Advocacy Update – July 2024

Northwest Trail Alliance advances our mission in three main ways: trail stewardship, promoting riding opportunities for all, and advocacy. Advocacy can sometimes feel less tangible AND daunting: advocacy requires a lot of planning, patience and strategy. NWTA members are crucial to our advocacy work, as local community members are powerful voices to advocate for local riding opportunities. We have seen time and again that community advocacy brings more opportunities for all to access the outdoors through bikes and trails. 

Recently, there have been a number of local community engagement efforts that NWTA has helped elevate; including the two community engagement surveys that Portland Parks & Recreation published regarding local recreation. HUGE thank you to all of you who took the time to participate in recent community surveys and other advocacy work. Here are some updates on the impact of your work, and more opportunities to have your voice heard!

• Rose City Golf Course: As a result of the NWTA community actively engaging in the Rose City Golf Course survey, bikes are now an active part of the planning process. A group of awesome local cycling and trail advocates met with Parks staff on site to discuss the vision of how bikes should be a part of the community-oriented trail plans.

• University Park: NWTA has not received any updates to date. Stay tuned!

• Hagg Lake/Scoggins Valley Park: Huge news!! Thanks to community feedback, the Bureau of Reclamation recognized that recreation is an extremely important factor to consider during the dam seismic upgrade project. Because so many public comments spoke to recreation considerations, an additional detailed recreation survey for visitors. 

There’s MORE exciting news for Hagg Lake – a campground is in the works! You can participate in the planning process for the brand-new campground on August 3 from 4:00 – 7:00 PM at C-Ramp Recreation Area (before the free Rockit Radio concert!)

Portland residents: Curious about what other sites are included in the ORCMP? Do you wonder if any are in your neighborhood? Download the document here.

Thank you to all of our members who make their voices heard to advance mountain biking for all!