Address: 6700 N Van Houten Place, Portland, OR 97203 (along the riverfront)

‍Portland Botanical Gardens has negotiated a prospective purchaser agreement for the McCormick & Baxter Superfund Site, a former creosote wood treating facility on the east bank of the Willamette River. Remedial action was completed in 2005 and followed by a large habitat restoration in 2006. However, over the last 20 years the restoration planting has suffered high mortality rates - the riparian forest in particular. Extreme heat and drought favors xeric native species on the site – even in the normally wetter riparian area – creating a unique Oak/Pine/Madrone savanna along the riverfront.

‍The Test Plot PDX Initiative will establish 10-12 plots within PBG’s public greenway in the first phase of garden development. These test plots will serve as living labs, outdoor classrooms, and long-term stewardship sites in partnership with environmental organizations already active in workforce development and environmental education. The lessons learned through this land care will inform future restoration and climate adaptation efforts at McCormick & Baxter, the larger Portland Harbor Superfund Site, and across the Portland metropolitan area.

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About Affiliate Test Plots:

Affiliate Test Plots are independently organized sites connected through a shared interest in experimental landcare, habitat restoration, stewardship, and public learning. Affiliates join the Test Plot network for knowledge exchange and mutual support, including the sharing of methods, observations, questions, and outcomes over time. Participation is lightweight and voluntary, and may include periodic updates, site visits, workshops, or other forms of exchange between projects. The network is not a formal program, but an evolving set of relationships between sites exploring how land can be collectively studied, tended, and learned from.

Affiliate Test Plots are not managed, funded or fiscally sponsored by Test Plot, and retain full autonomy over their design, governance, and implementation.  Affiliate sites do not represent Test Plot organizationally or legally.