Commissioners back toxic weed program
Lane County board approves $1,250 to fight poisonous tansy ragwort
The Lane County Commissioners have ap
proved a $1,250 budget to fund biological caterpillar
warfare against the toxic tansy ragwort weeds.
Tansy ragwort is a poisonous weed that has
caused fatal liver damage to grazing livestock. Many
infested fields cannot be harvested for fear of reaping
the tansy into bales of hay.
Oregon’s losses attributed to tansy ragwort are
more than five million dollars, according to the state
department of agriculture.
Last December Lane County appointed Dick
Fields, a graduate from the University of Michigan, to
administer the tansy ragwort program. He will head a
three-man field team.
While chemical warfare is practiced in other
counties by spraying their fields with 2,4-D Amine,
Fields will use biological methods by using the cin
nabar moth larvae, which, he says, “provides one of
Lane County’s best hopes for long-term control of
tansy ragwort.”
The cinnabar moth larvae are caterpillars that
eat only tansy weeds. They will be gathered from
existing colonies that are outside the county.
“We’ll probably put in 10,000 miles," says
Fields, between the established colonies and the
new release sites. Fields hopes to establish more
than 10Onew colonies in Lane County.
Biological control is a long-term process, Fields
says. “You start getting control from a release of
cinnabar moth larvae in three to five years."
County Commissioner Jerry Rust comments,
“We're not under any illusions. It will take about ten
years to alleviate the problem."
The tansy ragwort program is a realization of a
campaign promise by Rust, and the Lane County
Commissioners unanimously support it.
“We’re taking giant steps to eradicate tansy
ragwort,” says Rust.
Tons’ of ESCAPE slots open
as Friday deadline approaches
The deadline to add an ES
CAPE class is Friday, but Director
Susannah Malarkey says there
are still “tons” of placements to fill.
“The demand is higher in the
spring because schools and
agencies are familiar with our
program,” Malarkey says.
If you’d like to get out in the
spring sunshine (when we have
some), ESCAPE has plenty of
placememts in recreation working
with kids, both in school and after
school. Malarkey mentions track
and field, tennis, baseball and
jogging programs.
Many community placements
J?l:
are still vacant, says Malarkey.
Among the organizations that
need volunteers are Switchboard,
Family Shelter Home, Woman
Space and Friendship with the El
derly.
For those interested in working
with the handicapped, Malarkey
says the Pearl Buck Center, John
Collier House and Harmony
House all need workers.
Volunteers are needed at vari
ous schools, also. At Bethel dis
trict junior highs from noon to 2
p.m., students can assist in
stained glass, disco dance and
photography workshops, to name
just a few.
At Condon Elementary School, (
people are needed to help in the
“English as a Second Language
program. French and Spanish <
tutors are needed at various junior ]
and senior high schools, also.
Malarkey says “there are so
many placements left, I don’t
know what to stress."
Students gain one credit for
three hours work weekly, and for
first time volunteers, a weekly
seminar and project is required.
For more information, stop at 5
the ESCAPE table in the EMU
lobby, or call 686-4351. l_
Emerald graphic
WHY DOESN’T ANYTHING EVER
GET DONE AROUND HERE???
(BECAUSE YOU WON’T DO IT!!!)
Your Associated Students Organization of the University of Oregon (that’s right you belong, too) needs your input, energy
and enthusiasm Put your two-cents-worth in (along with all the bucks you re alreadv shelling out) and show you more than
just go along with all the decisions made for you. The following ASUO offices are open for election this spnng, and you
could fill one of them:
• ASUO President
• Erb Memorial Union Board (EMUB)
• Student University Affairs Board (SUAB) in the following majors:
T fv^ t in/'
Anthropology
Art Education
Art History
Classics
CSPA
Education
English
Fine & Applied Arts
General Arts & Letters
General Humanities
Geography
History
Journalism
Languages
Law
Liberal Arts
Linguistics
Music
Philosophy
Political Science
Psychology
Religion
Sociology
Speech
Unclassified
You need only be a UO Student registered this term to file for
one of these offices (however, only those majors within the
above-listed majors are eligible to run for SUAB). For more
information, call the ASUO Elections Board at 686-3724, or
come into Suite 4, EMU. FILING FOR THE MAY 3 & 4 ELEC
TION WILL CLOSE AT 5:00 p.m., FRIDAY, APRIL 21.
YOU HAVE AS MUCH
AS YOU’LL PUT
.frj