Spring 2009 Wetland Word Newsletter
Vol. 5 Issue 1
Articles
Celebrate American Wetlands Month 2009!
"What Are Those Black Tarps For?"
Feral and Off-leash Animals vs. Wildlife in the West Eugene Wetlands
WREN President's Column by Mike Shippey
New WREN Board Members! Read more about each new board member: Click.
Dena Zaldúa-Hilkene
John Mercier
Kevin Matthews
Mark Horney
Paul Machu
Volunteer Spotlight on Amanda Atkins and also the 2009 UO Environmental Leadership Program students
WREN Receives Two National Awards for Volunteer Coordination and Collaboration in Conservation
Celebrate American Wetlands Month 2009!
Pop quiz! What vital role do wetlands play?
a) Reduce frequency and intensity of floods by acting as natural buffers to absorb and store significant amounts of floodwater.
b) Provide critical sources of food, shelter, and breeding grounds for a variety of plants, insects,
amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish, shellfish, and mammals.
c) Store and filter water to protect and replenish surface and underground drinking water sources.
d) Offer infinite opportunities for recreational and cultural pursuits including hiking, fishing, bird watching, and
photography.
If you answered all of the above, you are correct! Each year, WREN organizes events to discover the beauty and importance of our local West Eugene Wetlands. Please check out the calendar of events at the top right of this page to learn about these upcoming education and recreation programs.
What Are Those Black Tarps For?
by Windy Hovey, WREN, with contributions by Paul Gordon, City of Eugene
Visitors to the West Eugene Wetlands often ponder the purpose of the black tarps that pop out against the prairie and wetlands. The West Eugene Wetlands Partnership uses these tarps as one method to replace invasive plant populations with native plant species that once dominated Willamette Valley prairies. The woven fabric of the tarps blocks sunlight to the weeds while allowing water to still pass through it. Once pinned to the ground with stakes, the fabric remains in place for up to two growing seasons!
The tarps are effective at killing not only the sprouted weeds, but also much of their seed bank. They have been used primarily on Reed Canary Grass. Other weeds include Meadow Knapweed, Vinca major, and blackberries. After the tarps are removed, these areas are seeded with native plants. Depending on the habitat type, the shaded patches are re-seeded with a mix of vernal pool, wet prairie, or upland plant species, or they are combined where habitat types overlap. Wet prairie mixes include tufted hairgrass, spike bentgrass, popcorn flower, downingia, dense spike-primrose, and riverbank lupine. The fabric is so durable, it can then be used in a new location.
The West Eugene Wetlands Partnership strives to restore habitats using the least toxic and most effective methods possible. Shade tarps have been used to convert more than three acres of weeds to rare prairie plant communities over the last five years!
“This technique requires patience (up to two years), but has proven itself to be an effective tool for converting small patches of weeds back into areas on the landscape that are dominated by native plant species once more," said Paul Gordon, Natural Areas Restoration Technical Specialist for the City of Eugene. "Youth crews and volunteer groups have been involved with much of this work in treating invasives with this method, and they value the end result.”
For further information about invasive species removal and control in the West Eugene Wetlands, contact Paul Gordon at the City of Eugene: 541-682-4916 or Paul.GORDON@ci.eugene.or.us.
Feral and Off-leash Animals vs. Wildlife in the West Eugene Wetlands
by Windy Hovey, WREN
One challenge that native wildlife of the West Eugene Wetlands, especially ground nesting birds, face is feral animals and domesticated pets that visitors allow to be off leash. Feral cats are seen often in the West Eugene Wetlands and, despite rules posted by the West Eugene Wetlands Partnership, at times visitors allow dogs off their leashes to run off the trails.
Trevor Taylor, Natural Areas Restoration Supervisor for the City of Eugene, reports particular examples of how impact can occur. Dogs can create much disturbance for ground nesting meadowlarks and grasshopper sparrows, while feral cats easily find and kill ground-nesters as well as neotropical migratory song birds. It has been estimated that outdoor and feral cats kill hundreds of millions of birds each year in the United States (listen to this segment aired on NPR).
Taylor noted that even a few cases of feral animals and unleashed pets can create a large disturbance to the natural areas of the West Eugene Wetlands.
"Because our habitat areas are fragmented, the few remaining natural areas are critical for the future of many species." Taylor said. "While a single disturbance may not chase a bird or other animal off permanently, the frequency of disturbance in our dense urban environment can effectively deter wildlife from nesting."
Keeping domestic animals on leash while visiting the West Eugene Wetlands is a one-step solution. However, disturbances caused by the many feral animals, mostly cats, can't be remedied so easily. The Greenhill Humane Society, located directly west of Meadowlark Prairie, offers one solution to the community. Greenhill Humane Society and local LCVMA veterinarians, with support from LCAS and the City of Eugene, operate a free feral cat clinic every Sunday throughout the year. Spaces are limited for this free service. Visit www.feralfix.org for more information about these local services offered for safe trapping and spaying/neutering of feral cats.
Column by Mike Shippey, WREN President 
Good day fellow WREN supporters and West Eugene Wetlands enthusiasts!
I welcome you to this issue of the WREN Newsletter and specifically to my first President’s column. I have initiated this newsletter feature as a way to share some thoughts and opinions with others, couched within the context of our mutual interests in environment and education.
I recently returned from a week in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, my first trip to that beautiful, different and extreme landscape. Subjected to two rainy seasons each year (cold winter rains and warmer summer monsoons), the region is actually very lush, receiving a whopping 9 inches of rain per year, almost twice the norm for a desert area. The soils are sandy and the vegetation communities (at least where I was near Tucson) are dominated by a myriad species of cactus, from pin-cushion to saguaro, in many sizes and shapes. Terrain is flat or gently rolling to desert islands / hills jutting vertically out of the desert floor. We were fortunate to arrive at the beginning of spring, with many wildflowers and cactus in blossom. We visited several botanical gardens, national parks and forests on the trip, enjoying the outdoors and the absolutely spectacular scenery, and I was amazed at the numbers of insects, butterflies, hummingbirds and small animals to be found. I fortunately did not come across any tarantulas or rattlesnakes, although I was on constant watch. The landscape is dramatic in expanse, yet nuanced in detail.
I observed the similarities and differences between this portion of the Sonoran Desert, and our West Eugene Wetland area. The Sonoran is on the wetter side of very dry; our Willamette Prairies are on the drier side of very wet. Topography in both areas is relatively level, with more variation in the Sonoran Desert, yet both are / historically were expansive and open landscapes. Plant species and communities are diverse, with drama found in the detail, such as the spiny character of most desert plants, versus the softer qualities of Tufted Hairgrass or meadow barley, for example. Lily and aster family members are present and add significant color to the browns and greens that dominate both landscapes.
I was also struck by the similarities between the season and life in general. We are beginning to emerge from (at least in my perspective) a very long, hard winter, in terms of climate, politics, economics and general gloom), into a new season filled with color, warmth, renewal and new hope. It may / will rain periodically on our parades, which only makes the fresh blooms more brilliant.
I have recently read a very interesting and inspiring book by author Thom Hartmann, entitled “The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight”, written in 1999. Thom provides insights into our use of energy (Current and Ancient, as represented by fossil fuels) and the relationship with culture and environment. His perspective (covers events since the Big Bang) and suggestions in the final chapters are particularly inspiring. I strongly recommend this book to everyone, and particularly young adults, as they will likely live through challenging times.
I was particularly pleased with his emphases on education and environment, areas of interest to all who receive this newsletter. The value of a close relationship between individuals and their physical environment continues to receive new emphasis as we gain additional wisdom as a culture. We do important work with this effort at WREN, in ways that are significant locally, regionally and, in concert with other similar efforts, on a much larger scale as well.
I will leave you with one last thought: “Life, not money, is the measure of real-wealth value. The most important forms are beyond price and are unavailable for market purchase. These include healthy, happy children, loving families, caring communities, and a beautiful, healthy, natural environment.” - David C. Korten, Agenda for a New Economy
Enjoy this time of renewal.
Mike Shippey
2009 University of Oregon Environmental Leadership Program Wetlands Team
by Jules Abbott, WREN
WREN is honored to be working with the UO Environmental Leadership Program for a 3rd year. The Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) provides graduate and undergraduate students real-world experience by partnering with local business, non-government organizations and government agencies each spring. This year, WREN, in conjunction with the Institute for Culture and Ecology, will be working with undergraduates Travis Branum, Lindsi Cagan, Sophie Perillo, Celia Russell, and Nancy Beth Wilson and graduate student Sue Dockstader.
Over the winter term the undergraduates crafted field trip curricula specifically tailored for elementary school age children and focused on West Eugene Wetland habitats. These field trip curricula have an ethnobotanical focus, the relationship between plants and people, and are grounded in the cultural practices of the local Native American People, the Kalapuya. WREN and the UO ELP students have worked with Natives Peoples to learn the knowledge needed to create these curricula. Fun activities during the field trips include wetland yoga poses, a plant scavenger hunt, creating cordage, and other hands-on learning about Native foods and technology. The Environmental Leadership Program Wetlands Team will be leading these field trips, using their curricula, spring term for learner groups visiting our site from around the southern Willamette Valley.
WREN Receives Two National Awards!
WREN has recently received two significant national awards. The first recognizes the tremendous contributions that our volunteers make to stewardship and environmental education. The annual Bureau of Land Management “Making a Difference” National Volunteer Awards recognize the volunteer coordinators and volunteers who work or partner with the BLM for programs, initiatives, and events. This year's award acknowledges the more than 3,000 hours that WREN volunteers dedicated to classroom programs and field trips, community programs, and stewardship events throughout 2008. WREN is one of six award recipients out of the 60 agencies that were nominated across the country.
WREN will also receive the the Secretary of Interior Partners in Conservation Award, which recognizes organizations who accomplish environmental and natural resource goals in ways
that promote cooperative conservation among agencies.
WREN staff and volunteers have accomplished tremendous work together and we are thrilled and honored to receive this recognition!
Holly McRae and Jules Abbott will travel to Washington D.C. to accept the awards on behalf of WREN at special ceremonies in May.
