Plans to move the stalled Balm Grove Dam removal project forward are back, the Tualatin River Watershed Council announced Wednesday evening.In an email, TRWC Executive Director Scott McEwen said that removal of the decades-old concrete dam will begin this summer.� Removal of the structure and restoration of the site to its natural state will open several miles of instream habitat, including nearly 30 miles for winter steelhead and more than 80 miles for cutthroat trout. It will also contribute to wider efforts to restore fish populations and benefit other wildlife, he said.�A neighborhood meeting is planned at the site later this spring, located on the historic Balm Grove property in whats become known as the Balm Grove neighborhood on Balm Grove Loop. No date has been given yet for the meeting.
The former Balm Grove Tavern on May 5, 2020. Photo: Chas Hundley
A three-foot high concrete structure, the dam created a popular swimming hole in the Gales Creek community, and the property was host to a tavern and park for decades, formally and more informally into the early 2000s. Newspaper clippings from the earliest 20th century advertised dances at Balm Grove.Wooden boards known as flashboards were added to the dam annually to raise the water level in the summer, bringing the height of the dam to seven feet when in place.Plans to remove the dam have been in place for years, with the site purchased in 2016 by Clean Water Services with the help of funds from the Portland Metro Regional Government and the Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District. But those plans stalled in 2019 and again in 2021 when various funding schemes fell apart.�This time, money for the project has been committed in bits and pieces from several agencies and groups, and the partners behind the projectaffiliated through the coalition known as Tree For Allare hoping that a $270,000 grant application submitted to the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board is approved in late April.A similar, larger grant application for the project was rejected last year by OWEB.�According to Clean Water Services spokesperson Julie Cortez, funding will come in the form of a $100,000 grant from the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, $70,000 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, $100,000 from the Portland-area Metro government, and $50,000 from the Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District.�Those with immediate questions were asked to contact Clean Water Services Shannon Huggins by email at hugginss@cleanwaterservices.org or by phone at 503-681-3600.Listed as project partners in the dam removal project are the Tualatin River Watershed Council, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Metro, Intertwine Alliance, Northwest Steelheaders, Trout Unlimited, Tualatin Riverkeepers and Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District.
"County Jail Filled to Overflow With Arrests Made" including Ernest Narver, Frank Kearns, Thomas Young, and Roy Kearns, all arrested at Balm Grove on liquor possession charges in Prohibition-era Gales Creek.
In a brief update issued Friday, Clean Water Services said that the bulk of their work at Balm Grove was complete, but work would continue to "ensure our engineered log jams and other project elements are working," the agency said.
A proposed toll road linking Forest Grove and Tillamook faced opposition, but Gales Creek residents would take any road they could get, according to a 1925 newspaper article.
"County Jail Filled to Overflow With Arrests Made" including Ernest Narver, Frank Kearns, Thomas Young, and Roy Kearns, all arrested at Balm Grove on liquor possession charges in Prohibition-era Gales Creek.
People are shooting exploding targets and firing hot lead into dry vegetation in the Tillamook Forest with predictable results: Five wildfires since May. These fires are all preventable, said Acting Forest Grove District Forester Stephanie Beall.
