Westlake worked with the City of Tigard, Trust for Public Lands, and the Tigard-Tualatin School District to facilitate the realignment of Fowler Middle School boundaries. This allowed for underutilized open space areas to be transferred into the City’s parks and recreation portfolio for permanent conservation. Named after former mayor and park champion Craig Dirksen, “Dirksen Nature Park” will soon be the second largest park in Tigard. To meet due diligence needs, Westlake prepared a hypothetical layout for a Planned Development scenario, then the City used that plan as the basis for an assessment of the potential yield and construction costs. These efforts set the stage for the real property transfer.

The area is managed to protect habitat for various native species representing unique biodiversity in an urban setting. Specific goals in the near future include environmental education program development and restoration of an oak savanna.