Go to the Source and Questions to Consider

Excerpts from the Report of the Park Board, Portland, Oregon, 1903
"Big Postwar Industrial Center Proposed to Save Vanport City," October 22, 1944
Feasibility Recommendations for the Vanport Site, 1958
Norman Smale letter to Mike Houck, 1988, describing changes in the Columbia Slough

What reasons do the Olmsted Brothers present for developing an extensive park system in the city of Portland?
How do the Olmsted Brothers describe the Columbia Slough?
What considerations, besides aesthetics, are included in the Olmsted Brothers' proposal for the lands and waters of the Columbia Slough, Swan Island, and Guilds Lake?
What were the proposed uses of the Vanport site in 1944 and 1958? What elements make the site attractive to industry? To recreation?
How does Norman Smale describe the changes in the Columbia Slough from the 1920s to the 1980s? What are the continuities?

Senate Joint Resolution II, Authorizes the Columbia Slough Closure, 1969
Letter from Shaver Transportation Company to the Corps of Engineers, June 22, 1968
Letter to the Editor of the Press from Arthur A. Israelson, against the Columbia Slough Development Corporation
Oregonian article - "Cruise discovers 'lost' canal," May 9, 1971 and response by Leo White of the Multnomah Drainage District
Position of the League of Women Voters on Rivergate Development
Goals and Objectives of the North Portland Peninsula Study
Oregonian article - "Factions Curse or defend Oregon's Cinderella Slough"
Columbia Slough - Should it Be Saved or Paved?" - The Press, May 10, 1972
"Planners present alternative plans for Columbia Slough" - The Press, May 31, 1972
Articles - "Straub Hits Closure of Slough," and ""Channel for barges proposed for slough"
Letter to the Port of Portland from Superintendent of Parks, September 11, 1972
Letter from the Oregon Bass & Panfish Club to the Environmental Task Force, August 18, 1972
Letter from Jamie Hart to Commissioner Schwab, July 25, 1975 regarding Columbia Slough Flood Control Project
Letter from Howard Galbraith to Commissioner Schwab, October 13, 1975, advocating Plan #8
Letter from Lawrence Barber to Commissioner Schwab, October 14, 1975, regarding recreation, navigation, and slough closure
Columbia Slough Development proposal for the formation of a local improvement district, January 19, 1977
Oregonian Article, June 13, 1978 – "City Council report rates slough dredging too costly"
Rivergate-North Portland Survey Study: Flood Control and Drainage Subgroup Workshop Notes, June 28, 1973
Mazamas support Plan 3
Game Commission Letter to the Citizen's Resource Panel, July 26, 1972
View Maps of proposed North Portland Peninsula Plans

What reasons does Congress give for authorizing construction of levees, dikes, and tidegates across the Columbia Slough?
Why did Shaver Transportation Company support closure of the Columbia Slough?
Why did Arthur Israelson oppose the Columbia Slough Development Corporation?
What do members of the Columbia Slough Development Corporation and Leo White have to say about Columbia Slough closure?
What is the position of the League of Women Voters on managing the Columbia Slough? Why?
What are the alternative plans for the Columbia Slough? Who are the major beneficiaries of each plan? Why do various groups have different opinions about what should happen to the Columbia Slough?
What plan would you support? Why?

Excerpt of Lieutenant William Broughton from the Journals of Captain George Vancouver, 1792
Lewis and Clark describe Image Canoe Island
Oregonian article - "Island Land Purchased," February 6, 1927
Oregon Journal article - "Formal Opening of Resort at 2:30 p.m.," May 26, 1928
Spectator article - "The Coney Island of the West," July 1942
Jantzen Beach Center - "Jantzen Beach Merry-go-round"

How did explorers view Hayden Island and the Columbia Floodplain?
In what way did businesspeople view Hayden Island and Jantzen Beach in the early twentieth century?
What activities were available at Jantzen Beach by the 1940s?
In what ways does use of Jantzen Beach as an amusement park coincide with the plans proposed by the Olmsted Brothers?

Excerpts from the Metro Regional Services "Protecting Our Region's Rivers, Floodplains and Wetlands: An Introduction to regional water quality and floodplain management issues and policies"
Existing Policy and Legal Considerations reviewing relevant regional, state and federal policies and court interpretations
City of Portland Planning Bureau Web Site, outlining land-use planning goals
Susan Barthel talks about the Columbia Slough Watershed Council's successes and drawbacks
Nina Bell talks about her early involvement in the Columbia Slough Watershed Council
Columbia Slough Watershed Council Rules of Governance
Columbia Steel Castings Suit, 1991
Columbia Steel Castings Suit, 1992
Lawsuit regarding Marine Drive

What water quality and floodplain management policies are most significant to managing the Columbia Slough?
How do regional, state and federal policies and court interpretations affect management of the Columbia Slough?
What are the most significant City of Portland land-use planning goals for the Columbia Slough? How do they fit with floodplain protection and regional, state and federal policies?
What is the role of the Columbia Slough Watershed Council?
What are the most significant tenets of the Columbia Slough Watershed Council's Rules of Governance? How do the Rules of Governance operate to engender action or inaction? What methods and factors do the courts use to interpret conflicting uses of Columbia Slough lands? How does this influence management, use, and decision-making about slough lands? In the Columbia Steel Castings suit? In the Marine Drive suit?
Do you think that industry and recreation are compatible on the Columbia Slough? Why or why not?