Bird Alliance of Oregon has long dreamed of building a new Wildlife Care Center and opening an east Portland location to expand our public outreach. Over two years ago, we began searching for a site to construct a new Wildlife Care Center. Part of this journey included developing specific site criteria to build a wildlife hospital, as well as a secondary criteria list that would provide space to do even more. We combed through over 100 sites for a property that met our rigorous requirements—acreage, access to public transportation, noise level, sewer and water access, parking, and much more. With this site, we got everything we wanted and then some.
A New Wildlife Care Center
Since the 1930s, residents have relied on the Wildlife Care Center—the busiest rehabilitation center in the region—to treat injured and orphaned native wildlife. The Wildlife Care Center is here for our community 365 days a year and has provided over 100,000 native birds and other wildlife with a second chance at life in the wild. The Care Center is more than a rehabilitation facility; it’s one of our most valuable outreach tools to educate the public about preventing injuries from window strikes, cat predation, and poisoning so that tens of thousands of animals never have to come through our doors.
Today, our Wildlife Care Center treats more than 4,000 injured and orphaned wildlife and responds to 10,000 calls every year, all from a cramped 1,400-square-foot building. The current facility at our sanctuary on Cornell Road is 35 years old and can no longer meet demand or modern wildlife care standards. The region needs a larger, more technologically advanced center, one that will provide our wildlife patients with modern care and treatment.
The size of the new site will allow us to construct a 5,000-square-foot world-class wildlife hospital, complete with modernized equipment and treatment practices, including a surgical suite and lab, and bigger, specialized enclosures for animals, enabling us to accommodate a wide range of patients.
We expect the new Wildlife Care Center will offer the capacity to treat more than 6,000 animals a year, helping us better respond to large influxes of patients during breeding season and extreme weather events. The site’s location near the center of Portland will make access easier for more people and more feasible for community members to bring animals. The new site is accessible by public transportation and is close to two interstate highways.
Branching Out to NE 82nd Avenue
Our sanctuary on NW Cornell Road will forever be our home, but we can’t wait to expand and join the Madison South neighborhood. The 82nd Avenue corridor has long been neglected despite being a central transportation artery…but that’s all changing. Because of sustained community organizing, hundreds of millions of city, state, and federal dollars are being invested in 82nd Avenue to improve pedestrian safety, plant trees, build affordable housing, and revitalize the community. We intend to be a part of that transformation and bring our significant public service to the neighborhood.
Located between two ideal neighbors, McDaniel High School and Dharma Rain Zen Center, our new property is an urban oasis already used by locals to walk and exercise. We’ve been thrilled by the outpouring of community support, from residents to nonprofit partners to businesses. When we made the announcement, responses thundered in from neighbors who want to volunteer and people who can’t wait to visit once the new site is completed.
We’re also excited to be in early discussions with McDaniel High School about being a part of their CTE (Career and Technical Education) program. Plus, we’re in talks with many nonprofits and businesses about current and future partnerships. We plan on the new site becoming a hub, not just for us, but for the larger community.
About the Property
The site, like many other undeveloped urban plots, is a former landfill, was a rock quarry, and was later filled with rubble from the construction of I-205. Bird Alliance of Oregon has advocated for decades on policies to remediate brownfield sites like this one and put them back to productive use. Now we can be part of the solution by turning this open space into a destination that truly benefits the community, the environment, and the region’s wildlife. And we intend to make it a true destination for both locals and the larger Portland metro region.
The site is a birding hotspot, despite the sparse vegetation, with appearances by many bird species from Lazuli Buntings to Western Meadowlarks to Savannah Sparrows. One notable sighting in 2018 was a pair of Eastern Bluebirds, the first time the species had ever been seen in Oregon, and last month a Common Poorwill was observed right next door!
The flat topography provides an ideal canvas for habitat restoration, development, and an accessible natural area for all to enjoy, complete with trails, which is critical in a part of the city that lacks parks and green spaces. Portland Parks and Recreation has identified East and Northeast Portland as the areas with the lowest amount of natural space within two miles of a household. With our new purchase, we can increase access to nature for hundreds of thousands of residents, upholding our core value of increasing access to nature for all.
What to Expect
This transformative project will take a few years to complete: securing necessary funding, and developing and implementing plans. We’re thankful for early funding from the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) so we can get to work immediately on two parts of the site development.
Two-Acre Solar Array: Construction to Begin in 2025
We’re collaborating with APANO and Bonneville Environmental Foundation to install a two-acre community solar array. The array will help offset utility costs for around 200 low-income community members in the next 20 years.
Habitat Restoration: Construction and Planting to Begin in 2025
We will restore several acres of habitat across the property and build up a restoration youth cohort through our Green Leaders program. While the current Green Leaders program centers on environmental education, this grant will launch an expansion to add a track of training and work experience focused on habitat restoration with our partners Hacienda CDC and Verde. With these funds we’ll restore habitat by planting hundreds of native trees, shrubs, and grasses, and pollinator habitat underneath and around the solar panels, making the space beneficial for both people and wildlife.
The property purchase completes a 10+ year search for a location to build a new Wildlife Care Center. Countless staff, board, volunteers, and donors, some of whom are no longer with us, helped make this dream a reality. We especially want to honor the big vision and tireless efforts of Bob Sallinger (former Conservation Director), Deb Sheaffer (former Veterinarian) and McKenzie Joslin-Snyder (former Wildlife Rehabilitator) to make this moment possible. While Bob, Deb, and McKenzie are no longer with us, we know their legacy will live on in the tens of thousands of animals that fly free because of their work.
Stay tuned on this multiyear project as we take next steps to transform the property into a truly exciting new fixture of East Portland.
