BY MARY O’BRIEN
Habitat vs. Asphalt
Royal Node threatens more loss of wetlands
A
s the last ice age receded about 10,000 years
ago, and Willamette Valley warmed, plants
and animals began arriving from the south
to settle in west Eugene.
Almost 7,000 years ago, crystals were growing in
molten magma in the throat of Mount Mazama,
known today as Crater Lake. When the volcano
erupted, Mazama-fingerprinted ash was blown north
and northeast over 500,000 square miles. One of the
places the ash accumulated was the flat southern Willamette
Valley. It formed the heavy clay that makes West Eugene’s wetlands. Draining slowly,
water stands in the clay wetlands during winter. Our cloudless summer days dry up the
clay, which shrinks and cracks as far as three feet down. Long-lived (perennial) bunch-
grasses could dominate in these wetlands, with a diversity of 100-200 herbaceous
(forb) species and scattered oaks and streamside (riparian) trees.
For many generations, Kalapuya Indians set the wetland prairies on fire. As 1845
Salem settler John Minto wrote, “Fire was the agency used by the Calapooia tribes to
hold their camas grounds and renew their berry patches and grasslands for game and
the millions of geese, brants, cranes, and swans which wintered in Western Oregon.”
And then the Oregon settlers figured the prairie was theirs and stopped setting it
on fire.
By 1853, surveyors had divided western lands into townships (6 miles square) and
sections (one mile square) and set out on foot to describe each section. In west
Eugene, surveyors reported that
the Willamette River inundated
the prairie “one to three feet
deep” and optimistically pro-
nounced the soil “first rate clay
loam.”
Early settlers mostly pas-
tured cattle and subsistence-
farmed the prairie for wheat.
Late spring entry into soggy
fields and dry summers pre-
cluded competing in the com-
mercial world of wheat exports,
but the farmers eventually found their niche in rye grass. Most of the once-diverse
prairie community was transformed into monocultures of exotic grass. Twentieth cen-
tury berming, diking, ditching and draining to halt annual overbank flooding and dewa-
ter the wetlands further eliminated wetland prairie functioning and allowed Eugene to
grow from 7.5 square miles in 1945 to 42 square miles 50 years later.
With this Eugene wetlands history repeating itself throughout the 110-mile long
Willamette Valley, we have now arrived at the near complete (99.9 percent) extinction
of our valley’s wetland prairie. But apparently we’re not done.
“Nodal developments” are supposedly walkable sites of purposely zoned dense
housing, infrastructure, stores and parking lots designed to help Eugene meet
Oregon’s goal of zero increases in “vehicle miles traveled.” By this standard, the pro-
posed “Royal Node” in West Eugene has to qualify as a “who-are-we-kidding” plan.
First, the plan is to build Royal Node smack in the middle of rural west Eugene wet-
lands. Those wetlands have not even been delineated (i.e., surveyed for the amount of
wetlands that would be destroyed), but streets (e.g., the ironically named Legacy
Street) and sewers are in the city’s funding and planning pipeline to anchor the Royal
Node. The dense urban node would be jammed up against City and BLM public wet-
lands that are being “restored,” further fragmenting their functions and viability as
functioning habitat — for instance, for meadowlarks.
Secondly, instead of building a node in the core of Eugene, the city is locating Royal
Node at the far western edge of Eugene’s urban growth boundary in isolation from any
promising mass transit. On average, residents in this area do and will drive far more ve-
hicle miles per day than Eugene core residents.
A
s I padded through “Royal Node” wetlands two weekends ago in the rain,
ducks rose from among glittering sedges, a great blue heron sailed into the
nearby Greenhill tributary, shorebirds poked around in the mud for lunch and
swallows swarmed above ponds into which neon-painted stakes (for Legacy Street?
the Legacy sewer?) had been pounded. The swallows seemed unaware that their habi-
tat is about to disappear under asphalt.
This is sustainable Eugene? If we can’t reorient our subsidized nodal developments
away from climate-warming, petroleum-addicted, car-oriented sites like the Royal
Node, where land and water meet in the last 0.1 percent remaining wetlands of the
Willamette Valley, what hope is there for Eugene claiming to be “sustainable”?
A good website for understanding Royal Node plans is
www.archiplanet.org/wiki/Royal_Avenue_Node,_Eugene,_Oregon
Mary O’Brien of Eugene has worked as a public interest scientist since 1981. She can be reached at
mob@efn.org
4 MAY 10, 2007
TO THE EDITOR
SPREAD SUSTAINABILITY
Eugene mayor Kitty Piercy is to be ap-
plauded for spearheading a serious local
response to global climate change. All
whose laudable intent was translated into
creating what has become our change-of-
the-month club should also be thanked for
coming up with a strategy that is both
meaningful and doable.
When we have 15 or 20 of these envi-
ronmentally friendly changes under our
belts, we’ll be halfway home to the neces-
sary goal of an 80 percent reduction in our
carbon footprint. The hard part will be still
to come: reining in the private sector’s car-
cinogenic lust for consumption. For every
destructive practice we ban or discourage,
we can offer and encourage more sustain-
able practices.
In this information age, what we
achieve can be exported everywhere im-
mediately. If we move with all due speed,
we increase the chance that our grandchil-
dren will bless, not curse, us for our roles
in this ultimate crisis.
Paul Prensky
Eugene
EGO WARS KILL ANIMALS
Camilla Mortensen did an excellent job
of summarizing many of the issues (“No-
Kill” cover story, 4/26) revolving around a
fierce battle raging in Lane County involv-
ing an effort to protect the innocent lives of
unwanted and abandoned animals in our
community.
I have been heavily submerged in this
battle to give recognition to the flawless
merits of the “No-Kill Solutions”
(www.nokillsolutions.com) presented by
Nathan Winograd last July to a standing
room only audience.
I have seen many things in my life that
have repulsed me, but nothing as ugly as
the ego wars that rage throughout this com-
munity, starting from the top — the com-
missioners — and trickling down to the
most innocent-appearing of animal welfare
supporters.
With these battles raging, the only vic-
tims are the animals themselves, and un-
less and until there is common ground for
all to stand on and people can rise above
their own personal issues and dig deeply
into their souls to feel that the need of these
animals is much more important than win-
ning their personal ego wars, the animals
will continue to die at a rate of 10 per day
at our local animal control shelter.
The commissioners (with the strong ex-
ception of Bill Fleenor and Pete Sorenson)
can’t stop fighting among themselves long
enough to look at what’s happening around
their own chairs, much less the commu-
nity.
I believe this community has enough
heart and resources to do away with the un-
necessary killing of adoptable animals at our
local shelter. It should be THAT simple.
Robin Loving
Eugene
HALL HAS IT ALL
Lane Community College is facing
some critical decisions. State funding has
dropped dramatically, forcing raises in tu-
ition and reductions in staff and services. A
strong, informed board is essential as LCC
addresses these problems.
Dr. Roger Hall deserves your vote in the
upcoming election. His 16 years of experi-
ence on the board, his understanding of the
issues and his ability to work cooperatively
with all parties involved make him the
ideal candidate for Zone 6. Dr. Hall under-
stands and supports the mission of the col-
lege. He is familiar with the programs and
services the college provides. He has no
personal agendas and always makes deci-
sions based on what is best for the college.
Because three of the present board mem-
bers will be retiring, Dr. Hall’s experience
is even more important. As a former LCC
board member, I have had the opportunity
to work with Dr. Hall and see firsthand the
vital role he fills on the board. Please cast