Carl Hosticka

The Metro Council and boards of commissioners of Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties approved agreements this week that will set aside more than 272,100 acres of farmland, forestland and natural areas to be excluded from urban growth during the next 50 years. The agreements also set aside about 28,100 acres of land for potential future growth needs during that same period.

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The Metro Council has approved several major planning efforts to improve connections and offer transportation choices in the Southwest metro corridor. The transportation corridor, or travel demand area, includes Barbur Boulevard and Interstate 5 as the main travel routes from Portland to Tigard and Barbur Boulevard/Highway 99W as the main travel route on to Sherwood.

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After more than two years of research, study and public input, Metro and the three counties in the Portland metropolitan region are nearing the end of an unprecedented process to agree on where and how our region will grow in the next several decades.The reserves process is unique in the nation - never before has a metropolitan area mapped out a decades-long plan that identifies areas for urban growth and lands that should be set aside as rural reserves.

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Metro will be holding open houses and hearings beginning next week to give residents a voice in shaping the future of the Portland metropolitan region, specifically where urban growth will and will not occur during the next 40 to 50 years. Events will take place throughout the region, and will occur on both week days and weekends. Residents will also be able to comment online beginning Jan. 11. New detailed maps, descriptions of proposed reserves and online surveys will also be available on Metro's website beginning Jan. 11.

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Metro's Natural Areas program started 2010 with big news - literally - by purchasing 1,143 acres of forestland in the Chehalem Mountains of the Tualatin Valley. It's the largest acquisition in the history of the Portland region's two voter-approved natural area bond measures.

The new Chehalem Ridge Natural Area, south of Forest Grove, is one of the metropolitan area's biggest remaining swaths of undeveloped forest. At about the size of Oxbow Regional Park, the property is positioned to protect water quality and wildlife habitat in the Tualatin River Basin and serve as a scenic and recreational resource for the region.

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