{"id":207079,"date":"2025-10-07T16:09:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T16:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/207079\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T16:09:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T16:09:10","slug":"whats-a-soil-and-water-conservation-district-and-does-multnomah-county-still-need-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/207079\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s a soil and water conservation district? And does Multnomah County still need one?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Farmer<\/p>\n

Farmer and nurse, Bear Carter, inspects apples on her farm in Troutdale, Ore. on Sept. 29, 2005.<\/p>\n

Kristian Foden-Vencil \/ OPB<\/p>\n

Most of us weren\u2019t around to see the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. But a mixture of drought and poor farming practices saw the topsoil of a half dozen states stripped away. Picture the dusty and desolate landscape of John Steinbeck\u2019s \u201cThe Grapes of Wrath.\u201d<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s reaction was to create soil conservation districts across the country, according to Kelly Beamer, the executive director of the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur district was started in 1950 by a group of passionate landowners and farmers that wanted to come together and focus on soil erosion,\u201d Beamer said.<\/p>\n

Back then, three-quarters of the Portland metro area was rural, filled with hundreds of small farms. The new conservation district taught farmers and landowners the importance of things like cover crops and contour farming. <\/p>\n

But Multnomah County is now largely urbanized and home to about 800,000 people. So the question is: Does the county still need a conservation district?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe absolutely still need a soil and water conservation district,\u201d said Beamer. \u201cWe\u2019re still working with individual folks to rebuild riparian areas with clean, cool rivers for our salmon. We are looking at building community gardens and rain gardens. We\u2019re looking at things like our tree canopy, that\u2019s essential for keeping neighborhoods cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The executive director of the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District, Kelley Beamer on Sept. 26, 2025.<\/p>\n

Kristian Foden-Vencil \/ OPB<\/p>\n

One of the district\u2019s other main aims is to preserve farming in the area. That means stepping in when farms change hands. <\/p>\n

Last year, the owners of the 10-acre Crooked Tine Farm<\/a>, outside Troutdale, wanted to sell the property and retire. The asking price was $815,000, mainly because the property could be developed or bought by a well-to-do family. At that price, farming simply wouldn\u2019t cover the investment. <\/p>\n

But the owners wanted it to remain a working farm. So they worked with the conservation districts\u2019 Forever Farm<\/a> program to place a conservation easement on the land, essentially blocking future building or zoning changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe value of the land goes down,\u201d Beamer explained, because there are no more mineral rights for Crooked Tine Farm, or timber rights or development rights. \u201cIt ensures that going forward, no matter who buys it, it\u2019s going to always remain a farm and it\u2019s going to always be available for farmers.\u201d <\/p>\n

The easement reduced the Crooked Tine Farms\u2019 value by 38%. So the district bought it for $815,000 and sold it for $500,000.<\/p>\n

The new owner, Bear Carter, said that the big reduction meant she and her partner could now afford the deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore we found this property, I didn\u2019t know what the soil and water conservation board was,\u201d Carter said. \u201cThey have made purchasing and conserving farmland a possibility. And it\u2019s a partnership. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have some rules that we have to abide by. Most of them are things that we wouldn\u2019t do anyway. We\u2019re not going to turn this into a dirt bike park. We\u2019re also not going to dump a bunch of rusty old cars down at the end of the property.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bear<\/p>\n

Bear Carter feeds her goose at the Crooked Tine Farm in Troutdale, Ore. on Sept. 29, 2025.<\/p>\n

Kristian Foden-Vencil \/ OPB<\/p>\n

What they are going to do is farm. If not for the conservation district, Carter said they might have had to move back to Missouri for cheaper land or buy a much smaller property.<\/p>\n

Carter said it\u2019s been a tough but enjoyable first year. On one hand, they had a great carrot crop. But on the other hand, a beetle infestation ruined their cucumbers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe conservation district, I mean, without them, I don\u2019t have any idea how we would have gotten such an incredible piece of land to work,\u201d Carter said.<\/p>\n

\"Onion<\/p>\n

Onion crop, Crooked Tine Farm in Troutdale, Ore., Oct. 29, 2025.<\/p>\n

Kristian Foden-Vencil \/ OPB<\/p>\n

The East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District has helped 14 such new farms this way over the last 13 years via the Forever Farm program. <\/p>\n

The agency is supported by $6.4 million in property taxes, or about $53 per year for the owner of the average Portland home.<\/p>\n

And the district continues to change with the times. Until two years ago, all board members had to own at least 10 acres to be elected. But not anymore. <\/p>\n

New board member Ramona DeNies lives in Portland\u2019s Montavilla neighborhood, far away from any farmland. She said the conservation district is also crucial in her area.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have headwaters of salmon streams that are captured within the district that I represent,\u201d said DeNies. \u201cIt\u2019s very important to me that these are healthy salmon streams.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeNies is currently working on removing a dam along Kelly Creek<\/a> at Mt. Hood Community College.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

New board member of the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District, Ramona DeNies, lives in the urban neighborhood of Montavilla.<\/p>\n

Kristian Foden-Vencil \/ OPB<\/p>\n

Oregonians vote on board members for their soil and water conservation districts every two years. There are 45 districts in Oregon and more than 3,000 nationwide. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Farmer and nurse, Bear Carter, inspects apples on her farm in Troutdale, Ore. on Sept. 29, 2005. Kristian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79,118910],"class_list":{"0":"post-207079","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-water-climate-environment-science-environment-multnomah-county-counties"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}