Residents raise concerns about potential national cemetery in Salem 

In 2021, residents of Macleay, an unincorporated rural community in southeast Salem, halted a county effort to develop a park on the former Macleay landfill.

Four years later, the community is facing a much larger undertaking: the federal government’s proposal to expand Portland’s Willamette National Cemetery to a 307-acre parcel in their neighborhood.

The property, at 3515 Howell Prairie Rd S.E., is an active winery owned by Winemakers Investment Properties LLC, a vineyard property management company based in Yakima, Washington. The land was appraised at $3 million, according to Marion County Assessor’s records, and includes parts of the Little Pudding River.

The Willamette National Cemetery is one of four federal cemeteries in Oregon, all located to the west near Interstate 5. Nati