Back in the 1970s, Oregon had a reputation as America’s ecotopia. Far-sighted lawmakers crafted legislation that promoted recycling with the bottle bill, championed a “greenway” along the Willamette River and ensured public beaches stayed open to all. But in reality, cities like Portland still lacked green spaces larger than a neighborhood park.
During his long career as urban naturalist at Portland Audubon, which was renamed the Bird Alliance of Oregon last year, Mike Houck is now head of the Urban Greenspaces Institute and is among those leading an ongoing effort to bring nature to Oregon’s largest city.
Since the 1980s, Houck has been at the center of a campaign to transform Oaks Bottom in southeast Portland from a flaming garbage dump into the city’s first urban wildlife refuge.
To celebrate his long career and love for wildlife, Mike Houck takes “Oregon Field Guide” on an urban safari to track the lifecycle of one of his greatest allies in the fight for nature – the great blue heron.
