North Decatur Street between North Baltimore Avenue and North Catlin Avenue, is part of the Baltimore Woods corridor. Unfortunately, due to its location and isolation it is also a target for homeless RV camping and illegal dumping. There are only a few homes along the North end of Decatur near North Catlin Avenue, and the rest of it is has no residences and no street lights. Friends of Baltimore Woods has been actively working to improve both the camping and dumping problems. Campers and RVs have been reported regularly and evicted. Debris left at former campsites has been collected and properly disposed of.  RV parking spaces have been blocked by…

Tuesday November 11, 2025 was the final day for the Friends of Baltimore Woods (FOBW) and Portland Garden Club (PGC) to work together on the Lower Meadow Restoration Project. About 25 determined and focused women from the Portland Garden Club, joined Friends’ volunteers to plant over 1000 native bulbs into the 12 fenced beds of the Baltimore Woods Lower Meadow located just north of the North Catlin entrance to the Baltimore Woods Natural Area. Once a Toyota Parking Lot, the Lower Meadow was de-paved in 2012. Because of the challenging growing environment, the process of restoration that began 14 years ago, still continues today. All the bulbs selected for this…

No doubt climate change and habitat loss are the crisis of our age, but would it give you relief to know there is action you can take in your own backyard to remedy these trends? You can create a native habitat in your garden. One that uses less water and chemicals, is ecologically sustainable and attracts native insects, birds and mammals. When you plant native plants in your garden, you are supporting native insects who have co-evolved with native plants over centuries. These native insects and pollinators in turn provide food for native birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. In short, you would be creating a local healthy ecosystem pocket, in…

Sunday May 18, 2025 was the 45th anniversary of the eruption of Mt St Helens, and the 4th Free Plein Air Watercolor Class offered by the Friends of Baltimore Woods (FOBW).  All the classes in the past have been staged in the Upper Meadow of Baltimore Woods. This class was staged in the cool and shady woods of Catlin Forest near the Lower Meadow. Amazingly, it is remarkable to note that the Lower Meadow was once the site of a Toyota Parking Lot. The parking lot was de-paved in 2012 by FOBW, Metro and Depave. It is now the site of a FOBW & Portland Garden Club Meadow Habitat Restoration…

  Friends of Baltimore Woods thanks everyone who supported our annual sale & fundraiser with Sparrowhawk Native Plants, including customers and, most especially, volunteers. This year’s plant sale offered more than 110 native species from their website, Sparrowhawknativeplants.com. On-line ordering began on March 2nd. Thanks to a community of native plant enthusiasts, we quickly filled up all of our available sale slots. Plant pickups took place in St Johns on a balmy April 18th and 19th. A generous portion of the sale’s proceeds went to Friends of Baltimore Woods for our ongoing work on restoration and plant propagation. Here’s a message from Nikkie West and Tracy Cozine, Sparrowhawk proprietors—the ones in the bright pink aprons: Another annual spring native plant sale knocked it…

At the 2025 FOBW Sparrowhawk Native Plant Sale, I shared a covered table space with Lisa Manning apart from the Sparrowhawk canopies. I offered my hand-turned wooden bowls, plates, and lidded boxes for sale. I made them mostly on my lathe from cherry, oak and maple woods. Lisa sold her self-illustrated children’s book, Falcons in the City, and colorful nature-inspired postcards. I started with offering about four to five dozen things for sale, mostly wooden bowls of various sizes. This was my first exposure of my handmade items to the general public, so I was a little nervous about the reception they might have. All the items were donated to…

As of early June, it’s still spring in Northwest Oregon, and despite the sudden dryness and the frequency of hot days in May, bees and other pollinators are buzzing flowers, birds are nesting and raising their newly fledged young, and we are grateful for the abundance of life in our yards & natural areas. In the Baltimore Woods Meadows, the grasses are growing taller and beginning to form seeds. After our extensive re-seeding efforts of the last two years in the Lower Meadow, this meadow is looking much more lush than it has in years past. We hope to increase the presence of native grasses and lessen the onslaught from…

To volunteer at Baltimore Woods, you just need a bit of grit, sturdy boots, and a rain parka because the first instructions are about safety. Watch out for sharp rocks and boulders, divots, dips, and dells. In November, 15 Portland Garden Club (PGC) members met the challenge. The transformation of the Lower Meadow of Baltimore Woods from an urban cemented wasteland to a natural habitat filled with native species and welcoming to raptors, critters, and hikers began about 22 years ago with a committed group of residents, that includes current active board members Jim Barnas, Barbara Quinn and Betsy Valle. Our Portland Garden Club (PGC) Conservation/PAA committee through the Garden…

It is with heavy hearts, that the environmental protection community of Portland received the unexpected news of the passing of conservation legend, Bob Sallinger, in late October 2024. It may not be well known that Bob Sallinger has played an essential role in advocating for North Portland’s rich natural habitats and wildlife. In his role as conservation director of Audubon, now the Oregon Bird Alliance, he spent years working alongside residents on the Superfund cleanup that affects the lower 11 miles of North Portland’s Willamette River. He attended an untold number of meetings, events, hearings, and stakeholder discussions with us in the five years before the final EPA Record of…

Some visitors to Baltimore Woods Natural Area might be surprised to see the recent addition of wire fencing around nearly one dozen planting beds in the lower meadow area, near the entrance at N Catlin Ave. These beds were planted with a variety of native plant species in the fall of 2023 and again recently in fall 2024. The restoration project for this area has the goal of increasing plant diversity in the meadow habitat, so we’ve added over a dozen species of native grasses and flowering forbs to these beds, as well as throughout the grassy landscape. However, we have noticed an issue arising with the new plants in…