Government Island is a island in the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

north of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, in Multnomah County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. Though Interstate 205 passes over it on the

Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge The Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge, or I-205 Bridge, is a segmental bridge that spans the Columbia River between Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington, Vancouver, Washington (state), Washington. It carries Interstate 205 ...

, access to the island is only by boat. There is a city controlled locked gate in the fence surrounding the freeway. The Government Island State Recreation Area includes 15 miles of shoreline, with two docks on the northern side of the island. The interior of the island is accessible only by permit and contains protected natural areas, such as Jewit Lake. Camping is permitted below the vegetation line around the perimeter of the island. Picnic tables and restrooms can be found in these areas as well. Government Island is home to a variety of animals, notably a

great blue heron The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos ...

colony that has been on the island for at least a decade. Many threatened or endangered wildlife species live on the island, including

red-legged frog Red-legged frog is a common name for several species of frog: * California red-legged frog, ''Rana draytonii'', a frog endemic to California, United States * La Selle red-legged frog, ''Eleutherodactylus furcyensis'', a frog found in the Dominican ...

, pileated woodpecker, little willow flycatcher,

olive-sided flycatcher The olive-sided flycatcher (''Contopus cooperi'') is a small to medium sized passerine bird in the family Tyrannidae, the Tyrant flycatcher family. It is a migratory species that travels from South to North America to breed during the summer. It ...

, western meadowlark, horned grebe,

red-necked grebe The red-necked grebe (''Podiceps grisegena'') is a migratory aquatic bird found in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Its wintering habitat is largely restricted to calm waters just beyond the waves around ocean coasts, although ...

bufflehead The bufflehead (''Bucephala albeola'') is a small sea duck of the genus ''Bucephala'', the goldeneyes. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' as ''Anas albeola''. The genus na ...

purple martin The purple martin (''Progne subis'') is a passerine bird in the swallow family Hirundinidae. It is the largest swallow in North America. Despite its name, the purple martin is not truly purple. The dark blackish-blue feathers have an iridescent s ...

, and possibly the endangered

Columbian white-tailed deer The Columbian white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus leucurus'') is one of the several subspecies of white-tailed deer in North America. It is a member of the Deer, Cervidae (deer) family, which includes mule deer, elk, moose, caribou, and ...

. Government Island's first documented non-indigenous visitors were British explorer William Robert Broughton in 1792 and American explorers

Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

in 1805. The island acquired its current name after being appropriated by the U.S. military in 1850 to grow hay. An old barn and other structures can be found on the interior of the island from when it was privately owned and settled by a small number of families. Most of the island is owned by the Port of Portland. The Port acquired the entire island, along with the adjacent Lemon Island () and McGuire Island (), in 1969 in order to expand nearby Portland International Airport; a competing plan from the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners proposed using the island for recreational uses instead of airport expansion. Though those plans have been abandoned, the Port continues to control the land to prevent any uses incompatible with its location under the airport's primary flight path. In 1999 the Port sold of the island to

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

, a regional government agency, and leased the remainder to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department for 99 years. In July 2014, three people were stabbed on Lemon Island during a party of several hundred people that was hosted there without a permit from Oregon Parks & Recreation.

References

{{authority control Uninhabited islands of Oregon State parks of Oregon Islands of the Columbia River in Oregon Landforms of Multnomah County, Oregon Parks in Multnomah County, Oregon

Further reading

References