.* vm. Adam Jones Emerald Beth Webb, left, pulls on bramble while Vivian Vassall, right, clips the roots Saturday as they work to remove blackberries from the riverbank. Webb and Vassall were part of the effort by Students for Clean Willamette and the Eugene Stream Team. UO group deans Willamette River ■ Students for Clean Willamette works with Eugene Stream Team to improve the river, an important salmon habitat By Danielle Gillespie Oregon Daily Emerald After a hearty breakfast of muffins and coffee Saturday morn ing in the EMU Amphitheater, a group of about 55 University stu dents set out for the Willamette Riv er and a hard day’s work in an effort to save the salmon. Students for Clean Willamette, a campaign run through OSPIRG, re cruited students to join them in pulling blackberry roots out of the ground with shovels and rakes to restore the riverbank and the health of the local salmon population. “I am glad to be here,” fresh man Kathleen Peterson said. “I have been interested in working on the Willamette River project for a while.” OSPIRG has been working with the Eugene Stream Team, an educa tional volunteer program, on salmon habitat restoration along the Willamette River. “They bring the tools, and we bring the people,” OSPIRG member Jake DeAngelo said. OSPIRG has sent about 15 volun teers to two of Eugene Stream Team’s restoration projects this fall and winter. The group also has signed a two-year contract with the team to do two projects a year as an effort to restore the riverbank area along the Willamette River near Autzen Footbridge. “This is huge,” DeAngelo said. “This is the first restoration proj ect we have organized on our own, and this project is something the University can work on for years. We did a lot of recruiting to get people here.” Eugene Stream Team coordinator Lorna Baldwin said the Willamette River has spring chinook living in the river all year long, and in order for them to survive they need a healthy riparian area — the land along the riverbank. “It’s critical to the health of salmon and other aquatic organ isms,” she said. "It also helps main tain the water quality.” Baldwin said volunteers uproot ed blackberries because the non-na tive, invasive plant has an exten sive root system that has pushed out native species. She said a diver sity of plant species along the river bank can provide food for salmon and a habitat for a wide range of creatures, while the blackberries prevent this healthy environment. “It’s not that the blackberries necessarily harm the salmon,” she said. “It’s the fact that there is not a healthy riparian area there.” Once the blackberries are removed, members of Students for Clean Willamette and Eugene Stream Team will collect seeds from native species to plant at the location. They will also relocate native plants found along the river that are in danger because of looming development. OSPIRG members from Lane Community College attended the event, and about 15 fraternity brothers from Delta Upsilon came to help as part of their chapter com munity service requirement. “I know I am helping out and making a difference,” Delta Upsilon member Jim Finicle said. OSPIRG also has been working on a petition signed by students and community members to en courage Oregon gubernatorial can didates to support OSPIRG’s plat form for a clean Willamette River, OSPIRG member Erin Howes said. OSPIRG hopes the newly elected governor will help end toxic emis sions into the Willamette River, en force the Clean Water Act and make polluters pay for their toxic emis sions, Howes said. To end the day’s work, the vol unteers returned to the amphithe ater in the afternoon for pizza and sandwiches. “They had such a heavy • turnout,” Baldwin said. “They have got a great start on this project.” E-mail reporter Danielle Gillespie at daniellegillespie@dailyemerald.com. UO International Studies • I SUMMER 2002 --Course Offerings INTL 240 Perspectives on International Development June 22—Aug. 15. Professor Galvan INTL 410 International Indigenous Philosophy and World Views July 22-August 15, Professor Brundige INTL 4.52 Indigenous Cultural Survival July 22-August 15, Professor Wilkinson INTL 407/507 US/Africa Cultural Identity Politics July 22-August 15, Professor Galvan INTL 407/507 Indian Society Through Film June 17-21, Professor Weiss INTL 407/507 Women’s Movements Around the World June 24—July 5, Professor Weiss INTL 407/507 Southeast Asian Society Through Film July 8-18, Professor Carpenter INTL 407/507 Cross-Cultural Images of Childhood in Film June 24—July 5. Professor Carpenter INTL 410/510 Comparative Diasporas July 22-Aug 15, Professor Mezahav INTL 410/510 International Challenges Through Film June 25-Aug 15, INTL Faculty INTL 410/510 North American Indigenous Cultural Survival June 24—July 18, Professor Proudfoot INTL 410/510 International Indigenous Education Systems July 22-August 15, Professor Proudfoot INTL 410/510 International Indigenous Film Festival June 26- August 14, Professor Swenson & Staff INTL 420/520 International Community Development 1 June 24- July 18, Professor Mezahav 013990 WANTED) IF YOU ARE A PERSON WITH A DISABILITY AND NEED ASSISTANCE CALL OIP @ 346-3206 INTERESTED IN GIVING TOURS? The Ambassador Program is seeking students who are interested in Student Orientation Programs at the University of Oregon. The Ambassador Program is hiring multiple undergraduates for various positions. 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