By Michael Milstein
The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon)
Copyright 2006 The Oregonian
All Rights Reserved
The Port of Portland will start cutting down cottonwood trees this week that have grown into the flight path of the Troutdale Airport, making it impossible for big firefighting air tankers to land and replenish their supplies of fire retardant.
There were no appeals of a Multnomah County decision allowing the cutting, which means the decision is final, said county spokesman Mike Pullen.
The choice was complicated by the location of the trees on the east side of the Sandy River, just inside the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. The scenic area carries extra protections and requires a special review for many activities.
Many of the trees are on state land inside the scenic area. The Port of Portland, which runs the Troutdale Airport, has an easement allowing it to cut the trees to maintain the airport approach.
Contractors working for the Port of Portland were scheduled to begin roping off the area today and should start cutting trees by Tuesday, said Steve Johnson, a spokesman for the port. He said it probably will take about a week to cut all of the trees protruding into the flight path.
He said crews will start with the tallest trees and probably cut at least 300 and perhaps as many as 1,000 cottonwoods.
“It will make one helluva difference,” said Marv Woidyla, owner of Gorge Winds Aviation, which provides flight services at the airport. “But it’s one of those things where I’ll believe it when I see it.”
The U.S. Forest Service last month closed its base at the airport to large tankers because the trees block the way.
Friends of the Columbia Gorge originally raised objections not to cutting the trees, but to the way the Port tried to obtain permission. The Port wanted the cutting exempted from more intensive review that applies to other projects within the scenic area.
Multnomah County Planning Director Karen Schilling determined the cutting could go forward without the review, but other Port plans such as replanting the area with lower-growing native shrubs must be reviewed.
Michael Lang of Friends of the Gorge said the conservation group is satisfied with the decision.
“We’re quite frankly more interested in long-term restoration there,” he said.