NEWS
B Y RYA N M O L O N E Y
THE RIVER IS ALIVE,
COME CHECK IT OUT
Kim Nelson, Oregon State University, will talk about
the ecology of marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus
marmoratus)and the effect of forest landscape patterns
and predators on their survival. Her presentation,
“Marbled Murrelets, Landscapes and Predators” is 7-9
pm Thursday, June 23, in room 184 at the UO School of
Law. Nelson discusses the marbled murrelet, “a secretive
seabird” that breeds in older-aged forests along the west
coast of North America, including Oregon. “Marbled
murrelet populations have declined over much of their
range due primarily to current and historic loss and
fragmentation of their breeding habitat.”
On a related note, conservation groups including
Cascadia Wildlands, Oregon Wild and Coast Range Forest
Watch submitted petitions June 21 asking the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and the Oregon
Board of Forestry to take new measures to better identify
and protect important forest areas for protected marbled
murrelets. According to a press release, the petition to
ODFW requests that the agency “uplist” the marbled
murrelet to “endangered” status under the Oregon
Endangered Species Act (OESA). The petition to the Board
of Forestry asks the agency to identify and protect
important forest sites critical to the species’ survival. The
agencies are required to work together to recover
murrelets. The groups say, “While murrelets have been
listed as a ‘threatened’ species for nearly 30 years,
Oregon has never developed a plan to recover them or
protect the old-growth forests where they live.”
POLLUTION UPDATE
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
(DEQ) is accepting comments through 5 pm on June 28
on the proposed issuance of Clean Water Act permit
coverage to Portland-based Stratus Real Estate
Developers, LLC for construction stormwater discharges
from a new Yogi Tea facility to be located at W. 11th
Avenue and Renne St. According to the permit application,
the project is anticipated to disturb 13.3 acres of land,
with discharges flowing to Amazon Creek. DEQ is also
accepting comments through 5 pm on June 30 on the
proposed issuance of Clean Water Act permit coverage to
Land Whisperers LLC for construction stormwater
discharges from Willow Run Subdivision, a 43 lot
subdivision to be located at Irvington Drive and Golf
Course Way. According to the permit application, the
project is anticipated to disturb 8 acres of land, with
discharges flowing to the A-1 Channel of the Amazon
Creek System. Visit goo.gl/Yp4iAK for more info on
commenting.
Doug Quirke/Oregon Clean Water Action Project
LANE COUNTY AREA
SPRAY SCHEDULE
Oregon Department of Transportation is spraying
roadsides. Call 503-986-3010 to talk with a vegetation
management coordinator or call 1-888-996-8080 for
recent herbicide application information. Hwy. 36 was
recently sprayed.
Weyerhaeuser Company, 746-2511, plans to hire
Northwest Reforestation Services LLC, 554-0489, to
backpack foliar spray and hack and squirt 932.1 acres
west of Marcola Road with aminopyralid, metsulfuron
methyl, sulfometuron methyl, glyphosate, imazapyr,
Hi-Light Blue and/or MSO Concentrate. See ODF
notification 2016-771-07490, call Brian Dally at 541-
726-3588 with questions.
Compiled by Gary Hale, Forestland Dwellers: 541-342-8332, forest-
landdwellers.org
8
June 23, 2016 • eugeneweekly.com
T
such an incredible place to live,” MRT Associate Direc-
he McKenzie River is more than just a line on the
tor Liz Lawrence says. “We’re really lucky here to have
map. It is a living river, constantly shifting and
forward-looking people who want to support projects like
forming the surrounding land, creating a dynamic
this.”
habitat for hundreds of native species. Sitting atop
Local companies including Ninkasi Brewing Company,
this vibrant river is Green Island, home to one of
Oakshire Brewing, Hot Mama’s Wings and others will pro-
the most diverse ecosystems in the Willamette Valley.
vide complementary food and drinks over the course of the
The McKenzie River Trust is hosting its 8th annual Liv-
event.
ing River Celebration from 7 am to 5 pm Saturday, June
There will be activities
25, on Green Island.
throughout the day at The Hub,
McKenzie
River
Trust
the event’s main base located in
(MRT) is a nonprofit land trust
the middle of the property, in-
that works to protect and con-
cluding tree climbing with the
serve thousands of acres of land
city of Eugene River House and
in Western Oregon.
kayaking with Oregon Paddle
This Saturday’s Living
Sports. There will be live music
River Celebration is a rare op-
from 11 am to 3 pm featuring
portunity to visit Green Island,
a quartet presented by The Jazz
which is usually closed to the
— J O E M O L L , E X E C U T I V E D I R E C TO R
Station as well as other local
public for restoration and con-
artists.
servation. Green Island is home
“Come to the river with dif-
to hundreds of species of fish,
ferent sets of lenses,” MRT Ex-
birds and other wildlife, some
ecutive Director Joe Moll tells EW. “Come here as a kid,
of which are threatened or endangered, such as the Western
come here as an adult, look at it through different points
pond turtle and Oregon chub.
of view.”
Attendees can explore the site by themselves or partici-
Green Island is located at 31668 Green Island Road,
pate in guided tours throughout the day. Tours range from
Eugene. The event is free and open for all ages. Registra-
bird watching hikes in the morning to a reptiles and am-
tion is voluntary, but registered attendees are entered into
phibians walk at the end of the day.
a raffle for a $100 gift card to REI. For more information,
“The amazing natural resources that we have in our
visit mckenzieriver.org.
backyard are part of what make Eugene and Springfield
‘Come here as a kid,
come here as an adult,
look at it through dif-
ferent points of view.’
NEWS
BY CAMILLA MORTENSEN
CELEBRATE
SOCIAL JUSTICE!
RG Foundation, once known as the McKen-
zie River Gathering, began on the banks on
the river for which the foundation was named,
says the group’s communications manager Ali-
son Wandschneider.
Founders Leslie Brocklebank and her husband Charles
Gray came into an inheritance of about $500,000, Wand-
schneider says, and brought a group of activists and phi-
lanthropists together to figure out how the money could
have the deepest impact on the root causes of social ineq-
uity and environmental degradation.
Forty years later, MRG Foundation has “rethought the
way foundations could be built and act, and allows those
most affected to figure out how to best solve the tricky
problems of the day,” she says.
While MRG now makes grants all over Oregon, it
originally had a Eugene focus, Wandschneider says, and
on Sunday, June 26, the group will host its annual Social
Justice Summer Party here in Eugene at the Campbell Se-
nior Center.
The gathering brings together grantees, folks on the
ground, donors and more, Wandschneider tells EW. It’s
open to the public and leads to community building as
people can come and connect to others in the social jus-
tice movement. MRG has gained board members and key
M
volunteers from people coming to the summer party, she
says.
MRG still has an activist-led grant-making model,
Wandschneider says, former grantees and activists on the
ground work to decide who should get grants — “people
who understand the movement and stay rooted,” she says.
Locally, groups such as Beyond Toxics, Eugene-
Springfield NAACP and CALC (Community Alliance
of Lane County) have received funding from MRG, and
Wandschneider says that CALC was one of the original
1976 grants.
Statewide, MRG has funded empowering LGBTQ
youth, the Rural Organizing Project and Lakota Oyate
Ki, which engages incarcerated Native Americans in tra-
ditional cultural and spiritual practices inside the Oregon
State Penitentiary, to name a few.
The foundation has two grant cycles a year giving out
a total 17 of general fund grants per cycle with a total of
$225,000 awarded per cycle.
The Social Justice Summer Party celebrates the
MRG’s 40 years of work and the work of its grantees.
The MRG Social Justice Summer Party is 1 to 4 pm Sunday, June 26, at the
Campbell Senior Center, 155 High Street in Eugene. The cost is a sliding scale
of $5-$20 with children under 5 free. Call 541-682-5318 or go to mrgfounda-
tion.org for more info.