PSU Magazine Summer 1990

Papers, books, maps, file boxes and bird memorabilia line the walls ofMike Houck's northwest Portland aparm1ent!office . others have defined and mapped the natural areas, entering their locat ions, outlines and characteristics into a computer data base. Further field studies are being carried ou t on a large sample of the sites to detem1ine factors such as water quality and eco log ical fragility, and to identify plant and wildlife spec ies. ..We want to identify unique sites, and sites which fall together into a natural system," says Poracsky, an associate professor of geography. ''The plan , long-term , is to set up a procedure whereby these properties wou ld be protected and not deve loped. But we're in no way trying to protect every natural area ," he says reassuringly...We know we're goi ng to lose some of them to development. All we're say ing is, let's try to do thi s rationally, and when development occurs, try to do it in such a way that we're not losing some really valuable part of the environment. " Houck and Poracsky, along with Dick Forbes and PSU Public Administration Professor Jack Churchill , would like to see PSU even more involved in the study of urban natural areas. They envision the creation of an Urban Natural Areas Institute at the university. "There could hardl y be a better place for thi s sort of thing," says Forbes. "There's so much interest and such a wealth of opportunity here ." Houck agrees. ·'People seem to be in a quandary about PSU 's role in the world. I think that's absurd, " he says vehemently. "I think it 's obvious. Po11land State University is in the Portl and-Vancouver region . It should be an urban resource : an urban uni versi ty that focuses on urban growth , housing, soc ial issues, and natural resource iss ues in the urban environment. " Protecting natural areas located in our urban areas is everybody's business. It 's a matter of protecting our own back yard. It 's an immediate problem and immediate steps to a solution are available, says Houck. He encourages people to join the Audubon Society, become active in any of the local Friends groups like FAUNA (Friends and Advocates of Urban Natural Areas) , or adopt a stream . 'These are avenues through which people can get involved personally in conservation; and these issues affect them more directly than , say, tropical rainforests or ozone layers ," Houck said. And individuals banding together can have a major impact on retaining the features that provide quality of life to the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan region . Mike Houck has proved that. Houck was recently given a 1990 Chevron Conservation Award for his work in protecting and enhancing wildlife in Portland. He received the honor in Washington D.C. on May 16. "Mike is a mover and shaker," says Poracsky. "His greatest strength is getting people excited , getting them involved. He's the spark plug behind all thi s; no question about it. There's very little in all this process that he hasn't been involved in helping to design, and very little he isn't capable of going out and doing himself. But the more people he gets involved , the more likely it is to actually happen; and that 's bottom line where Mike comes from. He wants to see thi s thing happen. " ·'Look, we can come back in 50 years and spend a million dollars trying to re-create what we already have . Why don't we work on protecting it now at comparably little cost?" Houck urges. "It 's a bit ironic, this work I'm doing, because in my own personal life I express anathema to thinking beyond today or tomorrow. I basically like living day to day," he admits. "But the reality is that in the next five to IO years , I would like to still be known as the urban naturalist. My turf would be the Portland/Vancouver metropolitan region , and I'd be taking people out on field trips to look at the herons at Heron Lakes Golf Course. And they 'd still be there . That 's the whole reason for doing thi s, you know." D PSU 21