NEWBERG, Ore. — In north Newberg, flanked by the Collina housing development to the west, A-Dec to the south, and The Allison Inn & Spa to the east, sits more than 50 acres of wilderness in the early stages of light rewilding that a local organization hopes to return to nature — and allow the public to watch the process firsthand.
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“We saw our first signs of beaver activity here the other day,” said Hess Creek Preserve Project Executive Director Brian Naffin on a remarkably sunny December day, pointing to a few small trees chewed to stumps. “After years of work, it’s incredible seeing our first steps actually move in the direction.”
The Hess Creek Preserve, slated for a soft opening in fall 2026 and an official opening in spring 2027, has been in development for at least four years, Naffin said. From early ideation to framework building, planning, and agency coordination, to the current phase of removing invasive blackberries and ivy, the goal is to transform the formerly private land into a wildlife sanctuary open for community use.
According to Hess Creek Preserve Project President Ashley Parrish, the vision stretches back even further. The land, owned by Austin Industries, was acquired by Ken and Joan Austin, who also founded A-Dec, Newberg’s largest employer.
Parrish, their granddaughter, said her family long viewed the property across from as a chance to preserve natural land and share it with the community.
“My family wanted to retain some of the natural elements and create a space where people can come interact with nature,” she said. “So I think this is really just fulfillment 15 years later. We relook at that initial hope and say, okay, with what we know now — a lot of change — what makes sense today? I think that’s really what kicked off this project.”
The project first appeared publicly in the Springbrook Master Plan in 2008. The plan notes Joan Austin had been purchasing land around A-Dec’s north Newberg campus for 35 years.
“She began to see that this property presented an opportunity to build upon the assets and history of her beloved hometown of Newberg and to create a special place within the community where people could live, work, and play,” the master plan states.
Fourteen goals were outlined in the plan — three of which are now being realized through the preserve: preserving natural features and tree canopies, creating multi-use pedestrian and bicycle trails, and establishing open space and parkland.
“The cool thing is this was a priority for the family to do,” said Naffin, who also serves as general manager of Austin Industries. “It wasn’t just something like, ‘We’ll get around to it one day.’ This was a priority. And I think it’s when you see private initiative meeting public good — that’s when something special can happen.”
Preserve efforts have already included removing invasive blackberry and English ivy and demolishing a defunct barn. The team also plans to remove two irrigation dams — one earthen dam from the 1940s and a concrete dam from the 1980s — to restore 1,600 feet of the creek. The unimpeded waterway is expected to support native aquatic species such as cutthroat trout and lamprey.
That, along with restoration of 36 acres of native trees and plants historically present before agricultural clearing. Project documents include a proposed 10-acre white oak savanna, with thousands of new native trees and shrubs to be planted.
Parrish hopes those efforts could help attract an ecosystem that supports even more native wildlife like hawks, warblers, deer, raccoons, and a variety of pollinators.
“Mike [Abbaté] from Abbaté Designs brought a blue-sky plan to our family and told us what we could do with the preserve,” Parrish said. “I feel like I saw everyone’s eyes open up wide. We realized we could do all of these really neat things. It came back to controlling our appetite a bit to be realistic about what we could really do, while doing as much as we could.”
The final design includes one mile of paved trail for accessibility, a third of a mile of soft-surface chip trail near the creek, two stream crossings, and three natural art installations throughout the preserve.
Development has required collaboration with several government and environmental agencies, including the City of Newberg, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Oregon Department of State Lands, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“When you get into a project of this size, you don’t appreciate all the elements that go into it,” Naffin said. “All the different state agencies and federal agencies, as you’re working with water, right? And then you’re walking around for a bit and realize maybe benches would be nice here, or what about a restroom? And then how do all these pieces fit together?”
After more than a decade of dreaming and at least four years of active planning, Parrish and Naffin say they are eager to move from preparation to public access.
“There’s gonna be so much benefit to being here, using it, experiencing it — way more than I can even explain,” Parrish said. “I’m excited for us all to come use it like we talked about so many years ago. I think people will quickly see how beautiful this land is and see why it deserves to be preserved.”
The New Collina at Springbrook Pedestrian Bridge
Drivers heading east on Mountainview Road have recently noticed a new bridge spanning Hess Creek to the south. The bridge connects to a walking path on the west side, but currently ends at Mountainview without clear sidewalks or pedestrian access points.
In the 2008 master plan, the structure is identified as the Collina at Springbrook Pedestrian Bridge, intended to tie into the future trail network. The plan also shows a paved pedestrian route along Mountainview Road, though no timeline has been established for that connection.
