Applying Asset Management Principles to Urban Natural Areas in Portland

Portland, Oregon’s Parks & Recreation Bureau has developed a protocol to assess our managed natural areas using an asset management framework. We utilized traditional asset management best practices to create a rapid, actionable protocol that also establishes parity between natural asset assessments and our existing inventory of built asset assessments, such as playgrounds, bridges, and trails. The results of these natural area assessments will help inform resource allocation, planning for future fiscal needs, and prioritization of on-the-ground interventions.

In a nutshell, this resource offers:

• An example of an asset management framework applied to natural area assessment.
• An explanation of how condition is assessed and graded. 
• The results of these assessments and the use of a GIS dashboard to display them. 

How to use this resource:

• To inform the development of assessment protocols.
• To introduce the idea of asset management in natural area assessment.
• As an example of how to utilize technology to display results. 

Author: Patrick R. Key, Portland Parks and Recreation

Date published: 2024

Point of contact: Patrick R. Key patrick.key@portlandoregon.gov

Citation: Key, Patrick R. (2024) "Applying Asset Management Principles to Urban Natural Areas in Portland," Cities and the Environment (CATE): Vol. 13: Iss. 1, Article 39. DOI: 10.15365/cate.2020.130139 

Resource is available online here.