First board meeting of the Intertwine Alliance. Photo courtesy of Mike Houck

One of my roles as a Metro Councilor is to serve as a liaison to the Intertwine Alliance. What is the Intertwine, anyway? The Intertwine is our regional network of parks, trails and natural areas. Forest Park, Smith and Bybee Lakes, the East Buttes ̶ they’re all part of what we call the Intertwine. These open spaces are important to us all, as they provide us opportunities for recreation, keep our air and water clean, provide places for us and our children to explore nature, and help us stay healthy.

The Intertwine Alliance is a broad coalition of public, private and nonprofit partners who share a common goal of preserving, investing in and spreading the word about the Intertwine. We all know that acquiring, protecting, restoring and maintaining these regional assets requires resources that, in this economy, are becoming harder and harder to come by. Working together beyond jurisdictional and geographic boundaries allows us to create efficiencies, leverage investments and be more effective in reaching our common mission.

The Alliance is a nonprofit corporation funded by coalition members, and I recently attended its first two board meetings. I look forward to working with the Alliance Board in the future to further efforts to support the treasured parks and open spaces that make this region such a great place to live.

Explore the Intertwine