Update Aug 4, 2021: After negotiations with seller and encouragement from the community, city bought 2-acre parcel for $1.65 million.
Say thanks to city council for supporting Hallinan Woods last night!
September 25, 2020
Great news! Our efforts to come together as a community and express our desire to preserve the 2-acre Yates property adjacent to Hallinan Woods as a natural habitat with our city leaders was a success!
Last night, the Lake Oswego City Council took a bold step toward conserving Hallinan Woods. They unanimously approved a resolution to acquire the Yates property, by eminent domain if necessary. This is a huge step forward to expand Hallinan Woods and protect wildlife habitat, more than 100 mature and diverse trees, clean air and water, and outdoor recreation!
Thank you to everyone who contributed in making our voices heard. We should all feel proud of our accomplishment.
While our efforts are not over — the deal is not done yet — City Council deserves our thanks today. Let’s express our gratitude to City Council for listening to citizens to secure this property. Leave a comment below to thank them! We will make sure they see it.
And, please share this page with your LO friends and family.
| -Coalition for Hallinan Woods & LoveLOParks |
Thank you, LO City Council, for listening and seeing the value of those white oak trees from the 1830’s, and what they are currently doing for quality of life in our neighborhood! The neighborhood came out strong for the first Open Space measure in 1992, and we appreciate you following up on the spirit of those commitments! – former co-founder and president of HHNA
Thank you for being stewards of the natural habitat and protecting the woods. This is so important. Thank you for hearing us.
Thank you, City Council, for reading all our messages and responding to our pleas to save the wonderful, little piece of paradise, Hallinan Woods. You did the right thing and we appreciate the 7-0 vote.
Thank you, City Council. I am very encouraged to hear that you listened to our concerns and are taking action for expanding Hallinan Woods.
Thank you, Counselors, for listening to the wishes of the Hallinan Heights neighborhood and wisely agreeing with our desire to preserve Hallinan Woods as a natural area in which families will enjoy the beauty, power and wisdom of the woods for many years.
Council: Thank you all for doing the right- and long range- thing. Please keep our natural and preserved areas alive. Don’t kill the Golden Goose.
Thank you to the city council and to all of the citizens who have worked so hard to increase awareness, share information, and save this property. Our parks and greenspaces are so important to our beautiful community.
Thank you city council! Great work!
Thank you City Council members for your unanimous vote to acquire the Yates property. This was a grand civics lesson for all the community members, young and old, who encouraged you to save Hallinan Woods.
Thank you, thank you!
Donna Larson
Thank you for all of your wildland preservation work. It adds to the health of our community, as well as the natural world around us.
Thank you for saving this wonderful piece of Lake Oswego! Our City Council rocks having their focus on the right things that make this city a better place for generations to come. I am so grateful to all the citizens that spoke up on this important issue.
A big thank you to the city councilors for listening to your constituents….we are so appreciative! And a big shoutout to our community members who worked to make this happen as well.
Thank you City Council for standing up for what is right. You have left a deep legacy for the people of LO for years to some.
Thank you, City Council! The Hallinan Woods are a precious and educational resource for both children and adults. Thank you for voting to purchase the Yates property.
Thank you members of the City Council. This is an investment in our city, our people and the planet. There are many issues in front of you, and we appreciate your energy and time in addressing those and this one in particular.
HUGE THANK YOU!! This means so much to all of us and our beautiful, precious wildlife. My heart is full feeling immense gratitude. ❤
Thank you so much LO city council for taking steps to preserve and protect our beautiful natural habitat. We who live in LO appreciate it! It is so important to save our forests and green spaces. Thank you!
Thank you for supporting a green space for future generations. Can we make this a trend? 🙂
Thank you, City Councilors. Please make it happen.
Thank you so much for this wise decision. LO needs more trees than houses!
Huge thanks to the LO City Council. What a wonderful resource for us all now and what an important legacy for future residents of and visitors to Lake Oswego.
Sincerely, park enthusiast and LO resident, Joanne Trask
Thank you for keeping our shared green spaces green.
Thank you for keeping our shared green spaces green.
Thank you City Council…now it’s time for the Yates owners to do their civic duty as well. For our future.
Dear Lake Oswego City Council Members: Thank you very much for resolving to preserve the integrity of the Hallinan Woods for future generations. Those who follow us will forever respect you for this decision. And so do those of us who enjoy that precious space today. Thanks again – and keep up the fantastic work.
P.S. This outcome is especially welcome to me because 2020 has been such a very hard year for so many. What a great way to uplift your community’s spirit!
Thank you City Leaders! You listened, considered, and acted forthrightly! We appreciate your action.
I think I was in more of a state of distress about the looming destruction of these woods than I even realized. This news has had a huge impact on me and my sense of well being and hope for the future. Thank-you very very much for your unanimous vote and I cross my fingers that the acquisition goes quickly and smoothly.
Kelly Snook, Hallinan neighbor
THANK YOU, Thank You, thank you!!! While it took more time that it should have, you listened to citizens and demonstrated leadership with your recognition that this property is more valuable to its citizens remaining a natural habitat than it is developed. Hallinan Woods, with this additional acreage, is your legacy to the future residents of Lake Oswego. Now, more than ever, citizens are searching for courageous leaders who recognize that our human habits of the past must not be our habits of the future. Lake Oswego’s natural resources – big trees, natural areas, and open spaces – are our biggest contribution to combating climate change and our future. They are the single most reason many of us choose to live here. We must place a higher value on these natural resources. We must protect them! Again, thank you for giving us some sunshine during a challenging year!
Thanks to the LO City Counsel for expanding our much-loved parks. We all desperately need a small patch of green in our hectic lives to rejuvenate our bodies and minds.
Thanks so much for caring for our Hallinan forest.
I cannot think what a shock it would be to loose this beautiful, wild place so close to our house, where our children played, where they built treehouses and where we now, being 80, take our daily walks.
It has to be safed!
City Council Members- A sincere thank you from my wife, our daughter, the community, and future generations. I’ve had quite a bit of anxiety around the potential loss of this land. The Yates Property will greatly benefit our community and environment, providing a natural area directly within one of our neighborhoods. We are so happy about this and I can say for sure that future generations that walk through Hallinan Woods will be thankful you took the action to preserve the land for the greater good!
Thank you again,
Rich
Thank you, thank you, thank you to all city council members for listening and acting to acquire and preserve the Hallinan Woods. You are all a shining example of how functional government can work!
THANK YOU, City Council, for the unanimous vote to keep Halinan Woods natural! Lake Oswego is truly a gem with our natural preserves and we are very grateful for your efforts!
Sincerely,
Matthew and Arminda Cockett
Thanks for having the foresight to invest in the future for Lake Oswego residents and their families. I hope this sets a precedent and expresses an ongoing commitment that will be reflected in future decision making.
Thank you City Council for protecting our city and keeping it beautiful!! Trees and nature is what makes this city beautiful and I’m grateful this city council voted to protect it.
Thank you from a grateful resident!
What a great win for our city and community. Thanks, LO City Council! Expanding our natural areas during this time is an incredible gift.
Many thanks.
Thank you, City Council, for making the decision to move forward with acquiring the Yates property and expanding Hallinan Woods.
Dearest Community members and LO City Councilors, THANK YOU all for caring about our natural environmental spaces and putting them first!
We must preserve as many parks as possible to address global climate change and for a higher quality of life. This matters!
Yours Respectfully
Megan
Thanks city county council.
I’m still in shock about this turn of events. But I am SO THANKFUL to all seven of you for being stewards and protectors of our natural areas in Lake Oswego. Thank you!
Thank you city councilors for protecting Hallinan Woods and Lake Oswego! Our natural spaces are so important. We are grateful that you recognize their value and leverage your roles into stewardship for protected green spaces. Cheers to many years of enjoyment of Hallinan Woods today and for future generations.
Thank you for becoming leaders on this important issue. My family loves Hallinan Woods here in our neighborhood. We enjoy the peace of the forest every week. Preserving this habitat is also a local contribution to the global effort to grapple with climate change. It would be a trajedy to lose Hallinan Woods. Acquiring natural areas like these is a key goal when voters approved the Parks Bond in the first place, and it’s nice to know you are listening to your constituents. Sincerely, Brady Bennon, Hallinan neighbor.
Thank you so much for understanding the opportunity that is ours to preserve Hallinan Woods. If it’s not done now, we can never get it back. I know this is something that–in the future–we will look back on and be so grateful to the council members who had the foresight to work to save this green space. Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking steps toward making this a reality.