City staff recommend approving PGE’s Forest Park logging plan. The hearing is October 14.
On October 2, the City of Portland’s planning staff recommended that the Hearings Officer approve PGE’s refiled Harborton Reliability Project in Forest Park. The public hearing is Wednesday, October 14, at 1:30 PM on Zoom.
What PGE is asking to do, from the City’s staff report: remove 393 trees across 4.7 acres of Forest Park (375 living, 18 dead), permanently fill two wetlands, disturb two streams, and run a new 1,400-foot 230 kV transmission line into the Harborton substation, with temporary logging roads and landings through the park’s North Unit.
A unanimous City Council denied the same project in May 2025 after FPNA, Forest Park Conservancy, and Bird Alliance of Oregon appealed it. PGE took the City to the Land Use Board of Appeals, then asked to mediate. The City settled with PGE in July; the three organizations were excluded from the final negotiations and did not sign. The settlement commits PGE to $5.5 million in mitigation funds and report.
FPNA is a party to this case and will testify on October 14.
Mail a letter to Hearings Office, 1900 SW 4th Avenue, Room 3100, Portland, OR 97201. Put the case number, LU 26-051203 CU EN GW, and your name and address on it.
Send it by noon Tuesday, October 13 so it is in the file when the hearing opens. Only people who testify or write before the record closes can appeal the decision later.
Give to the Defend Forest Park fund. Legal counsel through the hearing, the record, and any appeal is the one part of this fight volunteers cannot do themselves. FPNA is raising $5,000 to defend the park. Contributions are tax-deductible; FPNA is a 501(c)(3) Oregon nonprofit.
