COLT/Contributed image

Go! staff

The Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts has released a new map to help Oregonians connect with more outdoor spaces. The map highlighs 81 locations throughout the state that anyone can visit, all of them made possible in part by Oregon’s system of nonprofit land trusts. The PDF-format map is available at www.TheOregonIAm.org/map when you enter your name and email address.

“The Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts has 30 members — nonprofits covering every corner of Oregon,” said Kelley Beamer, COLT executive director. “Many of their properties, or properties they’ve helped conserve, have been open to the public for years. But only now have they been compiled in one place and all of them visible on one map. This is your go-to resource to discover a new family favorite picnic spot, or walk, or riverside hangout. And it’s an invitation for everyone living in Oregon to step outside and to safely connect to each other and the wonder of our lands.”

The project’s title is “The Oregon I Am,” a play on the word “Oregonian.” It is a collaborative project to celebrate Oregon land and communities and to invite more people to enjoy them.

Some of the properties on the map are owned by land trusts, and some are currently owned by public agencies, which acquired them from land trusts. All of the locations on the map are open to all and are, in some way, supported by land trusts. This new list of 81 places you can visit thanks to land trusts roughly compares, in size, to Oregon’s State Park system.

Not all 81 sites are open year-round, and some have rules to protect wildlife and native plants. Before planning a visit, check with the highlighted organization for details by clicking on the map location. You will be directed to information specific to the place you want to visit — including when the property is open and how to get there.

Oregonians are also invited to share what about Oregon is special to them by posting to social media with #oregoniam and share their answer to this question: What is your Oregon? Is it a place, idea, person, or memory? “The Oregon I am is ….”

The project is also working on a film. Oregonians are invited to submit an audio record sharing their story of “The Oregon I Am.” Learn more at https://oregonlandtrusts.org/theoregoniam/share-your-story/.

In December, COLT will release a film titled “The Oregon I Am.”