Ross Island is Portland’s ‘Jurassic Park,’ and no one is allowed to visit. Here's why

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]This is Portland's only [music] island no one is allowed to visit.

[00:00:03]It's the source of toxic algal blooms that turn the surrounding river green almost [music] every summer.

[00:00:09]We got exclusive access to see what's there.

[00:00:12]It's called Ross Island. It's actually part of a cluster of islands that [music] sit in the Willamette River just south downtown Portland. And over the years it's been hollowed by decades of gravel mining. Of the nearly 400 total acres of island, about 330, including the 150-acre lagoon, are owned by 84-year-old industrialist [music] Robert Pamplin Jr. The city of Portland owns the remaining 50 acres [music] of the northern tip.

[00:00:40]Unlike Portland's other islands, the public isn't allowed on Ross Island, including [music] the small city-owned portion. Because no one is allowed to visit, much of what the island holds remains [music] unseen. With permission from the city of Portland, we ventured out to their part of the island by boat with Mike Houck. He's the architect behind trying [music] to get the island into public hands. Well, the other problem, by the way, is that the 1979 reclamation plan had no ending. From the shore, the island looks wild and overgrown. But once you set foot on the island, you'll find [music] small signs of the city's restoration efforts. So, I am standing on Ross Island right now, uh the island that nobody can visit. This is [music] actually the city-owned part of Ross Island. It's about 47-ish acres.

[00:01:25]Across from me is the south waterfront.

[00:01:27]I'm facing it right now. And this city-owned part has been in a restoration for about 18 [music] years, I think, uh is what I'm told, and pretty untouched by the public or by man. The city has done some restoration here, has planted some trees, but it's just beautiful, wild, overgrown. There's trees, stumps, lots of shrubs and grasses, lots of open spaces. [music] It's called a woodland. It's just beautiful. Uh you can hear the birds, and it's amazing that you're in the middle of the city when it's this pristine little piece of nature. For decades, Pamplin's company, Ross Island Sand and Gravel, dredged Ross Island and the nearby riverbed.

[00:02:07]It supplied raw materials used to build Portland's buildings, bridges, and highways.

[00:02:12]Mining ended in 2001, but it left a massive man-made lagoon carved into the [music] island's heart.

[00:02:18]It essentially formed one giant stagnant pit [music] where toxic algal blooms thrive.

[00:02:24]And these toxins spread into the surrounding Willamette River, making the water dangerous for people, pets, and aquatic life.

[00:02:31]To learn more about the privately owned part of the island, [music] we joined Ross Island Sand and Gravel general manager Craig Jacobs for a tour. When you enter the lagoon, you'll see rusty barges and dredging boats resting [music] in the water.

[00:02:43]On land, the island's former industrial portion is partly stripped of vegetation. It's become a museum of idle equipment, metal debris, piles of gravel, and exposed [music] soil.

[00:02:54]But other parts of the company-owned land are lush and green, a result of some restoration efforts.

[00:02:59]>> All the way around >> [music] >> is you know, land that we have rebuilt.

[00:03:04]So, it gives you kind of a perspective of >> [music] >> just how many acres have been reclaimed.

[00:03:10]While state regulators have long [music] required Pamplin's company to refill the lagoon with sediment and restore wetlands and habitat, that work has been too slow.

[00:03:19]Earlier this year, the Oregon Department of State Lands fined [music] Pamplin nearly $14 million for failing to follow through. The algae, depending on the you know, how how much of it there is and how long it lasts, really impacts the health of the river and our ability to get in it. A few summers ago, we had to stop swimming for a couple of weeks because the algae made its way all the way down to this dock from the Ross Island lagoon. The Willamette is She's a mighty river. There's a lot of water flowing through this river, um coming down out of Willamette Falls and there's no reason that there should be algae blooms growing in a river of this volume. Um, it just it just doesn't make sense.

[00:04:02]Right now, the future of Ross Island is unknown. [music] A new proposal floated by anonymous private investors aims to refill the lagoon with contaminated sediment from the Portland Harbor Superfund site.

[00:04:14]Investors would profit from the deal but promised to clean it up and revegetate the land. They said they would eventually turn it into a park, [music] meaning one day it might reopen to the public.

[00:04:29]>> [music]