31-01-2025
Portlanders weigh in on PGE's proposal to remove Forest Park trees for project
PORTLAND, Ore. () — Many Portlanders testified in a public hearing on whether a utility company should be permitted to remove a portion of trees from one of the nation's largest urban forests.
At the four-hour public hearing on Wednesday, City of Portland Hearings Officer Marisha Childs received both sides of arguments concerning Portland General Electric's ongoing .
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Although the company has already completed or commenced the project's first two phases, the hearing was focused on phase three — which would remove 376 trees from five acres of the 5,200-acre Forest Park. According to PGE, the plan would ensure stable electricity and prevent wildfire risks by upgrading existing transmission lines and installing new ones in the area.
The utility that it hired a board-certified master arborist to identify the maximum amounts of trees that could be preserved throughout the park. The company has offered to plant 398 Oregon white oaks and 418 short stature trees as well.
However, environmental advocates from organizations like and have argued the project would hinder the park's plant and animal communities — including Douglas fir and big leaf maple trees that are more than 150 years old.
Portland Permitting and Development also opposed PGE's proposal in a staff report released earlier this month. The report claims the company has failed to present a construction management plan that 'minimizes impacts to resources,' and has failed to show it won't harm the 'overall scenic, recreational, and open space values of Forest Park,' .
During Wednesday's hearing, Tonkon Torp attorney David Peterson — who is representing PGE — said the staff report only looked at current impacts.
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'Since the goal is to protect natural resources not just now but in the long run, we should look at the longer term benefits of PGE mitigation proposals… and those are numerous,' Peterson added. 'It's going to improve climate resiliency, it's going to increase biodiversity, improve wildfire resistance [and] contribute to our societal goals to free ourselves of carbon-based energy.'
Multiple speakers offered support for PGE's proposal.
'The primary proposal, in my view, is the least-impact solution for balancing our collective growing power needs,' one speaker said.
'I love Forest Park, and I know that the reactions from a lot of people have been emotional, but once I read the mitigation report, I realized that the PGE incursion into the park will leave it better environmentally,' another speaker added.
People can listen to the full hearing
Childs will accept further feedback on the proposal through Wednesday, Feb. 19. The hearings officer is expected to issue her decision 17 days later.
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