Wetland Inventory Revised

The West Eugene Wetland Inventory has been revised to bring the listing of previously identified and potential wetland sites up to new state standards and to implement policies identified in the West Eugene Wetlands Plan that called for further inventory work on certain sites.

The revisions, compiled by the City of Eugene and its wetland consultant, Wetland Specialties, are based on the 1987 federal wetland delineation standards. The study included sites identified by the revised National Wetland Inventory, which was issued following the 1989 west Eugene inventory. It also included several sites identified in the field by local, state, and federal staff.

The study mapped approximately 163 acres of newly identified wetland and 129 acres of potential wetland. Most of the newly identified wetland areas were adjustments to boundaries of previously mapped sites.

The revised inventory, if adopted, will be included as an amendment to the West Eugene Wetlands Plan following a public hearing process. It will establish the protection or development status for each site.

Property owners whose land is affected will be notified throughout the hearing process so they can participate if they wish. For more information about the revised inventory, call the City of Eugene Planning Division at 687-5481.

Plan Upheld by State Courts

The Oregon Court of Appeals and the Oregon Land Use Board ofAppeals (LUBA) have affirmed the adoption of the West Eugene Wetlands Plan.

Following its adoption in 1992, the plan was appealed to LUBA. Attorneys for the West Amazon Basin Landowners Association, Inc., claimed in their filing that Lane County had violated its notification requirements in the course of adopting the plan. In February 1993, LUBA affirmed the adoption of the plan, denying all 14 claims of error against the County.

Within two weeks of the LUBA decision, the landowners association appealed the adoption of the plan to the Oregon Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals also affirmed the adoption of the plan and did so without issuing an opinion. These two decisions leave the adoption of the West Eugene Wetlands Plan intact and beyond the deadline for further appeal.

Land and Water Conservation Funding Tops $3.7 Million

Recent action in the U.S. Congress on the Interior Appropriations bill has resulted in the third consecutive year of funding for the West Eugene Wetland Program. The $750,000 appropriated in federal fiscal year 1994 brings to $3.72 million the amount allocated over the past three years to the Eugene District of the Bureau of Land Management to purchase local wetland.

The appropriations will be used to acquire wetland of high value and areas where wetland restoration and enhancement can occur. The funding also can be used to connect adjoining upland areas to make the west Eugene wetland system function as a significant Willamette Valley ecosystem.