City Council Newsletter - 07/13/06

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Community volunteers are invited to participate by registering by phone with REI Customer Service at 541-465-1800 or in person at 306 Lawrence Street by Friday, July 14. Volunteers must be at least 15 years old and should plan to wear closed-toe shoes, lightweight shirts (preferably long-sleeved) and pants. REI will provide gloves and sunscreen. Volunteer gifts, prizes, pizza and a keynote address will follow the clean-up at 1 p.m. in Maurie Jacobs Park. Speakers include senators Ben Westlund and Vicki Walker and Mayor Kitty Piercy. For more information about Eugene activities, contact Stream Team Coordinator Lorna Baldwin at 682-4850 or Volunteers in Parks Coordinator Matt McRae at 682-4845. Engaging Youth Through Volunteerism Video Now Available In April, the National Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) Project Director and video production staff visited the Eugene Police Department to tape interviews with staff and youth volunteers, and to film volunteer activities. The video, Engaging Youth through Volunteerism, has been completed, and is now available both in DVD format and electronically at www.policevolunteers.org/resources/VIPSvideos.cfm. The purpose of the video is to provide information to law enforcement executives and volunteer coordinators about how to better involve youth in law enforcement volunteer programs. Also featured in the video are police departments in Helena, Alabama and Redlands, California. Youth volunteer opportunities at the Eugene Police Department include assignments in the Records Section, neighborhood substations, Volunteers in Policing office, disaster/emergency preparedness exercises (as role players), Cadet Post, Police Activities League and Safety Town. The department also offers a summer youth academy for youth ages 15-18 interested in learning about law enforcement. The National VIPS Program is managed and implemented by the International Association of Chiefs of Police in partnership with and on behalf of the White House Office of the USA Freedom Corps. It is funded by a grant through the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice. The goal of the National VIPS Program is to enhance the capacity of state and local law enforcement to utilize volunteers. For more information, contact Volunteers in Policing Program Coordinator Carrie Chouinard at 682-5355 or carrie.f.chouinard@ci.eugene.or.us. Delta Ponds Project Selected for Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program Eugene’s Delta Ponds project was recently selected for inclusion in Oregon’s Salmon and Trout Enhancement Program (STEP). “Recognition of the Delta Ponds project at the state level is an honor,” said Trevor Taylor, the City’s natural resource planning supervisor. “It not only brings additional support and scientific legitimacy to the Delta Ponds project as an important salmon recovery project, but also formalizes our partnership with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW)." STEP was established by the Oregon Legislature in 1981 as a program of the ODFW. The program seeks to achieve the recovery and Four-centimeter juvenile salmon recently captured and released in Delta Ponds. sustainability of the state’s native salmon, steelhead and trout through a four-pronged effort that includes habitat enhancement, fish propagation, monitoring, and public education and involvement. The Delta Ponds project fits several program categories. Local ODFW staff proposed the Delta Ponds project because it is one of a handful of state projects to improve habitat – something ODFW would like to see more of throughout the state. The newly created habitat in the ponds will provide juvenile Chinook salmon a safe place in which to shelter and grow before returning to the river. Because the Delta Ponds project qualifies for the STEP program, the state will expedite approval of the Delta Ponds project to divert a portion of the water from the Willamette through the ponds and back to the river. ODFW is EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2 July 13, 2006