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 <br /> Several gardens near the main Day Island Road entryway received complete makeovers. Volunteers removed <br />vegetation and leveled the gravel on the east side duck pond, weeded the Ken Neilson Memorial Garden and the <br />Rock Garden, and cleared out vegetation under the DeFazio Bridge to improve safety and open a nice view of the <br />Willamette River. <br /> <br />After a hot and sweaty job well done, members and volunteers celebrated with a picnic in the main shelter with plenty <br />of water, barbecue, salads and desserts, courtesy of Northwest Community Credit Union. For more information, or to <br />volunteer with Eugene Park Stewards, contact Emily Aune at Emily.r.aune@ci.eugene.or.us or 541-682-4831. <br /> <br />Recreation Hits the Bull’s Eye <br />Archery has become very popular since the release of the movie, “The Hunger Games” in which the heroine is an <br />archer. As usual, Recreation staff was ahead of that trend, offering archery more than a <br />year ago. This summer, Recreation has offered archery camps, an archery club, and on <br />Aug. 18, there will be an archery competition for youth ages 10 – 18, of all experience <br />levels, from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., at Petersen Barn Center. <br /> <br />Participants may use City equipment or their own. Shooters will be divided into classes <br />based on age and equipment. Prizes will be awarded to the winners of each class. For <br />more information, call Anya Samora at 541-682-5521. <br /> <br /> <br />Kids and Teens Show “Eugene’s Got Talent!” at Eugene Library <br />The Downtown Eugene Public Library will host “Eugene’s Got Talent!,” a free variety show performed by youth, on <br />Thursday, Aug.16, at 5 p.m. <br /> <br />Auditions for the show will be held on Wednesday, Aug.15, at 4 p.m. Sign-up for a limited number of audition spots will <br />begin at 3:30 p.m. To audition, prepare a solo, duo, or group act that lasts three minutes or less, and includes at least <br />one person age 7 to 17. Bring any equipment needed. For more information, contact the Eugene Public Library at 541- <br />682-8316 or www.eugene-or.gov/library. <br /> <br />Salawa Meadow Acquired by City <br />With triple the benefits for partners involved, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) recently transferred 32 <br />acres of west Eugene wetlands to the City of Eugene. <br /> <br />ODOT originally purchased the property for wetland mitigation <br />related to the West Eugene Parkway project. Soon after ODOT <br />completed its restoration, the West Eugene Parkway project was <br />abandoned and ODOT was preparing the surplus wetland property <br />for sale. ODOT then found itself in need of offsetting the impacts <br />related to the I-5 Willamette River Bridge replacement project to <br />Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) property owned by <br />Willamalane Parks and Recreation District. The City of Eugene <br />partnered with ODOT and Willamalane to identify this parcel as an <br />appropriate mitigation site to offset those impacts. This creative <br />solution truly provided benefits for everyone involved: <br /> <br /> <br /> Willamalane benefited from the transfer because it provided a <br />quick way to clear the park district of LWCF violations and allow <br />Lyre-tipped spreadwing, one of many species of dragonflies <br /> <br />that can be found at SalawaMeadow. <br />the district to receive a valuable acquisition grant that it was at <br />risk of losing if the violation persisted. <br /> <br /> ODOT benefited by finding a relatively easy mitigation of its current project’s impact, using surplus lands with little <br />economic resale value since the land could not be developed. <br /> <br /> The City of Eugene benefited by permanently protecting this high quality wetland site to provide valuable <br />recreation and education opportunities and important ecosystem services and habitat values for the community. <br /> <br />The site is known as Salawa Meadow, which is a Kalapuya word for tarweed, an important food and ceremonial plant <br />for native peoples historically living in the area. During production of Dragonflies and Damselflies of the Willamette <br />Valley: A Beginners Guide (2005), authors Gordon and Kerst noted that this site had the highest dragonfly diversity <br />among wetlands they visited. The parcel is adjacent to the Bertelsen Nature Park, owned by the U.S. Bureau of Land <br />Management (BLM), in west Eugene. The City will work closely with the BLM to ensure that recreation, education and <br />ecological benefits are coordinated across the larger landscape. This acquisition serves as an excellent example of <br />how partnering together can lead to efficiencies and solutions with multiple benefits for the community. <br /> <br />EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2 <br />August 9, 2012 <br />