Zoo unveils 'very Northwest' solar-powered railway station in time for summer season

The Washington Park and Zoo Railway will take on its first passengers in nearly six months Friday. Officially, the train won't resume operations until the weekend, but the Oregon Zoo is inviting visitors to ride the rails for free on Friday, May 27.

"We’re thrilled to be bringing the train back in time for summer."

—Craig Stroud, zoo deputy director

"A new station is in place, and the engineers have been making practice runs," said Craig Stroud, zoo deputy director in charge of business operations. "We’re thrilled to be bringing the train back in time for summer, and we figured a day of free rides would be a great way to thank our community for supporting all the improvements taking place at the zoo."

The railway was temporarily taken out of service in January as major construction began on the zoo's new conservation education center, located adjacent to the train station. The center — the fifth of eight major projects made possible by the 2008 community-supported zoo bond measure — is slated to open in spring 2017.

With the area already a designated construction zone, the zoo took the opportunity to renovate its old train station, which dated back to the late 1950s and had been showing its age.

"Depending on the weather, the large permanent canopy at the new station keeps guests shaded or dry as they wait for trains, and the ample queuing area provides a much larger space for them," Stroud said. "Rather than one single-file line leading to the platform, guests now have five different points of entry, which makes for more efficient boarding."

Though not funded by bond money, work on the new station was efficiently bundled into the education center construction project, and gracefully aligns with the center visually, using the same materials and finishes.

"The exposed beams and roofing are warm and woodsy — very Northwest," said zoo project manager Brent Shelby.

In addition to efficiency and aesthetics, sustainability is one of the project's major hallmarks, Shelby says. The station canopy is made of Forest Stewardship Council-certified sustainable wood, with 96 solar panels atop the roof — part of a larger array that will include 635 additional panels at the education center. Together, the 731-panel array will generate enough energy to run the train station as well as other facilities at the education center.

"We're shooting for a net-zero energy operations project," Shelby said. "On an annual basis, we hope to generate as much power as we use."

Hillsboro-based SolarWorld provided panels for the project at cost, and met with zoo contractors to ensure maximum solar capacity.

The zoo's 30-inch-gauge railway line evolved out of plans for a children's train when the zoo moved to its current site in the late 1950s. The Old West–inspired Centennial steam locomotive and the sleek, retro-modern Zooliner both were featured during Oregon's 1959 centennial celebration. A photo from that time shows then-Sen. John F. Kennedy stepping off the train during a staged wild-west train robbery.

U.S. Green Building Council confers Gold status on zoo's visionary home for elephants

The most ambitious project in Oregon Zoo history has added another honor to its growing list of high-profile kudos and awards: Elephant Lands, a world-class home for Portland's world-famous Asian elephant family, earned Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — an internationally recognized benchmark for sustainable building practices.

"A LEED Gold certification not only highlights the zoo's commitment to sustainability, but also its responsibility to the community," said Heidi Rahn, who oversees projects funded by the 2008 zoo bond measure promoting animal welfare and sustainability. "If we want a better future for wildlife, it's vital that we conserve natural resources and make sure our day-to-day operations and construction practices are environmentally sound."

Sustainable design practices abound in Elephant Lands, Rahn said. Among the highlights:

Geothermal "Slinky"

An innovative geothermal "Slinky" system will direct heat created as a byproduct of cooling polar bear swimming pools through rows of Slinky-like coiled pipes buried 8 to 12 feet underground in the North Habitat section of Elephant Lands. The ground maintains a constant temperature, insulating the pipes, and pumps connected to the system will deliver heat to the indoor portion of Elephant Lands.

Swimming pool filtration

A state-of-the-art filtration and water-treatment system cleans and replenishes the new 160,000-gallon elephant pool every hour. In the past, to keep the elephants healthy, staff had to dump and refill their pool, pouring millions of gallons of water down the drain each year.

Improved stormwater management

Rainwater collected from Forest Hall's roof is stored in a 5,000-gallon underground cistern, reducing peak loads on the city stormwater system and conserving potable water use. The water is then used at Forest Hall for flushing toilets and wash down. It's a large-scale version of having a rain barrel under your downspout.

Cross-laminated timber

The zoo's Elephant Plaza building took runner-up honors for Sustainable Project of the Year in the Portland Business Journal's 2015 Better Bricks awards. One of the buildings was the first commercial project in Oregon to use cross-laminated timber, a material made from planks of wood cross-hatched together into large structural sheets. Steel and concrete take a lot of energy to produce, and CLT — which stores carbon — can have a positive environmental impact over the life cycle of a building.

Solar photovoltaic array on Forest Hall roof

This array will generate around 34,000 kilowatt-hours a year of electricity for use in the building without releasing CO2 or creating hazardous waste.

Solar hot-water system

This system preheats water for elephant bathing and other uses, storing it in a 1,500-gallon tank in the building's mechanical room and reducing the amount of natural gas required to heat the water.

Natural ventilation mode

Large louvers on the walls and roof of the indoor facility open automatically based on outdoor temperatures, allowing natural ventilation. About 75 percent of the building's fan power is eliminated during natural ventilation mode.

Elephant Lands — the fourth of eight major projects made possible by the zoo bond measure — is four times the size of the zoo's former Asian elephant habitat and accounts for nearly one-tenth of the zoo's total 64-acre footprint. The zoo's veterinary medical center — the first of the eight bond projects — earned LEED Gold certification in 2012, and the currently under-construction education center is also on track for LEED Gold. All zoo bond projects aim to achieve a minimum of LEED Silver certification.

Willard Martin's classic mid-mod mosaic is restored to former glory at new ed center

After nearly 20 years spent languishing in obscurity, a classic Portland artwork is set to return to the public eye.

"The Continuity of Life Forms"— a huge midcentury-modern mosaic by renowned Portland architect and artist Willard Martin — was reinstalled at the Oregon Zoo last month at a site near the old zoo entrance, where the iconic piece stood for more than 50 years.

"This is a way of preserving the legacy of a local hero in addition to preserving part of the zoo's history," says Brent Shelby, one of the zoo's project managers. "There will be a lot of nostalgia for those who visited the zoo prior to the late 1990s."

Originally installed at the entrance when the zoo moved to its current location in 1959, the striking mosaic greeted visitors for 40 years, becoming part of the zoo's public face and lore. But in 1997, the zoo's main entrance was moved 200 yards uphill when TriMet opened its West Side light-rail line, which included a stop at the zoo.

The mosaic remained in its familiar place, but it became less visible over the years. A perimeter fence obscured the artwork from outside, and viewing opportunities inside the zoo were limited by the mosaic's out-of-the-way location: a corner off the main visitor pathway near the Amur tiger habitat.

"You wouldn't see it unless you were specifically looking for it," Shelby said. "It became one of those hidden treasures, almost forgotten by time."

The mosaic was given a second life though when the zoo announced plans for its new conservation education center, the fifth of eight major projects funded by a 2008 community-supported zoo bond measure. When the center opens next spring, Martin's work will occupy a prominent place near the entrance, a staging area for the thousands of children who participate in zoo camps, classes and field trips each year.

"We want the zoo to serve as a gateway experience to what may become a deeper relationship with the natural world," Shelby said. "So bringing 'The Continuity of Life Forms' back at this same location is ideal."

To prepare for education center construction, the mosaic was removed from its original setting two years ago and put into storage. It was re-installed as part of the new center in July. The project was supported in part by a grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust: Oregonians sustaining, developing and participating in our arts, heritage and humanities. Restoration work was also supported by the Oregon Zoo Foundation's Education Campaign, which raised more than $1.5 million for enhancements to the new center, as well as expanded education programming at the zoo and in the community.

Created in 1959, the multi-paneled piece is a significant early work in the career of Martin, a noted Portland artist and architect best known for designing Pioneer Courthouse Square. The 20 panels form a work roughly 60 feet long and 15 feet tall, and capture a panoramic sense of history and being — the forces of life — out of footprints, seeds, leaves, shells, fossils and primitive life forms that might be found in the Earth's strata.

Martin and his son died in a tragic plane crash in 1985. Shelby says the zoo hopes the mosaic's renewed prominence will re-introduce the artwork — and Martin — to a new generation.

Survey responses will aid design of Polar Passage, the zoo's new home for polar bears

As excitement builds over the imminent debut of Nora, the young polar bear who arrived here from Ohio recently, the Oregon Zoo is looking for some help designing her new home.

Design work on Polar Passage — a major reboot of the zoo's polar bear habitat — is underway, and the zoo today launched a survey aimed at better understanding local residents' thoughts and feelings concerning polar bears and our role in protecting their imperiled Arctic ecosystem.

"This is a great time for our community to tell us what's important to them," said Heidi Rahn, zoo bond program director. "At this stage, we've determined some of the basic design features of Polar Passage, but we're still exploring a lot of interesting ideas. In addition to providing the best possible habitat for the bears, we want this space to reflect the desires of the community that will be visiting it."

Take the survey.

Zoo officials are hoping for a variety of responses from across the community to help guide the design of buildings, displays and programs offered.

"We want to identify the experiences that will be most interesting and meaningful for visitors," Rahn said. "We want to make sure we're providing the inspiration and tools that will enable people to take action on behalf of polar bears and other wildlife."

Polar Passage, expected to open in 2019, will provide bears with larger, more open terrain that they can patrol as they do in the wild. The new habitat will include natural ground materials, tundra plants, elevated areas for long views, shallow and deep pools, and many viewing opportunities for visitors. 

The zoo is working with Polar Bears International, the U.S Geological Survey and other partners on research projects that will shed new light on the effects of climate change on polar bears in the wild. The new polar bear habitat at the Oregon Zoo will provide visitors with a view into these research activities so that they learn along with the scientists and gain greater appreciation for the bears' conservation status and their dwindling arctic habitat.

Polar Passage is the sixth of eight major projects made possible by a community-supported zoo bond measure in 2008. The zoo has completed a veterinary medical center, an improved water system for Humboldt penguins, Condors of the Columbia and Elephant Lands. A new conservation education center is under construction and due to open in 2017.

The project design team for the new habitat is led by CLR Design, with interpretive components by Main Street Design. The construction contractor for the project is Lease Crutcher Lewis.

Tasul, a polar bear known for her easygoing personality and groundbreaking contributions to conservation science, was humanely euthanized today to prevent suffering due to an aggressive cancer.

A couple weeks shy of her 32nd birthday, Tasul was the third-oldest polar bear in any North American zoo or aquarium, and one of the oldest on the planet. In the Arctic, polar bears seldom live past the age of 18, though wildlife biologists have documented two that lived to be 32.

During an ultrasound last week, zoo veterinarians discovered a mass on Tasul’s right ovary, and — after a biopsy revealed it to be cancerous — surgery was scheduled this morning to remove the mass and determine whether it had spread. One of DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital’s board-certified surgeons Dr. Ashley Magee had come to the zoo to perform the surgery. During surgery, however, it became clear the cancer had spread extensively and, to prevent her from suffering, animal-care staff made the difficult decision to euthanize.

“We know many zoo visitors are grieving along with us right now,” said Nicole Nicassio-Hiskey, the zoo’s senior marine life keeper, who knew the bear for more than 15 years. “Tasul touched a lot of people’s hearts, and she was such a great bear. She helped raise awareness about what’s happening to polar bears in the Arctic, and she helped the scientists who are studying what’s happening there. Wild polar bears are in trouble, and their future depends on all of us working together to combat climate change.”

“Tasul’s willingness to build a relationship with her keepers and to participate in training contributed so much to wild polar bears,” said keeper Amy Hash. “I want that to be her legacy. She’s contributed so much to her species.”

In 2011, Tasul became the first polar bear in the world to voluntarily give blood— a significant advance that improves animal welfare, especially during veterinary treatment. After reading about this milestone in the news, Dr. Karyn Rode, a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Polar Bear Team, contacted the zoo for assistance with the USGS’s Changing Arctic Ecosystems research.

Tasul helped Rode research how climate change is affecting the diets of wild polar bears. She also helped the USGS by wearing a high-tech collar to track her movements in order to learn more from collars deployed on polar bears in the Arctic. Polar bears are extremely difficult to observe in the wild, and Tasul’s data is helping researchers develop methods to remotely investigate how these predators are responding to the retreat of sea ice.

“This team of keepers truly revolutionized the way we care for polar bears in zoos, and Tasul was a shining example of that,” Cutting said. “When I first met Tasul 14 years ago, she could be nervous and apprehensive. It has truly been a privilege for me to watch her keepers build her trust and encourage her to express herself over the years. She evolved into a playful, confident bear, who was clearly ready to meet any challenge.”  

Tasul was born Dec. 1, 1984, at the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, S.C. and arrived in Portland in 1986. She was popular with zoo visitors and staff — forming especially strong bonds with keepers.

In 2012, Tasul was included in an Oregonian article about elderly Oregon Zoo inhabitants that highlighted ways keepers and veterinary staff care for animals approaching the end of life. Zoo staff had been monitoring her closely and treating her for age-related ailments such as arthritis.

Keepers are disappointed that Tasul will not have the chance to serve as a friend and mentor to the 1-year-old Nora, who arrived here from the Columbus Zoo this fall. While the two bears had met, they had yet to become comfortable together.

“One of the reasons Nora came here was to meet another bear,” said curator Amy Cutting, who oversees the Oregon Zoo’s marine life area. “It’s beneficial for a young bear that was hand-raised to have a mentor bear as soon as possible, so we’re in touch with the Species Survival Plan about what is best for Nora at this time.”

Until a companion for Nora is found, Cutting said, the Oregon Zoo is fully prepared to provide care for her with enrichment, positive-reinforcement training and opportunities to participate in conservation science.

“We regularly get inquiries from other zoos about how to approach management and training with polar bears,” Cutting added. “We have a learned a ton from other talented teams out there that are also pushing the boundaries and developing strategies to continually improve polar bear welfare. It is an exciting time with polar bear management and conservation science and I believe that Tasul and this team have inspired an entire generation of polar bear managers.”

Climate science data shows that global warming is melting the Arctic sea ice polar bears call home, and with it, access to the food and shelter necessary for the species’ survival. The polar bear is designated as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, and the World Conservation Union’s Species Survival Commission has designated the species as facing a high risk of global extinction. If current climate trends are left unchecked, scientists predict the death of up to two-thirds of all wild polar bears by 2050.

People can help protect polar bears and other threatened wildlife through Small Actions, an easy-to-use online tool launched by the Oregon Zoo that empowers everyone to become a wildlife defender: oregonzoo.org/help-polar-bears.

Bug expert Mark Moffett will give free talk at zoo's new Education Center, March 4

Renowned ecologist, wildlife photographer and insect expert Mark E. Moffett will be at the Oregon Zoo March 4 talking bugs. Moffett — known to fans as Dr. Bugs — will be presenting "Insect Tales" as the first installment of Wildlife Talks, a new zoo speaker series presented by KinderCare Education.

Moffett's talk, free and open to the public, begins at 7 p.m. in Conservation Hall at the zoo's new Education Center.

Moffett — a real-life adventurer who has earned wide acclaim for his photos in National Geographic — aims to inspire care for the world's obscure creatures: romantically inclined Sri Lankan spiders or dancing Brazilian frogs, 100-foot-wide swarms of bloodthirsty army ants of Ghana or the multicolored "Doctor Seuss" flies of New Guinea.

"No one else knows these stories firsthand or can convey them with Moffett's enthusiasm," said Grant Spickelmier, the zoo's education curator.

Spickelmier hopes Dr. Bugs' appearance — along with rest of the Wildlife Talks series —will strengthen our community's knowledge ecological systems and environmental issues, inspiring people to make a difference for wildlife.

"Conservation is not just about big animals or big actions," Spickelmier said. "Small things like bees, butterflies and other insects are critically important — and our small, everyday actions can help them."

The Wildlife Talks series continues through March with the following additional events:

• Tuesday, March 7: Turtle Recovery in the Pacific Northwest. Once common from Baja California to Puget Sound, the western pond turtle is listed as endangered in Washington and threatened in Oregon. Learn how the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Sustainability in Prisons Project and the Oregon Zoo are saving this tiny, long-lived turtle from extinction, and what you can do to help.
• Tuesday, March 14: Butterfly Conservation in Oregon. Two species of Oregon butterflies — the Taylor's checkerspot and the Oregon silverspot — were once common in their home ranges, but are now listed as threatened or endangered. Experts from the Oregon Zoo, Oregon Department of Corrections, U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will discuss their work restoring these species, and how you can take action on behalf of butterflies.
• Tuesday, March 21: Recovery of a Flying Giant. Stretching nearly 10 feet from wingtip to wingtip, California condors once ranged from British Columbia to Baja California and inland to the Rocky Mountains. This bird — North America's largest — was among the first species listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1973. Oregon Zoo and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff will share information about their work breeding condors for release and eliminating threats to their survival in the wild. Discover how you can do your part in this conservation success story.

The Oregon Zoo's Wildlife Talks series is presented by KinderCare Education, the nation's leading private provider of early learning and care. All talks are free and open to the public, and begin at 7 p.m. at Conservation Hall inside the zoo's new Education Center (doors at 6:30).

The Education Center— the fifth of eight major projects funded by the 2008 community-supported zoo bond measure — opens to the public March 3, expanding the zoo's conservation education programs through partnerships with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others. Highlights of the new center include a reimagined Insect Zoo and an interactive species-recovery lab, where visitors can see rare western pond turtles being raised for release into the wild.

Interactive space features conservation lab, lecture hall and brand-new insect zoo

Oregon Zoo visitors can meet Smokey Bear and get their first look inside the zoo's new Education Center at open houses March 4 and 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The center's grand opening festivities, presented by KinderCare Education, also include a free March 4 lecture at 7 p.m. by National Geographic photographer and renowned insect expert, Mark Moffett, aka "Dr. Bugs."

At the open houses, free with zoo admission, visitors can explore areas soon to be behind the scenes and out of view. Experts from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service (with Smokey Bear) and many other local conservation organizations will provide fun activities, demonstrate ways to attract pollinators to your garden and share information about places to see wildlife around the region. Public agencies and community groups will provide programs in the center on an ongoing basis.

"The new Education Center aims to help visitors appreciate the small, unsung heroes of the natural world," said Grand Spickelmier, Oregon Zoo education curator. "In nature, small things matter — small animals, small habitats and the small but important actions people can take to protect them."

In the center's expansive new Nature Exploration Station, visitors can gaze at insects, spiders and millipedes in the new Insect Zoo and learn about their role as nature's tiny recycling crew. The Conservation Lab showcases the zoo's species-recovery efforts as young western pond turtles are head-started for release. Stories about local "conservation heroes"— told through photos and comic books — show how small actions can make a big difference for wildlife.

The center — the fifth of eight major projects funded by the 2008 community-supported zoo bond— is located in the area opposite the zoo's Amur tiger habitat and adjacent to the train station. It provides a welcoming entry and staging area for the thousands of children who participate in zoo camps and classes each year, and serves as a regional hub, expanding the zoo's conservation education programs through partnerships with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, National Wildlife Federation, the Intertwine Alliance, Portland Audubon and more.

"Joining the Oregon Zoo in their new Education Center is a natural extension of our shared conservation mission," said Robyn Thorson, regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "We have a long history of working together to recover species, and now we look forward to continuing our collective efforts on an education mission."

The center's grand opening festivities and Wildlife Talks speaker series are presented by KinderCare Education, the nation's leading private provider of early learning and care.

Independent committee lauds Oregon Zoo's progress in report to Metro Council

The Oregon Zoo continues to deliver on promises made in 2008, when the region's voters approved a $125 million zoo bond measure promoting animal welfare and sustainability, a citizen-oversight group reports.

At a meeting of the Metro Council today, the Oregon Zoo Bond Citizens' Oversight Committee praised Metro and zoo staff for their effectiveness in implementing a host of projects made possible by the community-supported bond measure.

"The committee is pleased to report that in 2016, bond funds continued to be spent wisely, bond projects were advanced on schedule and within budget, and overall the bond program is on track to deliver on voter expectations," wrote committee chair Ruth Shelly in a letter introducing the major findings of the citizen group's report.

The Oregon Zoo Bond Citizens' Oversight Committee — an independent group of local professionals with expertise in animal welfare, sustainability, public budgeting, campus planning, social equity and construction — is charged with overseeing the implementation of zoo bond program projects "to ensure funds are spent wisely and the bond projects are successfully built."

Among the major projects noted in the report is the new Education Center, which opened in March. The committee commended the zoo for developing partnerships that support its conservation education programming and for integrating sustainability features including more than 700 solar panels, salvaged building materials, bird-friendly glass and a rain-harvest system, to make the new center a teaching tool.

"With three years yet to go in the construction schedule, we are two-thirds of the way through," Shelly wrote. "At this point, it seems significant that the Education Center opens with the theme of 'small things matter.' Individual members of the committee might humbly consider themselves a 'small thing,' but their hours of service added up over seven years is a testament to civic involvement that ensures accountability of the public trust."

The committee congratulated the zoo on honors for Elephant Lands (which opened in 2015), including LEED Gold certification and the Daily Journal of Commerce's Project of the Year award. Other projects noted in the report are Condors of the Columbia (completed in 2014); a state-of-the-art veterinary medical center (2012) and extensive infrastructure upgrades, including a water-saving filtration system at the Penguinarium (2012).

With five major projects now complete, the committee has recommended that the final three projects funded by the zoo bond — improved habitats for primates, rhinos and polar bears — be managed as a single construction project to save costs and increase efficiency. These projects are currently in the design phase and scheduled for completion in 2020.

The committee acknowledged the zoo's success in minimizing disruption to visitors during construction and the smooth transition in executive leadership as incoming director Dr. Don Moore took over in March 2016.

The report highlighted successes in containing costs and improving construction efficiency through the use of an alternative contracting method that brings general contractors into projects early, during the design phase, to help identify risks, provide cost projections and refine the project schedule.

It also noted the zoo's achievements in hiring contractors certified by the State of Oregon's Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity, which works to increase opportunities for minority-owned, women-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned and emerging small businesses to land contracts on publicly funded projects. For the Education Center, 29 percent of the contracted work (by dollar value) went to COBID-certified firms — almost double the project's aspiration goal. The committee encouraged the zoo to keep track of its use of certified design firms as well as construction companies.

The committee also recommended the zoo keep a close eye on cost trends in the industry, as the Portland construction market continues to heat up.

Conservation education hub earns top honors at annual DJC awards banquet

For the second year in a row, the Oregon Zoo earned three major honors at the Daily Journal of Commerce's annual TopProjects ceremony, held at the Oregon Convention Center yesterday.

The DJC TopProjects program, now in its 22nd year, honors outstanding building and construction projects in Oregon and Southwest Washington, selected by a panel of industry leaders in architecture, construction and engineering.

The zoo's new Education Center — designed to inspire young minds and serve as a regional hub for conservation — won the Energy Trust of Oregon's High Performance Building Award for new construction, as well as third-place honors for public projects and the People's Choice Award for public projects, voted on in real time by event attendees.

"It's deeply gratifying to be honored like this two years in a row," said Heidi Rahn, bond program director. "Our community created something truly special when it passed the zoo bond measure in 2008. Children are the key to our future, and the Oregon Zoo Education Center was designed to inspire generations of young conservationists to take action on behalf of wildlife."

The Education Center was the fifth of eight major projects made possible by the community-supported bond measure promoting animal welfare, education and sustainability. The first of these improvements — the zoo's veterinary medical center — was also a TopProjects winner, taking first-place honors for public buildings in 2012. And last year, Elephant Lands was named 2016 Project of the Year while also earning the top award for public projects and runner-up honors for the People's Choice Award.

With five of the bond-funded upgrades now complete, the final three projects — improved habitats for primates, rhinos and polar bears — will be managed as a single construction project to save costs and increase efficiency.

The Education Center provides a welcoming entry and staging area for the thousands of children who participate in zoo camps and classes each year, and expands the zoo's conservation education programs and activities through partnerships with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA Forest Service, National Wildlife Federation, the Intertwine Alliance, Portland Audubon and more.

The center's many earth-friendly design features — including more than 700 solar panels, salvaged building materials, bird-friendly glass and a rain-harvest system —model sustainability measures and make the facility itself a teaching tool. The zoo is applying for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification for the new center, the highest rating from the Green Building Council. To learn more, visit oregonzoo.org/edcenter.

"We're very grateful to our design and construction partners, who helped make this vision a reality," Rahn said. "Especially our general contractor, Fortis Construction, and our design team led by Opsis Architecture, and including Formations, Jones & Jones Landscape Architects, Catena Consulting Engineers, KPFF Consulting Engineers and PAE Consulting Engineers."

For ninth time in past six years, Oregon Zoo earns kudos at national zoo conference

The Oregon Zoo drew praise from colleagues at zoos and aquariums across the continent this week, earning two prestigious awards from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums — one for conservation work on behalf of imperiled California condors and another recognizing excellence in exhibit design for Elephant Lands. The awards were announced today at AZA's annual conference, held this year in Indianapolis.

"We are deeply honored," said Dr. Don Moore, Oregon Zoo director. "These awards are some of the highest distinctions in the zoo world. They represent the respect of our peers from around the country."

Since 2012, the Oregon Zoo has been recognized with nine of the association's major annual awards: five for conservation work on behalf of endangered species, one for environmental efforts in the zoo's day-to-day operations, one for excellence in exhibit design and two for marketing excellence.

"Earning that many awards over the span of six years is extraordinary," said AZA president and CEO Dan Ashe. "But it doesn't surprise me. I visited the Oregon Zoo in March and was impressed with both the beauty of the facility itself and the work they're doing on behalf of species conservation, education and animal welfare. Oregonians can be very proud of their zoo — it's one of the top zoos in the country."

The Oregon Zoo and its partners in the collaborative California condor recovery project took top honors in the North American Conservation Awards category, which recognizes "exceptional efforts toward regional habitat preservation, species restoration and support of biodiversity."

The California condor was one of the original animals included on the 1973 Endangered Species Act and is classified as critically endangered. In 1982, only 22 individuals remained in the wild and by 1987, the last condors were brought under human care in an attempt to save the species from extinction. Thanks to these efforts, condor numbers now total more than 400, with the majority of those flying free.

"The success of the California condor program is one example of the vital role zoos play in conservation of endangered species," Dr. Moore said. "By working together, we are laying the groundwork for species recovery one egg at a time."

The California condor recovery project is a collaborative effort by the Oregon Zoo, San Diego Zoo Global, Los Angeles Zoo, Santa Barbara Zoo, Oakland Zoo, Phoenix Zoo and others. 

The zoo also took top honors in the Exhibit Award category for Elephant Lands. The fourth of eight major projects made possible by a community-supported bond measure promoting animal welfare, education and sustainability, Elephant Lands was the most ambitious project in Oregon Zoo history. It is four times the size of the zoo's former elephant habitat, accounting for nearly one-tenth of the zoo's total 64-acre footprint. A bridge leading visitors to the new Forest Hall indoor area offers a sweeping, panoramic view of the entire project: six acres, extending around much of the zoo's eastern side from the central lawn to the veterinary medical center.

Engineered to promote animal welfare and herd socialization, Elephant Lands features large, connecting outdoor habitats linked to flexible and communal indoor spaces. From the project's inception, the emphasis was on activity and choice.

"This is a home for some of the largest and most intelligent land mammals on the planet," said Bob Lee, the zoo's elephant curator. "We wanted to make sure we did it right. This new habitat lets elephants be elephants, making their own decisions about how they spend their days and nights."

The Oregon Zoo is recognized worldwide for its Asian elephant program, which has spanned more than 60 years. Considered highly endangered in their range countries, Asian elephants are threatened by habitat loss, conflict with humans and disease. It is estimated that just 40,000 to 50,000 elephants remain in fragmented populations from India to Borneo. The zoo supports a broad range of efforts to help wild elephants, and has established a $1 million endowment fund supporting Asian elephant conservation.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums — a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and aquariums in the areas of conservation, animal welfare, education, science and recreation — is the accrediting body for the top zoos and aquariums in the United States and seven other countries. In 1974, the Oregon Zoo became just the second zoo in the country to earn accreditation from the AZA, which currently accredits fewer than 200 zoos nationwide.

Zoo unveils 'very Northwest' solar-powered railway station in time for summer season

The Washington Park and Zoo Railway will take on its first passengers in nearly six months Friday. Officially, the train won't resume operations until the weekend, but the Oregon Zoo is inviting visitors to ride the rails for free on Friday, May 27.

"We’re thrilled to be bringing the train back in time for summer."

—Craig Stroud, zoo deputy director

"A new station is in place, and the engineers have been making practice runs," said Craig Stroud, zoo deputy director in charge of business operations. "We’re thrilled to be bringing the train back in time for summer, and we figured a day of free rides would be a great way to thank our community for supporting all the improvements taking place at the zoo."

The railway was temporarily taken out of service in January as major construction began on the zoo's new conservation education center, located adjacent to the train station. The center — the fifth of eight major projects made possible by the 2008 community-supported zoo bond measure — is slated to open in spring 2017.

With the area already a designated construction zone, the zoo took the opportunity to renovate its old train station, which dated back to the late 1950s and had been showing its age.

"Depending on the weather, the large permanent canopy at the new station keeps guests shaded or dry as they wait for trains, and the ample queuing area provides a much larger space for them," Stroud said. "Rather than one single-file line leading to the platform, guests now have five different points of entry, which makes for more efficient boarding."

Though not funded by bond money, work on the new station was efficiently bundled into the education center construction project, and gracefully aligns with the center visually, using the same materials and finishes.

"The exposed beams and roofing are warm and woodsy — very Northwest," said zoo project manager Brent Shelby.

In addition to efficiency and aesthetics, sustainability is one of the project's major hallmarks, Shelby says. The station canopy is made of Forest Stewardship Council-certified sustainable wood, with 96 solar panels atop the roof — part of a larger array that will include 635 additional panels at the education center. Together, the 731-panel array will generate enough energy to run the train station as well as other facilities at the education center.

"We're shooting for a net-zero energy operations project," Shelby said. "On an annual basis, we hope to generate as much power as we use."

Hillsboro-based SolarWorld provided panels for the project at cost, and met with zoo contractors to ensure maximum solar capacity.

The zoo's 30-inch-gauge railway line evolved out of plans for a children's train when the zoo moved to its current site in the late 1950s. The Old West–inspired Centennial steam locomotive and the sleek, retro-modern Zooliner both were featured during Oregon's 1959 centennial celebration. A photo from that time shows then-Sen. John F. Kennedy stepping off the train during a staged wild-west train robbery.

U.S. Green Building Council confers Gold status on zoo's visionary home for elephants

The most ambitious project in Oregon Zoo history has added another honor to its growing list of high-profile kudos and awards: Elephant Lands, a world-class home for Portland's world-famous Asian elephant family, earned Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — an internationally recognized benchmark for sustainable building practices.

"A LEED Gold certification not only highlights the zoo's commitment to sustainability, but also its responsibility to the community," said Heidi Rahn, who oversees projects funded by the 2008 zoo bond measure promoting animal welfare and sustainability. "If we want a better future for wildlife, it's vital that we conserve natural resources and make sure our day-to-day operations and construction practices are environmentally sound."

Sustainable design practices abound in Elephant Lands, Rahn said. Among the highlights:

Geothermal "Slinky"

An innovative geothermal "Slinky" system will direct heat created as a byproduct of cooling polar bear swimming pools through rows of Slinky-like coiled pipes buried 8 to 12 feet underground in the North Habitat section of Elephant Lands. The ground maintains a constant temperature, insulating the pipes, and pumps connected to the system will deliver heat to the indoor portion of Elephant Lands.

Swimming pool filtration

A state-of-the-art filtration and water-treatment system cleans and replenishes the new 160,000-gallon elephant pool every hour. In the past, to keep the elephants healthy, staff had to dump and refill their pool, pouring millions of gallons of water down the drain each year.

Improved stormwater management

Rainwater collected from Forest Hall's roof is stored in a 5,000-gallon underground cistern, reducing peak loads on the city stormwater system and conserving potable water use. The water is then used at Forest Hall for flushing toilets and wash down. It's a large-scale version of having a rain barrel under your downspout.

Cross-laminated timber

The zoo's Elephant Plaza building took runner-up honors for Sustainable Project of the Year in the Portland Business Journal's 2015 Better Bricks awards. One of the buildings was the first commercial project in Oregon to use cross-laminated timber, a material made from planks of wood cross-hatched together into large structural sheets. Steel and concrete take a lot of energy to produce, and CLT — which stores carbon — can have a positive environmental impact over the life cycle of a building.

Solar photovoltaic array on Forest Hall roof

This array will generate around 34,000 kilowatt-hours a year of electricity for use in the building without releasing CO2 or creating hazardous waste.

Solar hot-water system

This system preheats water for elephant bathing and other uses, storing it in a 1,500-gallon tank in the building's mechanical room and reducing the amount of natural gas required to heat the water.

Natural ventilation mode

Large louvers on the walls and roof of the indoor facility open automatically based on outdoor temperatures, allowing natural ventilation. About 75 percent of the building's fan power is eliminated during natural ventilation mode.

Elephant Lands — the fourth of eight major projects made possible by the zoo bond measure — is four times the size of the zoo's former Asian elephant habitat and accounts for nearly one-tenth of the zoo's total 64-acre footprint. The zoo's veterinary medical center — the first of the eight bond projects — earned LEED Gold certification in 2012, and the currently under-construction education center is also on track for LEED Gold. All zoo bond projects aim to achieve a minimum of LEED Silver certification.

Willard Martin's classic mid-mod mosaic is restored to former glory at new ed center

After nearly 20 years spent languishing in obscurity, a classic Portland artwork is set to return to the public eye.

"The Continuity of Life Forms"— a huge midcentury-modern mosaic by renowned Portland architect and artist Willard Martin — was reinstalled at the Oregon Zoo last month at a site near the old zoo entrance, where the iconic piece stood for more than 50 years.

"This is a way of preserving the legacy of a local hero in addition to preserving part of the zoo's history," says Brent Shelby, one of the zoo's project managers. "There will be a lot of nostalgia for those who visited the zoo prior to the late 1990s."

Originally installed at the entrance when the zoo moved to its current location in 1959, the striking mosaic greeted visitors for 40 years, becoming part of the zoo's public face and lore. But in 1997, the zoo's main entrance was moved 200 yards uphill when TriMet opened its West Side light-rail line, which included a stop at the zoo.

The mosaic remained in its familiar place, but it became less visible over the years. A perimeter fence obscured the artwork from outside, and viewing opportunities inside the zoo were limited by the mosaic's out-of-the-way location: a corner off the main visitor pathway near the Amur tiger habitat.

"You wouldn't see it unless you were specifically looking for it," Shelby said. "It became one of those hidden treasures, almost forgotten by time."

The mosaic was given a second life though when the zoo announced plans for its new conservation education center, the fifth of eight major projects funded by a 2008 community-supported zoo bond measure. When the center opens next spring, Martin's work will occupy a prominent place near the entrance, a staging area for the thousands of children who participate in zoo camps, classes and field trips each year.

"We want the zoo to serve as a gateway experience to what may become a deeper relationship with the natural world," Shelby said. "So bringing 'The Continuity of Life Forms' back at this same location is ideal."

To prepare for education center construction, the mosaic was removed from its original setting two years ago and put into storage. It was re-installed as part of the new center in July. The project was supported in part by a grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust: Oregonians sustaining, developing and participating in our arts, heritage and humanities. Restoration work was also supported by the Oregon Zoo Foundation's Education Campaign, which raised more than $1.5 million for enhancements to the new center, as well as expanded education programming at the zoo and in the community.

Created in 1959, the multi-paneled piece is a significant early work in the career of Martin, a noted Portland artist and architect best known for designing Pioneer Courthouse Square. The 20 panels form a work roughly 60 feet long and 15 feet tall, and capture a panoramic sense of history and being — the forces of life — out of footprints, seeds, leaves, shells, fossils and primitive life forms that might be found in the Earth's strata.

Martin and his son died in a tragic plane crash in 1985. Shelby says the zoo hopes the mosaic's renewed prominence will re-introduce the artwork — and Martin — to a new generation.

Survey responses will aid design of Polar Passage, the zoo's new home for polar bears

As excitement builds over the imminent debut of Nora, the young polar bear who arrived here from Ohio recently, the Oregon Zoo is looking for some help designing her new home.

Design work on Polar Passage — a major reboot of the zoo's polar bear habitat — is underway, and the zoo today launched a survey aimed at better understanding local residents' thoughts and feelings concerning polar bears and our role in protecting their imperiled Arctic ecosystem.

"This is a great time for our community to tell us what's important to them," said Heidi Rahn, zoo bond program director. "At this stage, we've determined some of the basic design features of Polar Passage, but we're still exploring a lot of interesting ideas. In addition to providing the best possible habitat for the bears, we want this space to reflect the desires of the community that will be visiting it."

Take the survey.

Zoo officials are hoping for a variety of responses from across the community to help guide the design of buildings, displays and programs offered.

"We want to identify the experiences that will be most interesting and meaningful for visitors," Rahn said. "We want to make sure we're providing the inspiration and tools that will enable people to take action on behalf of polar bears and other wildlife."

Polar Passage, expected to open in 2019, will provide bears with larger, more open terrain that they can patrol as they do in the wild. The new habitat will include natural ground materials, tundra plants, elevated areas for long views, shallow and deep pools, and many viewing opportunities for visitors. 

The zoo is working with Polar Bears International, the U.S Geological Survey and other partners on research projects that will shed new light on the effects of climate change on polar bears in the wild. The new polar bear habitat at the Oregon Zoo will provide visitors with a view into these research activities so that they learn along with the scientists and gain greater appreciation for the bears' conservation status and their dwindling arctic habitat.

Polar Passage is the sixth of eight major projects made possible by a community-supported zoo bond measure in 2008. The zoo has completed a veterinary medical center, an improved water system for Humboldt penguins, Condors of the Columbia and Elephant Lands. A new conservation education center is under construction and due to open in 2017.

The project design team for the new habitat is led by CLR Design, with interpretive components by Main Street Design. The construction contractor for the project is Lease Crutcher Lewis.

Tasul, a polar bear known for her easygoing personality and groundbreaking contributions to conservation science, was humanely euthanized today to prevent suffering due to an aggressive cancer.

A couple weeks shy of her 32nd birthday, Tasul was the third-oldest polar bear in any North American zoo or aquarium, and one of the oldest on the planet. In the Arctic, polar bears seldom live past the age of 18, though wildlife biologists have documented two that lived to be 32.

During an ultrasound last week, zoo veterinarians discovered a mass on Tasul’s right ovary, and — after a biopsy revealed it to be cancerous — surgery was scheduled this morning to remove the mass and determine whether it had spread. One of DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital’s board-certified surgeons Dr. Ashley Magee had come to the zoo to perform the surgery. During surgery, however, it became clear the cancer had spread extensively and, to prevent her from suffering, animal-care staff made the difficult decision to euthanize.

“We know many zoo visitors are grieving along with us right now,” said Nicole Nicassio-Hiskey, the zoo’s senior marine life keeper, who knew the bear for more than 15 years. “Tasul touched a lot of people’s hearts, and she was such a great bear. She helped raise awareness about what’s happening to polar bears in the Arctic, and she helped the scientists who are studying what’s happening there. Wild polar bears are in trouble, and their future depends on all of us working together to combat climate change.”

“Tasul’s willingness to build a relationship with her keepers and to participate in training contributed so much to wild polar bears,” said keeper Amy Hash. “I want that to be her legacy. She’s contributed so much to her species.”

In 2011, Tasul became the first polar bear in the world to voluntarily give blood— a significant advance that improves animal welfare, especially during veterinary treatment. After reading about this milestone in the news, Dr. Karyn Rode, a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Polar Bear Team, contacted the zoo for assistance with the USGS’s Changing Arctic Ecosystems research.

Tasul helped Rode research how climate change is affecting the diets of wild polar bears. She also helped the USGS by wearing a high-tech collar to track her movements in order to learn more from collars deployed on polar bears in the Arctic. Polar bears are extremely difficult to observe in the wild, and Tasul’s data is helping researchers develop methods to remotely investigate how these predators are responding to the retreat of sea ice.

“This team of keepers truly revolutionized the way we care for polar bears in zoos, and Tasul was a shining example of that,” Cutting said. “When I first met Tasul 14 years ago, she could be nervous and apprehensive. It has truly been a privilege for me to watch her keepers build her trust and encourage her to express herself over the years. She evolved into a playful, confident bear, who was clearly ready to meet any challenge.”  

Tasul was born Dec. 1, 1984, at the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, S.C. and arrived in Portland in 1986. She was popular with zoo visitors and staff — forming especially strong bonds with keepers.

In 2012, Tasul was included in an Oregonian article about elderly Oregon Zoo inhabitants that highlighted ways keepers and veterinary staff care for animals approaching the end of life. Zoo staff had been monitoring her closely and treating her for age-related ailments such as arthritis.

Keepers are disappointed that Tasul will not have the chance to serve as a friend and mentor to the 1-year-old Nora, who arrived here from the Columbus Zoo this fall. While the two bears had met, they had yet to become comfortable together.

“One of the reasons Nora came here was to meet another bear,” said curator Amy Cutting, who oversees the Oregon Zoo’s marine life area. “It’s beneficial for a young bear that was hand-raised to have a mentor bear as soon as possible, so we’re in touch with the Species Survival Plan about what is best for Nora at this time.”

Until a companion for Nora is found, Cutting said, the Oregon Zoo is fully prepared to provide care for her with enrichment, positive-reinforcement training and opportunities to participate in conservation science.

“We regularly get inquiries from other zoos about how to approach management and training with polar bears,” Cutting added. “We have a learned a ton from other talented teams out there that are also pushing the boundaries and developing strategies to continually improve polar bear welfare. It is an exciting time with polar bear management and conservation science and I believe that Tasul and this team have inspired an entire generation of polar bear managers.”

Climate science data shows that global warming is melting the Arctic sea ice polar bears call home, and with it, access to the food and shelter necessary for the species’ survival. The polar bear is designated as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, and the World Conservation Union’s Species Survival Commission has designated the species as facing a high risk of global extinction. If current climate trends are left unchecked, scientists predict the death of up to two-thirds of all wild polar bears by 2050.

People can help protect polar bears and other threatened wildlife through Small Actions, an easy-to-use online tool launched by the Oregon Zoo that empowers everyone to become a wildlife defender: oregonzoo.org/help-polar-bears.

Bug expert Mark Moffett will give free talk at zoo's new Education Center, March 4

Renowned ecologist, wildlife photographer and insect expert Mark E. Moffett will be at the Oregon Zoo March 4 talking bugs. Moffett — known to fans as Dr. Bugs — will be presenting "Insect Tales" as the first installment of Wildlife Talks, a new zoo speaker series presented by KinderCare Education.

Moffett's talk, free and open to the public, begins at 7 p.m. in Conservation Hall at the zoo's new Education Center.

Moffett — a real-life adventurer who has earned wide acclaim for his photos in National Geographic — aims to inspire care for the world's obscure creatures: romantically inclined Sri Lankan spiders or dancing Brazilian frogs, 100-foot-wide swarms of bloodthirsty army ants of Ghana or the multicolored "Doctor Seuss" flies of New Guinea.

"No one else knows these stories firsthand or can convey them with Moffett's enthusiasm," said Grant Spickelmier, the zoo's education curator.

Spickelmier hopes Dr. Bugs' appearance — along with rest of the Wildlife Talks series —will strengthen our community's knowledge ecological systems and environmental issues, inspiring people to make a difference for wildlife.

"Conservation is not just about big animals or big actions," Spickelmier said. "Small things like bees, butterflies and other insects are critically important — and our small, everyday actions can help them."

The Wildlife Talks series continues through March with the following additional events:

• Tuesday, March 7: Turtle Recovery in the Pacific Northwest. Once common from Baja California to Puget Sound, the western pond turtle is listed as endangered in Washington and threatened in Oregon. Learn how the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Sustainability in Prisons Project and the Oregon Zoo are saving this tiny, long-lived turtle from extinction, and what you can do to help.
• Tuesday, March 14: Butterfly Conservation in Oregon. Two species of Oregon butterflies — the Taylor's checkerspot and the Oregon silverspot — were once common in their home ranges, but are now listed as threatened or endangered. Experts from the Oregon Zoo, Oregon Department of Corrections, U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will discuss their work restoring these species, and how you can take action on behalf of butterflies.
• Tuesday, March 21: Recovery of a Flying Giant. Stretching nearly 10 feet from wingtip to wingtip, California condors once ranged from British Columbia to Baja California and inland to the Rocky Mountains. This bird — North America's largest — was among the first species listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1973. Oregon Zoo and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff will share information about their work breeding condors for release and eliminating threats to their survival in the wild. Discover how you can do your part in this conservation success story.

The Oregon Zoo's Wildlife Talks series is presented by KinderCare Education, the nation's leading private provider of early learning and care. All talks are free and open to the public, and begin at 7 p.m. at Conservation Hall inside the zoo's new Education Center (doors at 6:30).

The Education Center— the fifth of eight major projects funded by the 2008 community-supported zoo bond measure — opens to the public March 3, expanding the zoo's conservation education programs through partnerships with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others. Highlights of the new center include a reimagined Insect Zoo and an interactive species-recovery lab, where visitors can see rare western pond turtles being raised for release into the wild.

Interactive space features conservation lab, lecture hall and brand-new insect zoo

Oregon Zoo visitors can meet Smokey Bear and get their first look inside the zoo's new Education Center at open houses March 4 and 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The center's grand opening festivities, presented by KinderCare Education, also include a free March 4 lecture at 7 p.m. by National Geographic photographer and renowned insect expert, Mark Moffett, aka "Dr. Bugs."

At the open houses, free with zoo admission, visitors can explore areas soon to be behind the scenes and out of view. Experts from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service (with Smokey Bear) and many other local conservation organizations will provide fun activities, demonstrate ways to attract pollinators to your garden and share information about places to see wildlife around the region. Public agencies and community groups will provide programs in the center on an ongoing basis.

"The new Education Center aims to help visitors appreciate the small, unsung heroes of the natural world," said Grand Spickelmier, Oregon Zoo education curator. "In nature, small things matter — small animals, small habitats and the small but important actions people can take to protect them."

In the center's expansive new Nature Exploration Station, visitors can gaze at insects, spiders and millipedes in the new Insect Zoo and learn about their role as nature's tiny recycling crew. The Conservation Lab showcases the zoo's species-recovery efforts as young western pond turtles are head-started for release. Stories about local "conservation heroes"— told through photos and comic books — show how small actions can make a big difference for wildlife.

The center — the fifth of eight major projects funded by the 2008 community-supported zoo bond— is located in the area opposite the zoo's Amur tiger habitat and adjacent to the train station. It provides a welcoming entry and staging area for the thousands of children who participate in zoo camps and classes each year, and serves as a regional hub, expanding the zoo's conservation education programs through partnerships with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, National Wildlife Federation, the Intertwine Alliance, Portland Audubon and more.

"Joining the Oregon Zoo in their new Education Center is a natural extension of our shared conservation mission," said Robyn Thorson, regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "We have a long history of working together to recover species, and now we look forward to continuing our collective efforts on an education mission."

The center's grand opening festivities and Wildlife Talks speaker series are presented by KinderCare Education, the nation's leading private provider of early learning and care.

Independent committee lauds Oregon Zoo's progress in report to Metro Council

The Oregon Zoo continues to deliver on promises made in 2008, when the region's voters approved a $125 million zoo bond measure promoting animal welfare and sustainability, a citizen-oversight group reports.

At a meeting of the Metro Council today, the Oregon Zoo Bond Citizens' Oversight Committee praised Metro and zoo staff for their effectiveness in implementing a host of projects made possible by the community-supported bond measure.

"The committee is pleased to report that in 2016, bond funds continued to be spent wisely, bond projects were advanced on schedule and within budget, and overall the bond program is on track to deliver on voter expectations," wrote committee chair Ruth Shelly in a letter introducing the major findings of the citizen group's report.

The Oregon Zoo Bond Citizens' Oversight Committee — an independent group of local professionals with expertise in animal welfare, sustainability, public budgeting, campus planning, social equity and construction — is charged with overseeing the implementation of zoo bond program projects "to ensure funds are spent wisely and the bond projects are successfully built."

Among the major projects noted in the report is the new Education Center, which opened in March. The committee commended the zoo for developing partnerships that support its conservation education programming and for integrating sustainability features including more than 700 solar panels, salvaged building materials, bird-friendly glass and a rain-harvest system, to make the new center a teaching tool.

"With three years yet to go in the construction schedule, we are two-thirds of the way through," Shelly wrote. "At this point, it seems significant that the Education Center opens with the theme of 'small things matter.' Individual members of the committee might humbly consider themselves a 'small thing,' but their hours of service added up over seven years is a testament to civic involvement that ensures accountability of the public trust."

The committee congratulated the zoo on honors for Elephant Lands (which opened in 2015), including LEED Gold certification and the Daily Journal of Commerce's Project of the Year award. Other projects noted in the report are Condors of the Columbia (completed in 2014); a state-of-the-art veterinary medical center (2012) and extensive infrastructure upgrades, including a water-saving filtration system at the Penguinarium (2012).

With five major projects now complete, the committee has recommended that the final three projects funded by the zoo bond — improved habitats for primates, rhinos and polar bears — be managed as a single construction project to save costs and increase efficiency. These projects are currently in the design phase and scheduled for completion in 2020.

The committee acknowledged the zoo's success in minimizing disruption to visitors during construction and the smooth transition in executive leadership as incoming director Dr. Don Moore took over in March 2016.

The report highlighted successes in containing costs and improving construction efficiency through the use of an alternative contracting method that brings general contractors into projects early, during the design phase, to help identify risks, provide cost projections and refine the project schedule.

It also noted the zoo's achievements in hiring contractors certified by the State of Oregon's Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity, which works to increase opportunities for minority-owned, women-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned and emerging small businesses to land contracts on publicly funded projects. For the Education Center, 29 percent of the contracted work (by dollar value) went to COBID-certified firms — almost double the project's aspiration goal. The committee encouraged the zoo to keep track of its use of certified design firms as well as construction companies.

The committee also recommended the zoo keep a close eye on cost trends in the industry, as the Portland construction market continues to heat up.

Conservation education hub earns top honors at annual DJC awards banquet

For the second year in a row, the Oregon Zoo earned three major honors at the Daily Journal of Commerce's annual TopProjects ceremony, held at the Oregon Convention Center yesterday.

The DJC TopProjects program, now in its 22nd year, honors outstanding building and construction projects in Oregon and Southwest Washington, selected by a panel of industry leaders in architecture, construction and engineering.

The zoo's new Education Center — designed to inspire young minds and serve as a regional hub for conservation — won the Energy Trust of Oregon's High Performance Building Award for new construction, as well as third-place honors for public projects and the People's Choice Award for public projects, voted on in real time by event attendees.

"It's deeply gratifying to be honored like this two years in a row," said Heidi Rahn, bond program director. "Our community created something truly special when it passed the zoo bond measure in 2008. Children are the key to our future, and the Oregon Zoo Education Center was designed to inspire generations of young conservationists to take action on behalf of wildlife."

The Education Center was the fifth of eight major projects made possible by the community-supported bond measure promoting animal welfare, education and sustainability. The first of these improvements — the zoo's veterinary medical center — was also a TopProjects winner, taking first-place honors for public buildings in 2012. And last year, Elephant Lands was named 2016 Project of the Year while also earning the top award for public projects and runner-up honors for the People's Choice Award.

With five of the bond-funded upgrades now complete, the final three projects — improved habitats for primates, rhinos and polar bears — will be managed as a single construction project to save costs and increase efficiency.

The Education Center provides a welcoming entry and staging area for the thousands of children who participate in zoo camps and classes each year, and expands the zoo's conservation education programs and activities through partnerships with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA Forest Service, National Wildlife Federation, the Intertwine Alliance, Portland Audubon and more.

The center's many earth-friendly design features — including more than 700 solar panels, salvaged building materials, bird-friendly glass and a rain-harvest system —model sustainability measures and make the facility itself a teaching tool. The zoo is applying for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification for the new center, the highest rating from the Green Building Council. To learn more, visit oregonzoo.org/edcenter.

"We're very grateful to our design and construction partners, who helped make this vision a reality," Rahn said. "Especially our general contractor, Fortis Construction, and our design team led by Opsis Architecture, and including Formations, Jones & Jones Landscape Architects, Catena Consulting Engineers, KPFF Consulting Engineers and PAE Consulting Engineers."

For ninth time in past six years, Oregon Zoo earns kudos at national zoo conference

The Oregon Zoo drew praise from colleagues at zoos and aquariums across the continent this week, earning two prestigious awards from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums — one for conservation work on behalf of imperiled California condors and another recognizing excellence in exhibit design for Elephant Lands. The awards were announced today at AZA's annual conference, held this year in Indianapolis.

"We are deeply honored," said Dr. Don Moore, Oregon Zoo director. "These awards are some of the highest distinctions in the zoo world. They represent the respect of our peers from around the country."

Since 2012, the Oregon Zoo has been recognized with nine of the association's major annual awards: five for conservation work on behalf of endangered species, one for environmental efforts in the zoo's day-to-day operations, one for excellence in exhibit design and two for marketing excellence.

"Earning that many awards over the span of six years is extraordinary," said AZA president and CEO Dan Ashe. "But it doesn't surprise me. I visited the Oregon Zoo in March and was impressed with both the beauty of the facility itself and the work they're doing on behalf of species conservation, education and animal welfare. Oregonians can be very proud of their zoo — it's one of the top zoos in the country."

The Oregon Zoo and its partners in the collaborative California condor recovery project took top honors in the North American Conservation Awards category, which recognizes "exceptional efforts toward regional habitat preservation, species restoration and support of biodiversity."

The California condor was one of the original animals included on the 1973 Endangered Species Act and is classified as critically endangered. In 1982, only 22 individuals remained in the wild and by 1987, the last condors were brought under human care in an attempt to save the species from extinction. Thanks to these efforts, condor numbers now total more than 400, with the majority of those flying free.

"The success of the California condor program is one example of the vital role zoos play in conservation of endangered species," Dr. Moore said. "By working together, we are laying the groundwork for species recovery one egg at a time."

The California condor recovery project is a collaborative effort by the Oregon Zoo, San Diego Zoo Global, Los Angeles Zoo, Santa Barbara Zoo, Oakland Zoo, Phoenix Zoo and others. 

The zoo also took top honors in the Exhibit Award category for Elephant Lands. The fourth of eight major projects made possible by a community-supported bond measure promoting animal welfare, education and sustainability, Elephant Lands was the most ambitious project in Oregon Zoo history. It is four times the size of the zoo's former elephant habitat, accounting for nearly one-tenth of the zoo's total 64-acre footprint. A bridge leading visitors to the new Forest Hall indoor area offers a sweeping, panoramic view of the entire project: six acres, extending around much of the zoo's eastern side from the central lawn to the veterinary medical center.

Engineered to promote animal welfare and herd socialization, Elephant Lands features large, connecting outdoor habitats linked to flexible and communal indoor spaces. From the project's inception, the emphasis was on activity and choice.

"This is a home for some of the largest and most intelligent land mammals on the planet," said Bob Lee, the zoo's elephant curator. "We wanted to make sure we did it right. This new habitat lets elephants be elephants, making their own decisions about how they spend their days and nights."

The Oregon Zoo is recognized worldwide for its Asian elephant program, which has spanned more than 60 years. Considered highly endangered in their range countries, Asian elephants are threatened by habitat loss, conflict with humans and disease. It is estimated that just 40,000 to 50,000 elephants remain in fragmented populations from India to Borneo. The zoo supports a broad range of efforts to help wild elephants, and has established a $1 million endowment fund supporting Asian elephant conservation.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums — a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and aquariums in the areas of conservation, animal welfare, education, science and recreation — is the accrediting body for the top zoos and aquariums in the United States and seven other countries. In 1974, the Oregon Zoo became just the second zoo in the country to earn accreditation from the AZA, which currently accredits fewer than 200 zoos nationwide.