Bob Sallinger, 'the face of conservation in Portland,' dies suddenly at 57

Nov. 6, 2024: This story has been updated with Sallinger’s cause of death. If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

Bob Sallinger, a longtime environmental activist involved in numerous conservation efforts across Oregon, died Thursday. He was 57 years old.

For decades, Sallinger was the face of various conservation efforts throughout Portland and the rest of the state. He frequently appeared in local news stories about those efforts, whether it was peregrine falcons on the Fremont Bridge or raising concerns about a new baseball stadium.

A graduate of Reed College, Sallinger worked for three decades with the Bird Alliance of Oregon, formerly known as the Portland Audubon Society, most notably as its conservation director. The Bird Alliance credited Sallinger’s work for having “led to many of the most exciting conservation wins” in the organization’s history.

That includes fighting to protect peregrine falcons nesting on the Fremont Bridge and other bridges across Portland. Today, the Fremont Bridge has one of the most productive falcon nests in Oregon.

WATCH: Bob Sallinger spoke on OPB’s “Oregon Field Guide” in 2010 about his effort to track falcons in the Portland area.

Those who knew Sallinger said his death leaves a gaping hole in conservation efforts in the region, describing him as someone who rarely took a break from the various wildlife and natural land projects he took on. His tireless work ethic commanded the respect of both his allies and the people he challenged.

Mike Houck, founder of the Urban Greenspaces Institute, worked alongside Sallinger for decades and said he was dedicated to conservation like few others. While many focused on specific areas, Sallinger did it all.

“As far as I’m concerned, no one living or past has had as big an impact on conservation in the state of Oregon,” Houck said.

Karen Kraus of the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon said she first met Sallinger 20 years ago when the two collaborated on the creation of Cats Safe at Home, which seeks to reduce the impact of stray cats on local wildlife.

She called Sallinger “the face of conservation in Portland,” and said there wasn‘t any local environmental issue that he wasn’t involved in.

“I think he liked being the voice for the voiceless,” Kraus said. “He liked the puzzle of it. He liked the challenge of it, and was inspired by the outcomes that could come from it.”

Sallinger’s work took him across the Willamette Valley, down to the Klamath River and even the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Many of his efforts sprang from his passion for wild birds, especially protecting marbled murrelets and the northern spotted owl, the latter of which is a threatened species.

In spearheading the Elliott State Research Forest, he worked closely on a state committee of people with varying interests — logging, species protections, forest research — and hashed out an agreement that, over the span of six years, helped turn the Elliott into Oregon’s first research forest, ensuring it would remain accessible to the public.

In recent months, he took on the position of executive director of Willamette Riverkeeper. Oregon City Police told OPB that Sallinger died by suicide.

The organization honored Sallinger in a Saturday Facebook post: “As we grieve alongside Bob’s family, we also honor his immense contributions to the broader environmental community, and will continue to impart his spirit in our work toward the protection, restoration and conservation of river habitats and water quality across the entire Willamette watershed.”

Sallinger is survived by his wife and three children.

April Ehrlich contributed reporting to this article.