WILLAMETTE RIVER ADVOCACY

“At the catch! Blades in! Power 10! Let her run!”
Kaspar Murer, Past President, Wasabi Paddling Club   kasparmurer@comcast.new
Renée Morgan, Calm Water Coalition, Portland Rowing Club  reneenumber6@gmail.com
 
On any day on the Willamette River, you might hear steersmen and oarspersons shouting these commands to their rowing and paddling teams. Portland has a long history of crew teams, with the first club founded on May 3rd, ...

We all know humans have a great ability to screw up nature. Perhaps that is why it feels so good when we collectively take action to undo these wrongs – “unscrewing” nature up a little and seeing humans and nature respond in positive ways.
 
The tide is turning. Many people in Portland are starting to care about the Willamette River – to participate, feel empowered, and affect change. It’s a slow, incremental process and at times very hard work.
 
But it’s ...

I send warm greetings and much love to the HAP family. Thank you for being a part of it and helping us get where we are!

Look what we have accomplished together in our nine years. Two new downtown beaches, 5,000+ people at The Big Float, a thriving River Hugger swim team, and a city slowly but surely falling in love with its river.

God knows there’s a lot to be blue about these days. But it’s a fact my friend, blue space can drive away the blues.

If anybody knows a good blues lick, here are some lyrics: When blues get me down, I get down to the river, night or day, come what may, I get down to the river, down to the blue space, and let them blues flow away.

By Ringleader Willie Levenson
 
In the first two parts of this story about the forming of Audrey McCall Beach, HAP worked to address the creativity gap to unearth a beach (Part 1) that was buried in concrete, rip-rap, and abandoned pilings (Part 2).
The aspect of activism I love the most is cultivating and sharing encouragement and support from peers. Collaborating with peers to solve problems. These peers who do thankless work, inspire me with their daring to care.They are gluttons ...

By Ringleader Willie Levenson
 
In the first part of this story about the forming of Audrey McCall Beach, HAP worked with inmates from the Inverness Inmate Work Crew to haul out concrete from the beach. With their help and the muscle power of other friends/volunteers, we removed 19 tons of concrete over four summers – all without bringing in heavy mechanized equipment (as required in our permit).
 
The more concrete we got rid of, the more I felt the need to ramp up removal operations. ...

By Ringleader, Willie Levenson
 
The Big Float’s first year was 2011. Around 1,000 people participated. It was a crazy lift and learning curve to get it together. 
 
To put on The Big Float we had to find sponsors, pull permits, plan the event, line up bands and vendors, create a website, and hope folks came. It was thrilling to pull it off and experience validation that we were on to something. Something potentially big.
 
We realized The Big Float had tremendous potential ...

 By HAP Ringleader Willie Levenson  
I send warm greetings and much love to the HAP family. Thank you for being a part of it and helping us get where we are! 
Look what we have accomplished together in our nine years. Two new downtown beaches, 5,000+ people at The Big Float, a thriving River Hugger swim team, and a city slowly but surely falling in love with its river. Our culture is changing right before our eyes! What more can we do?  Stay tuned. There is more, much more ...

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has announced the winners of its 2018 Recognition Awards. Selected as winner of the Tom McCall Award is our intrepid leader, Willie Levenson! Major kudos to our Captain!
ASLA stated, “With his leadership, Willie Levenson and HAP set out to raise awareness of the river and ultimately inspire ‘a City in love with its river,’ leading to widespread stewardship of our largest natural resource. It is through his creative energy, clear ...

Unhealthy air, a warming planet, Harmful Algae Blooms…we’ve been getting the memos and dire calls to action since our childhood. Now the writing is on the wall. It’s actually way beyond the wall - the signs are everywhere.
 
What do these messages say to you and how does it make you feel?
 
Once upon a time before science had an explanation for everything, humans feared and revered Mother Nature’s dominion over our lives. It may be that those days have returned ...

 
Have you been curious why a Harmful Algae Bloom (HAB) has developed in Ross Island Lagoon the last four summers in downtown Portland? Good news is there’s a surprisingly simple solution to this problem.
 
Why are these blooms happening?
It is very unusual for a Harmful Algae Bloom (HAB) to form on a river. Typically HABs need three things to thrive: little to no water circulation (why they typically form on lakes), high water temps, and nitrogen load. Generally, ...

There’s a lot of talk going on about culture these days. Regardless of your ethnicity you have one! Your culture is who is in your circle - it’s your friends, your family, your co-workers, your neighbors - all these groups individually and together help form the perceptions we hold about things.
It’s time for the culture of our group of HAP members to step forward to help influence our own sub-cultures. Word of mouth is powerful, and clearly if you are reading this, you are an ...

PLEASE PUT IN YOUR OWN WORDS AND VOICE TO SUIT HOW YOU FEEL OR MAKE NO CHANGES. THANK YOU!!
 
Deborah Kafoury, Chair mult.chair@multco.us 503.988.3308
 
Sharon Meieran, Commissioner-Dist.1 (Downtown) district1@multco.us 503.988.5220
 
Loretta Smith, Commissioner-Dist. 2 district2@multco.us 503.988.5219
 
Jessica Vega Pederson, Commissioner-Dist. 3 district3@multco.us 503.988.5217
 
Lori Stegmann, Commissioner-Dist.4 district4@multco.us 503.988.5213
 
Deborah, Sharon, ...

March 26: Greening Portland
 
Architecture, city planning and community/environmental activists come together to define a sustainable vision for the future of Portland. How many bioswales and bike lanes are enough? What about widening I-5, or increasing mass transit? How many highrises, parking spaces, and how high is high? There's talk about equity, but is anyone creating it, and how are they doing it?
 
 
The Human Access Project is a non-profit with a mission: Transform ...

I will never apologize for a Sewage Overflow into our city’s river. When it happens I feel a collective shame for our community. I wish it would never happen at all. But how often does a sewage overflow happen? In 2017 there were a grand total of seven - that is an occurrence of less than 2% of the year!When a sewage overflow does happen it is typically 80% storm water and 20% sewage.
This Valentine's Day Portland will celebrate 115+ consecutive days of no sewage overflows for our $1.44 billion ...

  
We MUST tend to our individual flames and seek out things that stoke our optimism.
What is the alternative?  
For many, including myself, 2017, and continuing into 2018, has felt like a pile on.  Did we take the eight magical years with Obama for granted?  Did Obama make it look too easy?  Did we become complacent and expect progress would continue to happen without active public participation?  Did we forget how hard and long it takes to build things and how ...

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently released its proposal to allocate water stored in Willamette Basin reservoirs and is taking comments on the plan through December 22. Your voice is needed! Please act now and ask the Corps to give more water to fish and wildlife and to prioritize threatened fish populations in low-water years. 
The Corps has proposed allocating 962,000 acre-feet to fish and wildlife, 254,000 to irrigation, and 73,000 to municipal and industrial use. The remainder will ...

“Kon-Tiki” 
A fund/funraiser for Human Access Project
 
Thursday, Dec. 7  6:30 pm
Hollywood Theatre with after-party at Popina Swimwear
 
Aye, it is true that you can change your world while sitting on your butt – on a raft or theater seat. Support the Human Access Project and put an oar in the Portland “riverlution” by watching one of the most amazing raft voyages in human history – “Kon-Tiki”!
 
This inspiring ...

We have officially hit the HAP offseason. What an amazing season it was! Thank you for being a part of it! So much accomplished, so much fun. I feel like I am witnessing an awakening in our community – can you see it too?
 
As Ringleader I tested my limits and pushed myself as far as my body and mind would allow. It feels great knowing I gave it all I could, that the work yielded positive results, and so many new friends were made in the process. But it’s all ya’ll participating ...

In May 2011, Human Access Project, in an effort to create an improved access point to Portland's largest public open space, the Willamette River, began a project to re-envision what HAP viewed as an excellent potential beach park. The site had many pros - great access off the eastside esplanade, a walkable distance from the central eastside, great views of downtown and sunsets, and just off a major bike commuter route for people crossing the Hawthorne Bridge from downtown.
The biggest challenge ...

Audrey McCall, the wife of Oregon Governor Tom McCall, loved to swim. Now she may be lucky enough to have a beach named after her right in Portland on the Willamette River. And knowing her, she would invite all Oregonians to share it, enjoy it and mostly, swim from it.
 
My mother, then Audrey Owen, grew up in Spokane, an area dotted with lovely lakes. Her parents would take their three daughters to the lakes as often as possible. Audrey grew up swimming from beaches and ...

The record-breaking heat of this summer only added to the enthusiasm with which our city embraced the mighty downtown Willamette. The River Huggers Swim Team had a fantastic season, logging 62 swims during our regular season (June 15 – September 15), and drawing record numbers: Most swims included thirty-plus participants, and new members continued to join through the season.
 
Thanks to some important groundwork in the winter and spring, we developed our relationships with the Portland ...

It has been an amazing Cinderella summer for Human Access Project (HAP) and our mission of Transforming Portland’s Relationship with the Willamette River. We are now approaching our eighth year of advocacy.
The first six years were marked by slow, but steady, incremental success. Politically speaking, HAP spent our first three years fighting for a seat at the table and the next three developing relationships with the people at the table. The first six years were fulfilling and frequently fun ...

Humans wanted for City Council meeting
 
 
 
Are you a human who happens to love the beautiful Willamette River that flows through our city? Would you like to see beaches along the shores of downtown Portland, with safe places for you and other humans to access, swim and play in the water? Then we’ve got an opportunity for you on June 7th from 2-4!
 
HAP and others who support our goals will get to address the full City Council on the work we’ve ...

Esoteric ramblings from the Ringleader
 
 
I am looking to take on a vocabulary change. I have grown tired of the word “partnering” being thrown around today. I prefer the word “cooperation”.
 
Partnering feels like a box you check when filling out a grant application. Partnering is so 1980’s. I am not at a swinger’s party tossing my keys in a bowl. I am interested in something deeper. I am seeking to develop Collaborative ...

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler came out strong in support of the river and public access – and included several of our HAP talking points – in his recent State of the City address. Ted also gave a shout-out to our swim team, the River Huggers! High fives, Mayor!
Excerpt from Mayor’s address below.  For the full speech go to: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/wheeler/article/633636
“We Portlanders are a people adjacent to the river, but we are not truly a people of the river. ...

I had the awesome experience of participating in my first paid speaking gig as Ringleader of Human Access Project. Well, no cash necessarily, but Friends of Chicago River bought my airfare and a hotel room to speak at their 2017 Chicago River Summit.  Two HAP Board members and close friends Tommy “T- Bone” Vandel and Jonny “Motown” Ostrander, picked up their own tab and came along to support me. 
 
People who have followed HAP know the hard battles we ...

 
Portland is entering a new age in how it relates to the Willamette River. It is an awakening, the forming of a relationship that is sacred and personal.
 
Once upon a time when Portland was first settled, the Willamette River was viewed as a jewel, an asset, a natural treasure. There were swimming houses, swimming clubs and active bathing in our city’s river.
 
 
As Portland’s industry slowly but surely began to foul the Willamette, people fought back. ...

 
There are a total of 12 bridges that cross the Willamette River, with the most recent being the Tilikum Crossing, Bridge of the People, added in 2015.

 By "bridging" the past to the present, Human Access Project encourages you to learn about the local architecture and its’ connection to our rivers.  
 
In familiarizing yourself with the history, we hope that you see the importance of these designs in our current day. Who knows - maybe you will get excited and ...

HAP is strongly in support of the following three ballot measures. If you agree, please share with friends and help spread the word!

Protect Our Natural Areas – vote YES on Measure 26-178 
Measure 26-178 will provide cleaner water, wildlife habitat preservation and opportunities to connect to nature across Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties. It will help protect 17,000 acres of parks, trails and natural areas without raising taxes. https://www.facebook.com/ProtectOurNatural...

 
 
It has been very rewarding to develop a relationship with new mayor Ted Wheeler and his staff.  Ted is the first Mayor that has come out publicly, stating both in words and through action, that creating improved access to the Willamette River is important to him. Very encouraging!
 
Words are important and it’s very easy to talk about things you would like to see happen or things that should happen. But for many people it stops there. Talk, talk, ...

Get on board and help turn the tide after decades of abuse and neglect of the Willamette River. If you dig what HAP has done, dive in and join us! And have a whale of a time doing it! Get into your river!
 
HAP 1st Annual Mayoral Swim with Ted Wheeler

HAP made history this year by inviting our new Mayor Elect Ted Wheeler to join 250 other river lovers in a swim across the Willamette River. Forming relationships with local officials helps build support for our work. Ted is a Willamette ...