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were attributed to that abundance. The fact that there was low rainfall and drought conditions for some time <br />indicated there would be a decline in the near future. Mr. Bj6rklund reiterated that such fluctuations were <br />natural. He noted that the majority of fish returning to the river system were hatchery fish. Mr. Fart observed <br />that it had been a very good year for salmon fishing. <br /> <br />Mr. Bj6rklund said that the questions posed by Mr. Fart were the type of questions staffhoped to see answered <br />for the public. He added that people were largely unaware there were wild salmon at some life stage in the <br />river all year round. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner also commended the work done by staff. He emphasized that there were things people could do in <br />their everyday lives to help restore the salmon. He looked forward to hearing more about those things. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly also endorsed the outreach plan as showing thought and variety and appreciated the goals that were <br />highlighted. He believed there was value in collaboration and partnership, and hoped that would be a hallmark <br />of what was done in terms of both public education and involvement. He suggested that the Chamber of <br />Commerce was a good avenue to get information to the business community and feedback from it. Local <br />environmental groups with educational expertise could be called on to participate in the outreach as well. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly referred to the anticipated cost of the effort and said there must be grant funding for such efforts. He <br />expressed hope that staff could dedicate time seeking those funds. Mr. Bj6rklund said the United Front <br />participants had discussed natural resource issues over the past few weeks and staff had discussed possible <br />sources of funding with the lobbyist, who thought it a good time to seek funding for the program. Mr. <br />Bj6rklund believed the program was innovative, and would be attractive to granting agencies as a pilot <br />program for similar efforts. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly said that businesses and organizations should be recognized for the steps they took to protect the <br />salmon and applauded for the effort in a public way. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman commended the staff proposal. She felt the outreach and education component was very <br />important. She asked about the prognosis of the salmon in the long-term. Mr. Bj6rklund was unaware of any <br />studies that have tried to answer the question of how long it would take the salmon to go extinct. One of the <br />difficulties in predicting extinction was that the natural cycles were beyond the control of man. An earthquake <br />could change habitat, and climatic changes such as the E1 Nino/La Nina cycle also had an impact on the <br />survival rate of the salmon. Mr. Bj6rklund believed that all citizens had to do their part to assist the salmon; if <br />nothing was done, extinction was very likely. <br /> <br />Ms. Bettman asked about the connection between the outreach plan and developments that would have a major <br />impact on the river and fish habitat. Mr. Bj6rklund said the outreach plan included an internal education <br />component, something that had been going on for some time. He had conducted many staff trainings on the <br />issues involved for both City staff and other agency staff. One of the interim strategies proposed was a tool to <br />help staff evaluate its own projects, which would be useful to staff in making decisions and knowing what <br />potential impacts there might be. Mr. Bj6rklund said that the approach was not "rocket science," but provided <br />context for those decisions. He suggested that those were the best strategies that the City could put into place <br />until more programmatic and policy decisions were adopted. <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 12, 2001 Page 2 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />