how and where you can experience some of the vast plant and animal diversity for themselves, you’ll find a wide array of information, maps, and directions to natural areas online at PP&R City Nature.

Submitted by: Dan Moeller, City Nature West Natural Areas Supervisor