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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 8, 1987)
County supports compromise on Fern Ridge bike path By Karan Irmsher Of tfc. IjmmM lame County commissioners agreed this week to support a Kugene-to-Fem Ridge bike path route they hope will please both environmentalists and cyclists. The compromise route avoids disrupting the rare plant and wetland areas that conserva tionists have termed a prime habitat for wetlands game and non-game birds unique to the Kugene/Springfiold area At the same time, bicyclists got a com mitment from the county that it eventually will provide them with a 13-mile path connecting the city with Fern Ridge laike. The controversy centered on where the trail should enter the lake area and how much of the shoreline it should skirt. In 1974, when froth the county's and the lake's master plans call ed ftttf bike trails entirely circl ing the lake, wildlife preserva tion was not a major concern But several years ago, when the corps began an update of its master plan, they scrapped that circlet of cycling trails as in compatible with conservation of the lake's natural resources "In 1974 they had soma dif ferent concepts of what was ap propriate development. That plan was a recreation plan. It didn't deal with the natural resources." Pern Ridge Lake Manager ]im Heal said. Since then, he said, agencies such as the Army Corps of Engineers, which owns the lake, and the U.S. and Oregon departments of fish and wildlife have become increasingly en vironmentally conscious. "Over the last nearly 50 years. Fern Ridge take has developed into a prime freshwater marsh habitat," Beal said. The area threatened by the original bike path route passes through an area that contains rare and endangered plants and wildlife and has fawn carefully nurtured by conservation groups for a number of years. Fred Meiner. the president of the Eugene chapter of the Izaak Walton league, said members of his group have volunteered hundreds of hours in the past few years developing the area as a nesting area for ducks and geese Many of these have not previously nested in the Willamette Valley, he said. "Some people have tried to make this an issue between hunters and bicyclists, and it's not,” he said. "It’s a bicyclists versus conservationists issue." Meiner has no objection to a bike path as long as it doesn't disturb this one estuary, about three-quarter miles long, in which he and other conserva tionists have spent so much time, money and energy creating a wetlands nesting habitat, he said. Putting a path around the edge of the lake through that area would have the same effect as climbing up your apple tree to examine the contents of a nestful of eggs, he explained “The mother will fly away, and the babies will die." An invasion of cyclists and their dogs would have affected the waterfowl the same way, Meiner said. Bicyclists were willing to compromise on the originally proposed route in view of altered lake management needs. What they were asking for at this point was safe access to the area and a commitment from the county to include this leg of the path in its master transportation plan. In the 1974 plan, this seg ment was part of a bicycle cor ridor that would extend from the Mount Pisgah Arboretum to Fern Ridge. Eugene Bicycle Coordinator Diane Bishop said she is delighted with the county's decision But she hopes too many years don’t pass before the path becomes a reality, she said, because the wait already has been too long. The county's decision to sup port the path is not the last word, however. A final decision on whether to include plans for a bike trail in the Fern Ridge Flan of Management and Development lies ultimatelv QUESTION *2. HOW CAN IK BUDGET-CONSCIOUS COLLEGE STUDENT SAVE MONEY? a) Save aver 50% off AE&Ti weekday rates on ouM-itate cals during nights and weekends. b) Don’t buy textbooks whan “Monarch Notes’* w® do just fine. c) Save 38% off ATKTs weekday rate on out-of-state cals during evenings. d) Count on A38T for exceptional value and high quattty service. e) Hang around with the richest Idds in school; let them pick up the tab whenever posdble. If you’re like most college students in the western hemisphere, you try to make your money go a long way. That’s why you should IrruTO that AT&T I sina Distant Service is the riffht choice for vou. fie values. For example, you ifr AWT offers so many t can aave over 50% off AT&T’s day rate on calls during s weekends V until 5 pm Sunday, and from 11 pm [ to 8 am, Sunday through Friday. Call between 5 pm and 11 pm, Sunday through Friday, and you'll save 38% off our day rate. Ever dial a wrong number? AT&T gives you immediate credit if vou do. And of course, you can count on AT&T for clear long distance connections any place you call. Tb find out more about how AT&T can helpsave you money. give us a call. With a little luck, you won't have tohang arounawi the rich kids. Call toll-free today, aQ SftO 222-03(5} ^ with O 19M AT&T ANT The right choice. with the Portland office of the Army thorps of Engineers. Beal said the corps has been holding off on writing the final draft of the plan until they heard what the county had to say. "We're not bound by what they decided, but we’re trying to be receptive,” he said. The Portland corps office will make the final decision during the next two months, Beal said. He added that for him, the bike path was just one of many deci sions to be made in revising the master site plan for the lake. Beal sees the extensive airing of the issue in recent weeks as extremely valuable, he said. “A lot more people are now aware of the conflicts and tradeoffs,” he said. The county didn't make a final decision on the exact route of the last mile of trail, just the decision to be supportive and involved in path construction. Cyclists would leave the Amazon Canal and head north at Fir Butte. An easement runn ing from Fir Butte would feed either Eaton. Spires or Shore lane and go on to Orchard Point. No final decisions will lie made on this until area residents are consulted and other relevant information is gathered. Construction could still be ntanv years down the line, ac cord i ng to the county commissioners. 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