The Intertwine Alliance is a leading Northwest biocarbon innovator because we are growing a movement for parks, trails and natural areas that is enhancing nature’s carbon-storage capacity over tens of thousands of acres in networked systems throughout the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan region.
The Alliance is a coalition of 80 partners -- public agencies, companies and non-profit organizations --committed to restoring nature in and around the dozens of communities in the region, and to helping people of all ages access the outdoors near where they live via a comprehensive network of trails.
A few years ago, we realized that all of our greatest achievements for parks, trails and natural areas had one thing in common – a coalition of public, private and non-profit organizations and leaders. So, we thought, rather than put this coalition together each time we want to do something big, why not put it together and keep it together and keep doing big things
Like all the best biocarbon solutions, the work of the Intertwine Alliance is not only helping address climate change by pulling more carbon pollution out of the sky – it’s also delivering multiple benefits close to home. By ensuring access to nature for all kinds of people we are promoting active transportation, physical and mental health and well-being, clean water and clean air, and fish and wildlife habitat.
Recent Intertwine Alliance activities and achievements include:
- Completion of the region’s first Regional Conservation Strategy and Biodiversity Atlas;
- Working with Oregon Department of Forestry, Washington Department of Natural Resources, and Portland Metro on a Regional Urban Forestry Plan;
- Helping Portland Metro and Portland Parks and Recreation to shape ballot measures for 2013;
- Working with similar coalitions in Chicago, Houston, Cleveland, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, and Milwaukee to develop a national agenda for conservation in urban regions, and to help attract and coordinate federal investment;
- Identifying priorities for the region’s active transportation network and helping develop a region-wide Active Transportation Plan; and
- Managing a website that serves as a central portal to accessing nature for the region, integrating information from more than two dozen agencies managing parks and trails. Our partners are now implementing an integrated Intertwine parks and trails signing system so that residents can navigate as if this is one big integrated system.
The Alliance exists to ensure the region’s trail network gets completed, our natural areas get restored, and people of all ages discover they can enjoy the outdoors near where they live. We exist to make the region more attractive to new businesses and help our existing businesses attract talent. We help reduce utility and transportation costs and keep air and water clean. And we are showing how a major metropolitan region can come together to mobilize nature to help address our global climate crisis in ways that benefit the people living in our communities today and for generations to come.
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