Pamela Slaughter led a group of a dozen hikers through the old growth forest at Oxbow Regional Park in Gresham last August, stopping alongside a large bush with red berries on it.
“Do you notice the difference in the undergrowth?” she asked the group. “More huckleberries. ... Bears love these berries.”
“Are they poisonous to us?” one hiker asked.
”No they’re yummy,” Slaughter answered.
Another hiker grabbed a few to eat, pausing with a smile to joke that he’s already written his will.
The hike through Oxbow was one of about 60 outdoor excursions organized by group People of Color Outdoors, or POCO, every year. Slaughter, an Oregonian born and raised in Portland, started the organization in 2017 to encourage more people to go out hiking, birdwatching, paddling or just simply enjoying the outdoors.
POCO came on the heels of another group Slaughter started in 2015 called Outdoor Afro Portland. People would ask her if they could join and she realized she also wanted to have a group that was more inclusive of all people of color as well as white families with BIPOC children.
“My main job is to help people gain access to beautiful places and to new skills and activities,” Slaughter said. “Most of the people in the group are either new to Portland, new to Oregon and are new to the outdoors period. Or they’ve had bad experiences outdoors and have taken a long break and now they’re trying to venture back into it, but they want to feel safe.”
A safe space outdoors
She created the group as a safe space because knows firsthand what it’s like to feel unwelcome in the outdoors. She and her daughter were harassed on a hike years ago, and she said that kind of experience can discourage people of color from venturing into the wilderness.
“When my daughter was a child, we were followed off the path by skinheads,” she said. “They said some nasty things and then they moved on. It was a scary moment for us because I knew my kids weren’t safe, and I knew I couldn’t protect them. ... Once I found out about other people having the same issue, that’s how POCO was born. I don’t want our kids here to miss out on all of this.”
As they were walking through the ancient forest at Oxbow, Slaughter stopped the group to point out two fallen trees that had young trees sprouting out of their trunks. They’re called “mother logs,” she explained.
In August 2024, a group hikes with the Portland-based group People of Color Outdoors, which aims to help BIPOC communities strengthen their connection to nature.
Cameron Nielsen / OPB
“Guess when these trees fell?” she asked the group.
”Was it during COVID?” one hiker shouted.
”Sometime in the 1970s,” Slaughter said.
The old growth trees at Oxbow Park can range in diameter from 4-12 feet — with some trunks as wide as two bear hugs each.
Saving the old growth at Oxbow
The park was preserved by another Black woman: Estella Ehelebe, who was the first Black superintendent for the Multnomah County Forest and the first and only Black woman to lead Multnomah County Parks before they were transferred to Metro in 1994.
Her daughter Anjala Ehelebe joined the POCO group at Oxbow to talk about her mom’s legacy, helping to save 92 acres of old growth forest at Oxbow park in the 1970s when the federal Bureau of Land Management tried to log it.
“She loved the trees out here,” Anjala Ehelebe remembered. “BLM owned lots of the land and asked to take out some of the nasty danger trees,”
Harvesting trees was a source of income, she said, and her mother saw what the agency was trying to do.
“She wrote back in a letter that her staff will take care of the danger trees,” she said. “That ended up saving some of the last old growth in Oregon.”
Building community in nature
Part of the POCO experience is cultivating a close sense of community through education in nature.
After lunch, the group made its way down to the Sandy River for an impromptu lesson in geology from Paul Edison Lahm with the Geological Society of the Oregon Country, who pointed out the ages of the rocks and other natural landmarks at the beach and showed the younger hikers how to smash rocks to examine what’s inside.
On a hike at Oxbow Regional Park in August 2024, participants in an outing organized by People of Color Outdoors learn about geology on the bank of the Sandy River.
Cameron Nielsen / OPB
Slaughter created a junior nature education and new friends program within POCO called Guardians. In 2023, Pam was selected by Adidas for a nine-month mentorship project where she learned from entrepreneurs.
“It helped me change some things about POCO and also make the Guardians program better,” Slaughter said.
When a big group like POCO travels, it can draw a lot of attention, Slaughter said, but at least no one is alone.
“When I go to Oxbow now, it’s more special to me because I know Estella Ehelebee had a direct hand,” she said. “It reminds me that one person can make a difference for generations.”
Whether you’re experienced in the outdoors or someone who is new, she said, there’s room for you to feel welcome.