Friends of River View Natural Area was founded on Earth Day, 2014.
Welcome!
Portland Parks & Recreation recognizes Friends of River View Natural Area as the official 'Friend and Partner' group for RVNA. We will use NEXTDOOR to announce and remind Friends about stewardship events, posting from our personal accounts.
No Ivy Day! January 24th, 2026
RESCHEDULED FROM OCTOBER - when winds were too strong!
If you're lucky, you may see a woodpecker in the natural area.
A collaboration between Portland Parks and Westside Watersheds.
THIS EVEN HAS PASSED> It was a great success. Photo here soon.
(Note for future) Please go to our Stewardship page, where you'll find more info and a link to sign up.
Trail 3 and Trail 6 Closures: Trail 3, in the southeast corner of River View Natural Area, is closed due to a catastrophic trail failure where it crosses Stream 6. The area is extremely unstable. Additionally, a segment of Trail 6 is closed due to an unstable drainage crossing.
Map on city web site.
See the map in context context on this web page
[LINK]
River View Natural Area Guided Plant Identification Walk
Lewis & Clark College student Phoebe Brown has created an ArcGIS StoryMap
subtitled "Situating Ethnobotany and Landscape Management".
ArcGIS StoryMap screenshot - link below.
You can scroll down through and click on different dots for info on plants
[LINK]
We may suggest that Phoebe change ‘Riverview’ to 'River View'.
Time to be Fire Wise!
It's too late to think about fire mitigation efforts when smoke starts swirling and embers begin to burn!
This article was taken from Portland's Firewise Communities Assessment Program page:
[LINK]
The Firewise Communities/USA program is designed to provide an effective management approach for preserving wildland living aesthetics. ...The Firewise Communities/USA program is designed to enable communities to achieve a high level of protection against Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) fire loss even as a sustainable ecosystem balance is maintained.... The program can be tailored for adoption by any community and/or neighborhood that is committed to ensuring its citizens maximum protection from wildland fire.
Frame from 7½ minute video you can view via LINK above.
Community members and environmental specialists work collaboratively to assess the community and gather data.
The good news is that by addressing community vulnerabilities, residents will be able to substantially reduce their exposure to loss. Relatively small investments of time and effort will reap great rewards in wildfire safety.
Linton, the Forest Park Neighborhoods and individual homeowners in Riverdale have already had Firewise assessments. Collins View, with its treasured greenspaces like Riverview Natural Area and Tryon Creek State Park, and our contiguous tree canopy, needs to be proactive in protecting them and our residences in the upcoming — what promises to be a "grim" — fire season.
Please visit the Firewise Program page in the LINK above to view videos and other info.
Respond to us via
Friends Of River View Natural Area @ gmail.com
if you are interested in a community / wildland Fire assessment of your Collins View property or business. Friends of RVNA (FoRVNA) will take the point in getting an assessment by Portland Fire and Rescue scheduled.
2023 Update!
Collins View is now officially a recognized Firewise Community. See here:
[LINK]
Check our our most recent Stewardship Event
FoRVNA and joiners helped Parks remove Irish Ivy at a Stewardship Event on a weekday, March 30, 2022!
Yes, you read that correctly, Irish, not English Ivy. There is a difference!
See our Stewardship page: [LINK]
Climate Change Report - Pandemic Edition!
River View Natural Area is a 146-acre undeveloped forested parcel on Collins View's eastern boundary between River View Cemetery and Lewis & Clark College. The site, an important link in the Westside Wildlife Corridor, is connected to the Willamette River through culverts under Highway 43. It is contiguous with Powers Marine Park
[LINK]
which features large wood installations providing refuge for endangered Chinook, coho salmon and steelhead trout. RVNA is in the key position in the Wildlife Corridor for discharging critical aquatic resources to the Willamette River.
With the last couple of dry winters and last summer’s triple degree temperatures and drought, our concern for wildfires in RVNA are at an all-time high. Vernal pools — a seasonal, “ephemeral” or temporary type of wetland habitat that’s formed by the accumulation of winter rains and snowfall, typically in shallow depressions in woodlands — have either disappeared or have been diminished by recent dry years. But maybe, with La Nina promising rain this year, they will be back.
Pacific Giant Salamander seen in RVNA (ODFW photo)
Animals that depend upon vernal pools for reproduction and development of their young are called vernal pool indicator (or obligate) species. The Giant Pacific Coast Salamander is one of these and is also one of our residents.
[ODFW LINK]
Salamander eggs are in gelatinous blobs attached to plant stems just below the water’s surface.
Because they are very sensitive to changes in water quality, vernal pool denizens are important indicators of environmental health. RVNA waters are at risk because of the surrounding urban density with its fertilizers, chemicals, and street runoff. WARNING! The Giant Sal is one of the few carriers of a parasite that causes “Salmon Poisoning” or “Salmon Disease” which can infect and possibly kill your furry friends. This is another good reason that RVNA has a “No Dogs Allowed” Policy.
Friends of River View Natural Area is the recognized RVNA stewardship partner with Portland Parks. FoRVNA is also listed as a partner on the West Willamette Restoration Partnership (WWRP, Westside Wildlife Corridor) website.
[WWRP LINK]
FoRVNA is in the process of lining up RVNA science and nature activities, such as bird walks, vegetation ID (identify the good plants and the bad guys), walks and hopefully educational Zoom meetings with environmental experts to lighten up the dark days of winter. Please respond to FoRVNA via
Friends Of River View Natural Area @ gmail.com
with suggestions.
There were no Stewardship Events during the pandemic.
Here are our past Stewardship Events.
We no longer use Twitter or Facebook. Best we can do is to post on Nextdoor multiple times in the weeks ahead of an event.
We held the fist River View volunteer event since 2017 on Wednesday, March 30, 2022! The event focused on Ivy Removal.
Click on NEWS above to see our previous news releases.
Hiking rules and suggestions. We provide a reference map of the existing network of trails. After RVNA plan (trails and interpretive areas) this section can become Explore RVNA.
A trip into RVNA can raise awareness that our yards were like the natural area at one time. How can we care for Our Yards as an extension of that nature?
