Ross Island is the main island of a four-island cluster in the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, in the United States. The islands, covering a total of about , are owned mainly by Ross Island Sand and Gravel (RISG), which mined them extensively between 1926 and 2001. The other three islands are Hardtack, East, and Toe. Ross Island was named for Oregon

pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...

Sherry Ross Sherry Ross (born c. 1954) is an American sports broadcaster and journalist who most recently worked alongside Matt Loughlin as a color commentator for the NHL's New Jersey Devils radio broadcasts. She is the first woman to serve as an analyst ...

. The islands split the Willamette River into Holgate Slough on the east. They are about south of

downtown Portland Downtown Portland is the city center of Portland, Oregon, United States. It is on the west bank of the Willamette River in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and where most of the city's high-rise buildings are found. ...

river mile A river mile is a measure of distance in miles along a river from its mouth. River mile numbers begin at zero and increase further upstream. The corresponding metric unit using kilometers is the river kilometer. They are analogous to vehicle road ...

15, the islands are slightly upriver (south) of the

Ross Island Bridge The Ross Island Bridge is a cantilever truss bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. It carries U.S. Route 26 (Mount Hood Highway) across the river between southwest and southeast Portland. The bridge opened in 1926 and was d ...

between the

Springwater Corridor The Springwater Corridor Trail is a bicycle and pedestrian rail trail in the Portland metropolitan area in Oregon, United States. It follows a former railway line from Boring through Gresham to Portland, where it ends south of the Eastbank Espla ...

Trail on the eastern shore and the

South Waterfront The South Waterfront is a high-rise district under construction on former brownfield industrial land in the South Portland neighborhood south of downtown Portland, Oregon, U.S. It is one of the largest urban redevelopment projects in the Unite ...

on the western shore and slightly downriver from the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge on the eastern shore and Willamette Park on the western shore. Ross is the longest of the islands, the closest to the western shore, and the closest to the Ross Island Bridge. Hardtack is to its east. East Island lies southeast of Hardtack, and Toe Island lies southwest of Ross. No bridge reaches the islands, which are approached only by boat. Ross Island is connected to Hardtack Island by an artificial levee built in 1926 by the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

in order to form a lagoon between the two islands. The lagoon made

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

easier for RISG and diverted water west of the islands, where it deepened a shipping channel. In 2007, the owner of RISG, Robert B. Pamplin, Jr., donated of the island to the city of Portland, which plans to manage the property as a natural area. The islands, which retain remnants of forested

riparian zone A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...

s, are used by at least 50 species of birds including ospreys, eagles, and herons. The gift was accepted long after transfer negotiations stalled in 2002 over questions of liability for the islands' restoration and cleanup. Because it contains toxic

fill dirt Fill dirt (also called cleanfill, or just fill) is earthy material which is used to ''fill in'' a depression or hole in the ground or create mounds or otherwise artificially change the grade or elevation of real property.Oregon Department of Environmental Quality The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is the chief regulatory agency of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for protecting and enhancing the state's natural resources and managing sanitary and toxic waste disposal ...

. City staff and outside experts who inspected the in 2007 approved of their condition. In addition to the gifted acres and the still owned by RISG, the Port of Portland owns . Conservationists have expressed hope that the Port will donate its land to the city and that Pamplin and city officials will agree on a long-term plan for the islands.

References

External links

Questions and Answers About the Ross Island Assessment Project
from the State of Oregon website

- ''The Oregonian'' * ttp://www.opb.org/television/programs/ofg/segment/ross-island/ Ross Island: History & Present Video produced by

Oregon Field Guide ''Oregon Field Guide'' is a weekly television program produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting focusing on recreation, the outdoors, and environmental issues in the state of Oregon. The show has become part of the Oregon zeitgeist. Steve Amen is th ...

{{authority control Geography of Portland, Oregon Islands of the Willamette River Landforms of Multnomah County, Oregon Brooklyn, Portland, Oregon Uninhabited islands of Oregon