Portland General Electric has resumed its effort to cut trees and install new transmission infrastructure in Portland’s Forest Park, according to reporting by KGW. The move comes roughly eight months after the utility paused the project amid public pushback and an ongoing land‑use dispute, and it arrives as mediation continues between PGE, the City of Portland, and intervening environmental and neighborhood groups.

Recent public records and prior decisions help clarify the project’s trajectory. In March 2025, a Portland hearings officer approved PGE’s proposal to remove nearly 400 trees and build 1,400 feet of new transmission line in Forest Park, concluding the plan met applicable city criteria. That approval, documented by OPB, triggered immediate appeals from environmental and neighborhood groups. By April 2025, Portland City Council was signaling unanimous support for reversing the project, as reported by KPTV. On May 7, 2025, council members formally overturned the hearings officer’s decision, a development noted by the Bird Alliance of Oregon in its public statement.

Even after that reversal, filings showed PGE intended to continue pursuing the project through the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. Mediation began shortly thereafter, with Forest Park Neighborhood Association, Forest Park Conservancy, and Oregon Bird Alliance recognized as intervenors. As described by the NW Labor Press in its December 2025 coverage, discussions on additional conservation steps are expected to continue into early 2026.

While the Forest Park project lies just across the Columbia River, its implications reach into Southwest Washington communities served by the regional transmission grid. Grid reliability, vegetation management, and wildfire‑risk mitigation along major utility corridors remain matters of public concern throughout the I‑5 corridor, including Cowlitz County. Any large‑scale changes to transmission routing or capacity in the Portland metro area can have downstream effects on system planning and emergency coordination throughout the bi‑state region.

PGE has framed the Forest Park work as necessary to meet growing electrical demand and prevent overloads, while environmental organizations and neighborhood advocates argue that routing upgrades through one of the nation’s largest urban forests represents an avoidable ecological loss. With mediation still underway, the outcome remains uncertain. For now, the resumption of PGE’s application process indicates the utility is preparing for whatever next steps emerge from negotiations.

Sources:

KGW: PGE restarts process on controversial Forest Park project

OPB: PGE can cut into Forest Park following hearings officer decision

KPTV: City Council tentatively grants appeal to stop PGE project

Bird Alliance of Oregon: Council overturns approval for PGE Forest Park plan

NW Labor Press: PGE’s Forest Park transmission upgrade isn’t dead