March 8, 2001 Contact: Aaron Ellis -- Port of Portland

No. \_\_ 503-944-7054 / <ellisa@portptld.com>

Scott Welch -- Salmon Corps

503-249-0820 / <development@salmoncorps.com>

SALMON CORPS & PACE UNIVERSITY VOLUNTEERS HELPING REVEGETATE PORT'S
ALBINA FERRY DOCK RIVERBANK SITE

Up to 15 students from New York City's Pace University on March 11 and
12 will join 14 Salmon Corps members to complete a project begun two
weeks ago to clean up and revegetate a 900-foot-long stretch of
steep-sloped, eroding riverbank, across the Willamette River from the
Port of Portland's Terminal 1. The site, which reverted to the Port
after its merger with the Portland Commission of Public Docks in 1971,
originally sported a dock for Portland's long-defunct Albina ferry.

The Port is paying for all necessary materials and equipment, while
Salmon Corps members are providing the services for this project, which
are funded as part of a \$149,000 federal matching grant from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's community-based
Restoration Program. The Pace University students who will assist the
Salmon Corps team are connected with a university program called "Active
Spring Break," where students trade places with those from another
school (in this case, Salem's Willamette University) to perform
restoration activities around the country.

The NOAA Restoration Program grant is the first federal money available
to help pay for efforts to stabilize and revegetate the Port's 12 miles
of riverfront property. Since 1998, the Port has partnered with
volunteers from Reynolds School District, Multnomah Youth Cooperative,
the City of Portland's Bureau of Environmental Services, Blazers Boys &
Girls Club, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and AmeriCorps. Those
partnerships have allowed the Port to undertake various
habitat-enhancing and erosion control projects on more than 10 percent
of its undeveloped riverbanks.

The old Albina ferry dock riverbank project now underway first required
removing tons of woody debris along the riverbank and cutting back
nuisance blackberry bushes that covered the adjacent hillside. With the
site now ready, Salmon Corps members are in the process of planting
approximately 3,000 native shrubs and trees provided by the Port,
including snowberry and salmonberry bushes, and hawthorn, ash,
cottonwood and willow trees.

After taking root, the native plants will help prevent soil erosion into
the river, improving water quality for fish and other wildlife.

"This collaborative effort is indicative of what the urban restoration
public and private partnerships can accomplish for the preservation of
future salmon runs," said Charles F. Sams, III, vice president and
Northwest programs director for Earth Conservation Corps, Salmon Corps'
parent organization.

Salmon Corps, an action program of the Earth Conservation Corps, began
in 1994 with the goal of inspiring Native American young adults (18-25
years old) to repair the disappearing salmon habitats of the Pacific
Northwest. It is a dynamic partnership among the Nez Perce,
Shoshone-Bannock, Stillaguamish, Swinomish, Tulalip, Upper Skagit, Warm
Springs, and Yakama Tribes; AmeriCorps; Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish
Commission; U.S. Department of Energy; BPA, Columbia Sportswear Company;
William and Randolph Hearst Foundation; and other corporations and
organizations.

"This approach serves a dual purpose by rehabilitating two of the
Pacific Northwest's most valued resources---salmon and our community's
young adults," Sams said.

Since its inception, over 500 young people have participated in the
program, 70% who enter the program without a GED or high school diploma
earn one within the program year, 27% who graduate have gone on to
post-secondary education, 47% who graduate from the program go on to
full time work in and around the communities they served, and 50% of the
graduates return for a second year of service.

Salmon Corps members receive a modest stipend, child care and health
care, and are provided the opportunity to earn a G.E.D. or high school
diploma (if necessary). They also earn up to 17 college credits in
Natural Resource Management for their services, and are awarded a
\$4,725 educational scholarship upon graduation from the program.

In line with Salmon Corps' goals, the NOAA Restoration Program's intent
"is to inspire local efforts to conduct meaningful, on-the-ground
restoration of marine, estuarine and riparian habitat," said Matthew
Kimble, the organization's Northwest Region restoration ecologist.

Kimble noted that since its inception in 1996, NOAA's community-based
Restoration Program has partnered with federal agencies, states, local
governments, non-governmental and non-profit organizations, businesses,
industry and schools to fund more than 100 locally-based efforts to
restore marine and coastal habitats around the country.

The Port's riverbank restoration agreement with Salmon Corps is
scheduled to last six months, although the agreement may be renewed in
order for Salmon Corps to continue monitoring the site and watering the
new plants until they become established.

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