3-Creeks Natural Area
You can help save 3-Creeks by...
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Reading below to get more information about the proposed road project.
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Clicking on one of the Take Action! links which will redirect you to Onward Oregon.
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Using Onward Oregon's email system to tell the Clackamas County Commissioners to pull the plug on the Sunnybrook
Extension road project!
Take Action!
The Clackamas County Board of County Commissioners is considering whether to move forward on a plan to extend Sunnybrook Boulevard through the 3-Creeks Natural Area.
The 3-Creeks Natural Area is located adjacent to the Clackamas Community College Harmony Campus and the North Clackamas Aquatic Park, near the Clackamas Town Center.
The 3-Creeks Natural area is a remarkable urban natural area with rich wildlife habitat, including salmon streams, bottomland hardwood forests, wetland meadows,
and rare old growth Oregon white oak woodlands. The Sunnybrook Extension would cut through the ancient Oregon white oak woodlands and cut-off the Natural Area from
the Harmony Campus.
Considering that less than 3% of the historic Oregon white oak woodland habitat is still standing in Oregon, with only a fraction of that remaining habitat in public
ownership, it is critical that Clackamas County protect the entirety of the 3-Creeks Natural Area. Saving 3-Creeks and abandoning the Sunnybrook Extension would implement
the Clackamas County's own sustainability policies, which call for protecting wildlife habitat and nature-based public recreation opportunities.
Tell the Clackamas County Commission to implement its own sustainability pledge and fully protect the 3-Creeks Natural Area.
Take Action!
The reasons for saving 3-Creeks are numerous:
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3-Creeks Natural Area provides hiking, birding, wildflower viewing, and wildlife viewing opportunities within the urban landscape. With old growth oak trees,
millions of camas blooming in spring, countless bird species, and iconic salmon species, 3-Creeks is a natural gem serving the growing demand for nature-based
recreation near urban populations. The Sunnybrook Extension would cut-off the community from this regionally significant recreational resource and sentence
this vital public space to obscurity.
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The old growth trees at 3-Creeks have been estimated to be up to 500 years old. Acorns from the oak trees and the millions of camas in the wetlands historically
provided staple food crops for the indigenous residents of the area. 3-Creeks provides a living connection to this cultural and historic landscape.
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Clearing forest lands for a new road would direct more storm water run-off into the already failing Mt.Scott-Kellogg Creek watershed. Pulling the plug on the
Sunnbrook extension would prevent further degradation of this salmon habitat.
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The Sunnybrook Extension is a remnant of an outdated transportation plan that never considered impacts to the regional significant 3-Creeks Natural Area.
Clackamas County needs to ensure critical public natural areas are protected before proposing new roads.
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Oak woodlands have been designated a 'special habitat of concern,' which the County should protect to comply with its obligations under statewide planning laws.
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Regional governments are spending millions of dollars to save and restore Oregon white oak habitats. Clackamas County should not be spending millions of dollars
on an ill-conceived road that would harm one of the last, best oak habitats in the region.
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The Sunnybrook Extension would be waste of public money. Millions of dollars have been spent with tens of millions more budgeted for this ill-conceived project.
It's time that the County Commission pulled the plug on this fiscal fiasco.
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The Project Advisory Committee, every neighborhood association near the 3-Creeks Natural Area, the local county CPO's and the City of Milwaukie have unequivocally
opposed the road for several years, yet the County has repeatedly ignored the public's concerns. It's time the County responded to citizen opposition to this project
and put an end to the Sunnybrook Extension.
Please help out by emailing your commissioners and telling them that you don't want your tax dollars to be spent on the Sunnybrook Extension project.
Take Action!
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Charlotte Lehan, Chair - clehan@co.clackamas.or.us
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Jim Bernard - jbernard@co.clackamas.or.us
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Ann Lininger - alininger@co.clackamas.or.us
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Paul Savas - psavas@co.clackamas.or.us
