Human Access Project

Human Access Project (HAP) is an organization based in Portland, Oregon, whose mission is "transforming Portland's relationship with the Willamette River". The organization's vision is a city in love with its river. HAP was founded by Willie Levenson, whose official title is the organization's Ringleader, is a tireless and effective advocate for swimming in the Willamette River he brings his love of water to his work as an activist for recreational access to the Willamette River in Portland.

HAP spearheaded the creation of the River Hugger Swim Team, Audrey McCall Beach and Poet's Beach,  the opening of the Kevin Duckworth Memorial Dock for swimming, fishing and non-motorized boating, and organizes events such as the Big Float, Mayoral Swim, Duckworth Wednesday's, and the Valentine's Dip.

History and activities
Willie Levenson founded the Human Access Project in 2010.

On July 5, 2013, HAP set a Guinness World Record for the "longest line of swim rings / tubes" with a total of 620 participants.

In 2014, Levenson performed "Our River", a song he wrote with Tom Vandel to promote human access to the Willamette River, for City Council.The recorded song is performed by Lewi Longmire and Anita Lee Elliot.

Site improvements
HAP added a swim ladder to the Portland Fire and Rescue Station 21 Dock “the Firehouse Dock”, effectively creating a new recreational access point to the river. With the addition of a swim ladder the Fire House Dock became launching point of the River Hugger Swim Team.

In 2017, HAP’s activism led to the opening of the city's first officially recognized public swimming beach, in nearly 100 years called Poet's Beach. Additionally, HAP began work to mitigate a harmful cyanobacterial bloom that became a regular occurrence in the summer inside the Ross Island Lagoon, in partnership with Oregon State University. HAP also commissioned a dock swim study by landscape architectural firm M.I.G. to reimagine the Kevin Duckworth Memorial Dock as a non-motorized swimming and fishing dock.

On July 5, 2019, HAP’s activism led to the recognition of Portland’s second official public beach Audrey McCall Beach.

In 2020, HAP’s activism led to converting the use of the Kevin Duckworth Dock from motorized to non-motorized and installation of eight swimming ladders and bicycle parking racks which HAP privately fundraised for. HAP and the landscape architecture firm GreenWorks P.C. Collaborated to develop a concept for a park and ramp design in connection with the proposed Burnside Bridge replacement. On November 21, 2021, Portland City Council voted to further investigate this park and ramp concept by spending $20,000 to do cost analysis and feasibility.

In 2022, HAP and Portland Parks & Recreation collaborated to designate six safer swimming areas on the Willamette River: Audrey McCall Beach, Cathedral Park Beach, Kevin Duckworth Memorial Dock, Poet's Beach, Sellwood Riverfront Park Beach, and Tom McCall Bowl Beach. In 2023, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley championed $100,00 of funding for HAP for Ross Island Lagoon harmful cybobacteria bloom research through the United States Senate.

Cathedral Park


In 2021, HAP led an effort to remove 25 tons of concrete and rubble from the river's edge of Cathedral Park with help from partners and volunteers. In 2023, HAP partnered with Green Anchors and other organizations to have 200+ volunteers help remove 100 tons of concrete and rock from the south end of Cathedral Park Beach.

Tom McCall Waterfront Park


In 2012, HAP spearheaded a plan to have Portland Parks & Recreation designate an official city beach at the southern end of Tom McCall Waterfront Park, Tom McCall Bowl Beach. HAP also organized several cleanups of Tom McCall Bowl Beach called "Unrock the Bowl", where volunteers picked up riprap rocks from along the river’s edge to the bank where the rock was initially installed for bank protection. HAP’s successful activism resulted the city adding "swim at your own risk" signs to Tom McCall Bowl Beach in 2013. In 2014, HAP paid for larger signs to be created and installed at Tom McCall Bowl Beach and what would become Poet's Beach. In 2023, HAP continued their work from 2012 at Tom McCall Bowl Beach "Unrocking the Bowl", where 100 volunteers lugged 20 tons of riprap rock from the river’s edge to the bank and make trail improvement to two trails that lead to the river.

Events


In 2016, incumbent Portland mayor Ted Wheeler swam his ballot across the Willamette River with the River Hugger Swim Team, and later joined HAP for the first annual Mayoral Swim. As a way to lead by example and demonstrate to the people of Portland that the river is safe for swimming and recreation from a human health perspective, HAP organized an annual Mayoral Swim with Wheeler. The first and second events were held on August 18, 2016, and July 27, 2017, respectively. The event happened again in 2018 and 2019.

In August 2017, HAP organized a solar eclipse viewing party in innertubes on the river launching from the Fire House Dock.

Former
HAP created Big Float in 2011. Over 25,000 participated over the ten years of the event. The intent of the event was to actualize HAP’s organization mission of A City in love with it’s River. The event was described by the organization's Ringleader as "a movement disguised as a party". The organization produced the last event in 2022, and roughly 5,000 people attended.

HAP had its first Valentine's Dip in February 2018. The intent of this event was to show how the water quality of the Willamette River had improved. Combined Sewage Overflows most frequently happened in the Winter/Spring prior to the completion of the Big Pipe. This was an opportunity to show post Big Pipe completion that the public could even swim in the Willamette River in these traditionally unswimmable months. Approximately 100 people took the plunge in the third Valentine's Dip in 2020. The event marked 180 consecutive days of no combined sewage overflows into the river. In 2022, HAP retired the Valentine's Dip to join forces with Special Olympics Oregon when they moved their annual Polar Plunge to the Willamette River from the Columbia River.

River Hugger Swim Team
Established in 2012, the River Hugger Swim Team is an open water "recreational protest swim" bringing attention to the extreme deficit of water edge access in Portland. In 2018, Mayor Ted Wheeler joined nearly 40 “Hugger” swimmers to kick off the HAP's River Hugger Swim Team.