Hello, We’re MetroGresham parks and trailsThe second-largest city in the Portland metropolitan area, Gresham is home to just over 108,000 residents and diverse natural features, including wetlands, riparian areas, forested uplands and buttes.

Over the last 150 years, Gresham’s landscape has changed from a quiet berry-farming community to a busy city with a wide variety of neighborhoods. Today, one of the most noticeable vestiges of the forestry and agricultural economy that remain are the upland open space buttes.

GABBERT BUTTE NATURE PARK

Gresham has a long history of public support for protecting its diverse natural features. The earliest Gabbert Butte preservation and park planning dates back to the 1990 City of Gresham Open Space Bond Measure, where Gresham voters approved $10.3 million in general-obligation bonds to purchase park sites, wetlands, buttes, greenways and creek corridors for preservation.

Significantly, Gresham’s was the first open-space bond measure approved by any community in the Portland metropolitan area.

Open space preservation

RestorationThroughout the city, restoration work is helping to improve water quality, minimize erosion and property loss, reduce flood damage and boost diversity of plant and animal life.

Restoration projects in natural areas help return the ecosystem to a healthy, functioning condition.

In the East Buttes, the city has focused restoration efforts on removing invasives and planting native plants. Restoration of City owned land near Butler Road included planting 5,000 forbs, rushes, shrubs, and trees.

DRAFT 10-3-2016

Project overviewGABBERT BUTTE NATURE PARK

Project Schedule

Project GoalsProtect habitat and water quality and provide meaningful and safe experiences of nature. Encourage participation in planning from people from diverse cultural backgrounds, ages and levels of ability.

Develop a plan to guide future public access to the site that includes welcoming entry, improved trails and opportunities to experience nature.

Opportunities to weigh inOpen houses, and on-line surveys at three milestones

1. Summer 2017: Learn about the site and the project, and share your ideas, or provide feedback on line

2. Fall 2017: Weigh in on site plan alternatives

3. Winter 2017: Provide feedback about preferred site plan

Spring 2018: Review master plan document online

DRAFT 10-3-2016

Gabbert Butte Master Plan AreaGresham city limitsDrainagewaysParks and natural areasCemeteriesGolf coursesSchools (ES - Elementary School, MS - Middle School, HS - High School)Bus stopsBus lines

Highways and arterialsTrails

LEGEND

0 0.125 Miles

Gresham

Happy Valley

Portland

Troutdale

Fairview

Wood Village

GabbertButte

VICINITY INSET MAP

NTS

Milwaukie

Gladstone

Oregon CityWest Linn

Lake Oswego

M U L T N O M A H C O U N T YC L A C K A M A S C O U N T Y

Kelly Creek

Butler CreekSW Butler Rd

SW To

wle

Ave

SE Regner Rd

SE Roberts Dr

SE Palmquist Rd

SW Eastman Pkwy

SE Orient Dr

SE

Palm

blad

Rd

SE H

ogan

Rd

Sunshine Butte

Hoga

n Cr

eekGabbert

Butte

W Powell Blvd

E Powell Blvd

SW P

leas

ant V

iew

Dr

GreshamButte

TowleButte

HoganButte

SpringwaterTrail HS

Hogan CedarsES

East GreshamES

GordonRussell

MS

West GreshamES

HollydaleSchool ES

PortlandAdventist ESCentennial HS

Mt. HoodChristian Preschool

ButlerCreek ES

SE H

ogan

Rd

SE Foster Rd

PleasantValley

Wildside ES

JenneButte

West BlissButte

Springwater Trail

HWY 26

Downtown Gresham

East BlissButte

SE Kane Dr

Johns on Creek

Bear Creek

Johnson Creek

Thom Creek

Cedar Creek

Brick Creek

Suns

hine

Cre

ek

Chastain Creek

Mill

er C

re

ek

West

Fork

Hog an Creek

Nechaco

kee C

reek

Sout

h Fork

Meadow Creek

Heiney Creek Meadow C reek

GABBERT BUTTE NATURE PARK

In the neighborhood

Gabbert Butte master plan areaTrailTrailheadDrainageway

Public land

Bus stopBus line

LEGEND

0 200 Feet

WaterTower

Heiney Creek

HoganButte

GreshamButte

TowleButte

WaterTank

2

SW Regner Rd

SW To

wle

Ave

SW Butler Rd

SW 36th St

SW 37th TerSW

31st St

SW 33rd St

SW Regner R

d

SW Gabbert Rd

Saddle Trail

Butler Creek

Chastain Creek

North Fork Butler Cre ek

Meadow Creek

Nech

acokee C re

ek

Wes

t For

k Hog

an Creek

Sout

h Fo

rk M

eado

w Cr

eek

7

1310

6

5

1211

8

3

4

1

9

GABBERT BUTTE NATURE PARK

The landscape today

10

7

6

13

8

12

3

1 2

9

411

5

4

GABBERT BUTTE NATURE PARK

Visitor experience

LEGENDGabbert Butte Master Plan AreaCity limitsHighways and arterialsDrainagewaysParks and natural areasWatershed boundaries

0 0.25 Miles

SE 1

82nd

Ave

Johnson Creek

SE Powell Blvd

SE Orient Dr

SE H

ogan

Rd

HWY 26

SE Foster Rd

SE Division St

NE Burnside Rd

SE 1

22nd

Ave

HWY 26

SE Kane Rd

Sunshine Butte

GreshamButte

TowleButte

HoganButte

JenneButte

West BlissButte

East BlissButte

SW Butler Rd

ScouterMountain

PowellButte

M U L T N O M A H C O U N T YC L A C K A M A S C O U N T Y

GRESHAMPORTLAND

HAPPY VALLEY

Willamette Riv er - Frontal Columbia River Watershed

Johnson Creek Watershed

Lower Sandy River Watersh

ed

Johnson Creek Watershed

Lower Clackamas River Watershed

Kelly Creek

Butler Creek

GabbertButte

Upland forest

A mix of conifers and deciduous trees covers the East Buttes. Upland forests like this are common in the Pacific Northwest, but in urban areas forests have been fragmented and removed by the growth of cities. The lands protected in the East Buttes preserve core areas of upland forest within a developing area.

Migrating birds and resident wildlife

Like islands in the sea, the East Buttes are important for migrating birds, who need places to stop, eat and rest along their journey. For wildlife that lives here, the East Buttes provide a home, places to hunt and forage, and connections to streams, rivers and larger habitat areas.

Connecting habitats

The East Buttes natural areas help connect the watersheds of the Clackamas River and Johnson Creek. This is important for long-term health and diversity of species facing habitat loss and climate change.

Water quality

The East Buttes natural areas protect the headwaters of Butler, Meadow and Kelley creeks and many other tributaries that flow into Johnson Creek. Upper Kelley Creek’s diversity of crustaceans, worms and aquatic insects shows the benefits of keeping water cool and clean upstream.

GABBERT BUTTE NATURE PARK

Habitat

East Buttes wildlife GABBERT BUTTE NATURE PARK

Oregon Slender Salamander

Years of work by City staff has documented Oregon Slender Salamanders in the East Buttes including on Gabbert Butte. Prior to their discovery here, they had not been found west of the Cascades. The Oregon Conservation Strategy considers Oregon Slender Salamander a sensitive species. They like moist places inside large decaying logs or under slabs of bark that have fallen off of snags. Oregon Slender Salamanders are lungless and breathe through their skin!

Forest restoration on Metro's West Bliss Butte

This former hay field is planted with wildflowers, native shrubs and widely spaced trees. The wildflowers and shrubs provide food for wildlife from polinators to deer, while the Douglas-fir trees grow with dense, broad branches typical of old-growth forests.

Flying Squirrels

Have you seen nesting boxes on some of the trees at Gabbert Butte? The nesting boxes were installed to support northern flying squirrels. The flying squirrel doesn’t actually fly, it glides from tree to tree. These animals typically nest in large holes in trees and eat fungi and lichens, as well as seeds, nuts, insects, bird eggs and nestlings and conifer cones. Flying squirrels are seldom seen because they are nocturnal.

City of Gresham restoration work in the East Buttes

The city has completed numerous habitat surveys in the East Buttes and on Gabbert Butte including: upland, riparian and wetland vegetation, birds, terrestrial and aquatic amphibians, and snakes. Over the past 15 years, and with help from volunteers, the City has completed restoration of approximately 20 acres on Gabbert Butte. A nearby effort includes a large area of holly removal from a former holly farm on Gresham Butte.

Ivy removal at Butler Creek

West Bliss Butte pollinator habitat

Volunteer restoration event

photo: Caters news agencyphoto: Oregon Dept.

of Fish & Wildlife

This Savannah sparrow is an example of a migrating songbird who can take advantage of East Buttes habitat during migration and nesting seasons.

photo: Phil Nosler

DRAFT 10-3-2016

Volcanoes and floodsGABBERT BUTTE NATURE PARK

Lava domes Gabbert Butte is part of the Boring Volcanic Field, which contains more than 80 small volcanic vents and lava flows. These eruptions were caused by the Juan de Fuca Plate sliding under the North American Plate. Each lava dome erupted just once, and thick, slow-moving magma created buttes that we see today. The first eruptions began about 2.5 million years ago, and between 1.3 and 1 million years ago, the active field was widespread. The existing lava domes are now extinct, but some believe that the boring lava field is not. Don't worry, the likelihood of an eruption is very low!

FloodsAbout 15,000 years ago, the lands surrounding the buttes were flooded repeatedly, when ice dams gave way and emptied glacial Lake Missoula. The Missoula (or Bretz) Floods covered the valley floor with hundreds of feet of water. Rich farmland resulted from soils washed into the valley by the floods.

The youngest volcano, Beacon Rock, erupted about 57,000 years ago, and then the Missoula Floods scoured away the cinder cone, leaving just its central plug.

Towle Butte

DRAFT 10-3-2016

Metro & GreshamMetroGresham

3 - 8 %8 - 15 %15 - 30 %30 - 60 %

Intermittent Streams

SW Butler Rd

20 - 50 ft51 - 75 ft76 - 100 ft101 - 125 ft126 - 150 ft151 - 200 ft

TrailsWater TanksTrailheads

Low - 494 ftHigh - 994 ft

SlopeTree Height

Elevation Hydrology Ownership

SW Butler Rd

SW R

egne

r Rd

SW Butler Rd

SW R

egne

r Rd

SW Butler Rd

SW R

egne

r Rd

SW Butler Rd

SW R

egne

r Rd

SW Butler Rd

SW R

egne

r Rd

Trails

SW To

wle

Ave

SW To

wle

Ave

SW To

wle

Ave

SW To

wle

Ave

SW To

wle

Ave

SW To

wle

Ave

SW R

egne

r Rd

Gabbert Butte’s steep slopes make it more challenging to choose locations for parking and other facilities.

Gabbert Butte’s upland forests make for an ideal Northwest forest experience, although views of the surrounding hills are hard to come by.

Gabbert Butte ranges from 494 feet in the lowest valley to 994 feet at the top, creating 500 feet of elevation change.

Many seasonal streams flow across the site toward Butler Creek, Meadow Creek and Johnson Creek. Protected forests along the streams keep this water cool and clean for salmon and other wildlife downstream.

Today, there are about 1.5 miles of trails on Gabbert Butte, which can be accessed via neighborhood trailsheads.

The city of Gresham and Metro both own land within the project area. Metro and Gresham take care of this land on behalf of the public.

GABBERT BUTTE NATURE PARK

Site analysis