Newspaper articles available

Index of Newspaper Articles

Newspaper Articles Available

Index of Newspaper Articles without descriptions.

NWS01 : "Wetlands may bog down industry," Register-Guard, 9/11/1988: This article describes how the discovery of wetlands in the West Eugene area threatens the city's plans for industrial development in that area. It describes the located wetlands and points out that Spectra-Physics, already located in west Eugene, is the first company to encounter wetlands problems. Spectra-Physics have begun to negotiate with the city in order to find out how their planned expansion might be able to go forward. The article describes the steps that need to be taken in order to get a wetland permit, as well as the existing problems in defining a wetland and in streamlining the administrative processes involved for city, country and state officials.
NWS02 : "Correct Imbalance," Register-Guard, 9/19/1988: This letter criticizes Ann Portal's article "Wetlands may bog down industry" (NWS1) for presenting only the point of view of the industry, and suggests an article from the perspective of those who want to preserve the wetlands.
NWS03 : "City to seek outside aid for wetlands," Register-Guard, 10/12/1988: This article describes how the Eugene city council is holding off on creating an urban renewal district in order to help Spectra-Physics pay for mitigation of lost wetlands. The proposal to create such a district has met with criticism in the council and among Eugene citizens, while others, including city manager Mike Gleason, support the proposal. The city is, however, still planning to pay a third of the mitigation costs.
NWS04 : "Council Decides to Delay...," Register-Guard, NEED DATE: This article describes how the Eugene city council is holding off on creating an urban renewal district in order to help Spectra-Physics pay for mitigation of lost wetlands. The proposal to create such a district has met with criticism in the council and among Eugene citizens, while others, including city manager Mike Gleason, support the proposal. The city is, however, still planning to pay a third of the mitigation costs.
NWS05 : "Spectra-Physics gets city's help," Register-Guard, 4/4/1989: This article describes the efforts of the city of Eugene to help Spectra-Physics finance the creation of wetlands. On behalf of the city, Rep. Larry Campbell, R-Eugene, and Rep. Jim Edmundson, D-Eugene, sponsor a bill that would allow Spectra-Physics the use of state lottery money to replace the wetlands lost when the company expands. (Negotiations for the expansion permits are still under way.) At this point, wetland mitigation projects for commercial or industrial developers cannot be funded through the lottery, and the billed has a number of opponents.
NWS06 : "City ponders future of its wetlands," Register-Guard, 4/10/1989: This article describes the study of the West Eugene wetlands case that is intended to result in a plan for the collective management of the wetlands areas in West Eugene. The cooperative effort includes public involvement through wetlands workshops, and is intended to result in a compromise between industrial development and wetlands protection, partly through mitigation. The article quotes several local environmentalists reacting to the plan, as well as Steve Gordon of the Lane Council of Governments.
NWS07 : "Firm told to replace wetlands," Register-Guard, 4/13/1989: This article addresses the EPA's announcement that Spectra-Physics had filled 20 acres of wetlands illegally when building its Eugene plant in 1979, and would now have to build new wetlands to make up for the loss. EPA officials are aware that Spectra-Physics did not intentionally destroy the wetlands. Although the site of its plant had not been identified as wetlands when it was being built, Spectra-Physics is planning to work with the EPA to find ways of mitigating for the past loss of wetlands, but also for the loss associated with the expansion of the plant. The case raises the question of how far back the EPA can go when it applies its present wetlands regulations, and has been discussed in Washington between the representative for Oregon Peter DeFazio and the EPA chief, William O'Reilly.
NWS08: "Cooperate on wetlands," Register-Guard, 4/18/1989: This editorial uses the example of Spectra-Physics to criticize the EPA for applying wetlands standards to the Spectra-Physics Eugene plant that were not made public at the time the plant was built in 1979. It praises the city of Eugene, whose officials have objected to the EPA ruling on Spectra-Physics, for conducting a study of its wetlands with the object of producing a plan that specifies how to preserve wetlands and make room for industrial development, so that the Spectra-Physics experience won't be repeated.
NWS09: "BLM helps rare plant rebound," Register-Guard, NEED DATE: This article describes how the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, here represented by its botanist Peter Zika, is very happy to have found numerous specimens of several rare and endangered plants, among them Bradshaw's lomatium or desert parsley, after a controlled 38-acre burn of prairie near the Fern Ridge reservoir in West Eugene. The burns are organized by the Bureau, in conjunction with Oregon State University scientists, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Nature Conservancy in order to bring back prairie vegetation.
NWS10: "Shocking Fiasco," Register-Guard, 5/2/1989: This letter by Lee Bowen in the Register-Guard sees Spectra-Physics as a major contributor to the slowly increasing Eugene economy, and is appalled by the demand that the company should spend up to $1 million to replace "a lousy 20 acres of wetlands." He argues that the EPA demands will keep new businesses from the area and suggests that other citizens write to the EPA in protest.
NWS11 : "Wetlands destroyed," Register-Guard, NEED DATE: This letter by Ross Dodge in the Register-Guard criticizes Spectra-Physics for wanting to expand into a wetlands. Dodge points out that despite mitigation efforts, 300,000 acres of wetlands are still lost every year, and indirectly accuses the city of Eugene of attempting to make the definition of wetlands fit the needs of Spectra-Physics.
NWS12 : "Interpretation increases wetlands," The Register-Guard, 11/9/1989: This article describes how the expanded federal definition of wetlands has caused a sudden tripling, or even quadrupling, of the wetlands in West Eugene to between 2,300 and 3,100 acres. That also means that certain sites set aside for mitigation are now already wetlands. The city is hoping for intervention from Gov. Neil Goldschmidt on their behalf, at least in helping to clarify the definition problems. Ken Bierly from the Oregon Division of State Lands points out that the expanded definition, based on soil type alone, may backfire because it potentially encourages industrial development on high-quality agricultural lands in the place of wetlands.
NWS13 : "Intent of EPA's wetlands ruling questioned," Register-Guard, 11/12/1989: This article describes how local officials from the Eugene area are trying to determine whether agricultural lands now fall under new wetlands regulations issued in the EPA's new federal field guide. If agricultural lands are included under regulations requiring building permits, west Eugene would have massively more wetlands acreage than previously identified. Steve Gordon, senior program manager for the Lane Council of Governments, is critical of the field guide because it is unclear and tries to redefine wetlands without announcing an actual change in the definition.
NWS14: "Wetlands: Oregon fishes for answers," Register-Guard, 11/26/1989: This article puts the city of Eugene¹s attempt to strike a balance between environmental protection of wetlands and economic prosperity in the context of the disappearance of wetlands, its wildlife and its plants, in the U.S. and particularly in Oregon. It describes the efforts to mitigate for all lost wetlands, the ³no net loss² wetlands policy proposed by the National Association of Governors, and adopted by Oregon's legislature in 1989, and describes the importance of wetlands as a natural resource.
NWS15 "City Council devises a strategy on wetlands," Register-Guard, 12/5/1989: This article describes the reactions of the Eugene City Council to the new federal wetlands regulations. Since they would increase the wetlands acreage in west and northwest Eugene to between 1,500 and 2,300 acres, the new regulations are a massive threat to Eugene¹s economy, since the city cannot expand into the areas set aside for development. Council members are rather critical of the expansion of the federal definition of wetlands, but instead of suing the federal government (an option debated by the Council), the City Council decided to cooperate with other Northwestern state and local governments to come up with a unified response to the new regulations, and to ask collectively for a clarification of the regulations regarding agricultural lands.
NWS16 : "Wetlands rules on hold for 30 days," Register-Guard, 12/17/1989: This Associated Press article announces that an agreement between the Eta and the ACOE to implement the preservation of wetlands pledged by President Bush during his campaign will be put on hold for 30 days. The agreement met with mixed reactions from different branches of the Bush administration and needs to be clarified before it goes into effect. For environmentalists, the agreement is a test that should show whether the Bush administration is really committed to preserving wetlands. The strongest criticism of the agreement comes from the Alaskan oil industry and congressional delegation, because the Alaskan economy would be severely affected by an effort to preserve Alaskan wetlands (up to 55% of the state, depending on the wetlands definition).
NWS17 : "Rohr Industry plans Eugene-area facility," The Oregonian, 1/4/1990: This article announces the plans of Rohr Industry, an aerospace supplier based in California, to build a manufacturing plant just outside Eugene that would employ up to 250 people. The article briefly describes the incentives Eugene offered to Rohr industries, including the offer to help with job training and to spend $1.4 million on getting the proposed site ready for development. But Tims also points out that Rohr's plans are still tentative specifically because of the pending wetland permit.
NWS18 : "Wetlands block development," Oregonian, 1/7/1990: This article describes the impact of the 1988 federal wetlands regulations on land developers and city and state officials in the state of Oregon, where a first comprehensive inventory of its wetlands is being created. The expansion of wetlands means that those of Oregon's wetlands that have not yet been filled are more aggressively protected, so that more land developers and now also farmers have to obtain wetlands permits, and local planning departments have encountered many problems. Tims uses the expansion of Spectra-Physics in Eugene as one example of a case where construction has been delayed by wetlands issues, and explains the advantages of mitigation for preserving wetlands.
NWS19 : "Wetlands: A barrier to growth?," Register-Guard, 1/20/1990: This article describes the difficulties Rohr Industries encountered in choosing a site in West Eugene as an example of how wetlands affect industrial growth negatively. Although Rohr has not called off their plans to build in Eugene at this time, the costs and delays that result from wetlands and the mitigation process have been an obstacle throughout the negotiation, ever since the site for the Rohr plant was discovered to be 60% wetlands.
NWS20 "Plan to finance new wetlands weighed by city," Register-Guard, 2/27/1990: This article addresses the City of Eugene's ideas concerning the financing the building of new wetlands to replace those lost in the planned expansion of Spectra-Physics. Spectra-Physics, the state of Oregon and the City of Eugene have agreed to each pay a third of the cost for creating a wetlands site, which would then belong to the city of Eugene. The City of Eugene is considering creating an urban renewal district to finance its share (by setting aside taxes on increased property values in the district for urban renewal projects like the creation of wetlands).
NWS21 : "City weighs renewal district for Spectra-Physics," Register-Guard, NEED DATE: This article describes the City of Eugene's plan to create an urban renewal district to finance the rebuilding of wetlands by Spectra-Physics. It contrasts this option for financing the wetlands creation with other options that were rejected, and with the state of Oregon's financing its share of the project through a grant from lottery money. Critics of the city's plan to create another urban renewal district submitted an initiative that would require voter approval before the use of the generated taxes to support a private development like Spectra-Physics' wetland site and plant expansion.
NWS22 : "No wetlands 'renewal,'" Register-Guard, 3/4/1990: This editorial argues against using an urban renewal district in order to finance its share of the wetlands recreation project undertaken by Spectra-Physics. The author argues that the existing urban renewal district in downtown Eugene is alreayd under attack, and a new one would not meet with approval by the public. It would take away money from the general urban property tax pool, set aside for a wide range of public services (such as schools, police protection etc.) and not only for the infrastructure in the immediate neighborhood of Spectra-Physics.
NWS23 : "How Rohr got away," Register-Guard, 3/11/1990: This article in the Register Guard tracks chronologically the negotiations Rohr industries with the City of Eugene about possibly building a plant in Eugene. Despite numerous incentives offered by Eugene (totaling almost $6 million), the company was wary about locating in Eugene, and very cautious about any publicity. Among the potential problems that arose once Rohr had chosen to locate in Oregon was first of all, the fact that the chosen site was declared a wetlands under a new federal definition. The state of Oregon offered to pay for wetlands mitigation to resolve the problem; however, anti-nuclear environmental groups began to protest Rohr's presence in the area as soon as the proposed development became public, because Rohr produces parts for the F-14 fighter, which can be equipped with a nuclear missile. Eventually, Rohr withdrew from the negotiations and decided to build its new plant in San Marcos, Texas.
NWS24 "Accord assures replacement of wetlands," Oregonian, 3/23/1990: This article describes the agreement between the EPA and Spectra-Physics that calls for the creation and/or preservation of 27 acres of wetlands by Spectra-Physics. By creating these wetlands, Spectra-Physics compensates for the earlier, inadvertent loss of 11.7 acres of wetlands during the construction of the first phase of their plant, and mitigates the damage from the planned expansion of the plant. The City of Eugene and the State of Oregon will each pay for one-third of the mitigation cost.
NWS25 : "EPA approves wetlands plan," Register-Guard, 3/23/1990: This article announces that the EPA has approved Spectra-Physics's plans to create new wetlands to mitigate for those that were filled when the plant was built. Spectra-Physics will create 1.5 acres of wetlands for each acre they filled in 1979. The state of Oregon, the city of Eugene and Spectra-Physics will split the cost three ways. A permit for an 11-acre expansion of the plant, with more wetlands mitigation, is pending; the site is not yet determined.
NWS26 "Wetlands' value to be reviewed," Register-Guard, 5/11/1990: This article announces that the Lane County Assessor, Jim Gangle, is going to review the land values in the west Eugene area, which has fluctuated because of the discovery of wetlands. The reassessment is going to be based on the study that Scientific Resources Inc. had conducted for the Lane Council of Governments. Property owners welcome the reassessment, but argue that it should have taken place earlier.
NWS27 "1992 National Wetlands Awards," NEED SOURCE, 1/1/1992: This document (included in R13 as Attachment R) announces the winners of the National Wetlands Awards, co-sponsored by the Environmental Law Institute and the EPA, for 1992. One of the six regular winners is Steve Gordon, senior program manager with the Lane Council of Governments. The document profiles Gordon in two columns.
NWS28 "1993 Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association Award," NEED SOURCE, 1/1/1992: This document (included in R13 as attachment Q) is the copy of a plaque awarded in 1993 by the Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association to Steve Gordon, the West Eugene Wetlands Plan Project Managers, for his Professional Achievement in Planning.
NWS29 : "Assessments on wetlands may be reduced," Register-Guard, 7/28/1990: This article addresses the Lane County assessor's recommendation that the value of many west Eugene properties with wetlands be reduced. Jim Gangle, Lane County Assessor, recommends a significant change in value for about 22% of the properties, some change for about 27% and none for the remaining properties. The revaluation followed the appeals of assessed values filed by property owners after the discovery of wetlands in West Eugene. Since farming on wetlands is currently not restricted, the new values resemble values for agricultural property.
NWS30 : "Replacement wetlands being created," The Register-Guard, 10/15/1990: This article describes how Spectra-Physics uses cutting-edge technology to create wetlands speedily. The wetlands creation project is scheduled to create 32 acres of wetlands along the Amazon channel by winter 1991. Spectra-Physics is recreating these wetlands in order to make up for the wetlands lost when their plant was built in the early 1980s. Among the techniques used to recreate a wetlands area are the restructuring of the landscape , especially the lowering of the surface to groundwater level, as well as the transplanting of wetlands plant species onto the area. Paul Fishman, a portland ecologist who serves as one of Spectra-Physics' advisors, praised the progress made so far.
NWS31: "City to propose $16.8 million wetlands reserve," The Register-Guard, NEED DATE, 1991: This article addresses the city of Eugene's plans to create a wetlands reserve in West Eugene by buying 1,060 acres of wetlands with $6 million of federal assistance. At the same time, the city is trying to simplify the wetlands permit process so that another 360 acres could be developed in a limited way, including mitigation. The plan that suggests methods of dealing with the West Eugene wetlands, soon to be made available to the public, includes the proposal of a wetlands mitigation bank and the use of the wetlands for storm water treatment.
NWS32 : "Balance of property rights, wetland value," Chicago Tribune, 5/9/1991: This letter to the Chicago Tribune by the President of the American Farm Bureau Federation, Dean Kleckner, welcomes what he calls the "common-sense" revision of the federal wetlands definition, because it would enable farmers to farm land that was previously defined as wetland by virtue of being wet one week out of the year. Kleckner uses a specific case of a small 116-acre farm as an example of the problems created by the existing wetlands definition. He sees the existing, more expansive wetlands regulations as a violation of personal property rights.
NWS33 "Bush Plan: Relax Wetlands Policy," Chicago Tribune, 5/3/1991: This article in the Chicago Tribune by Terry Atlas, entitled "Bush Plan: Relax Wetlands Policy," puts the West Eugene Wetlands issues in a larger political and administrative context. It addresses a plan by the Bush administration to open federally protected wetlands to developments by narrowing down the federal definition of a wetland. Environmental groups and wetlands researchers like Charles Rhodes, the EPA ecologist, protested vehemently against a revision of the standards now in effect while landowners and developers would welcome them.
NWS34 : "Under pressure, EPA eases wetlands stance," Chicago Tribune, 5/9/1991: This article by Terry Atlas describes how the EPA had to back away from plans to enforce federal laws protecting wetlands more strictly, and publicize some of the most spectacular cases of wetlands violation. Pressure from the White House, conservative congressmen and land developers' groups forced the EPA to back down. Environmental groups like the National Wildlife Federation reacted by criticizing the EPA , which had already come under fire from environmental groups and wetlands scientists for the draft proposal of the revised wetlands guidelines that would reduce the number of wetlands significantly.
NWS35 : "'Wetlands' policy could be revised," The Register-Guard, 5/15/1991: This Associated Press article describes the new wetlands definition considered by the Bush administration. The new definition is based on the reconsideration of the question how wet an area has to be, and for how long in a given year, to qualify as a wetland. The new definition would result in a reduction of wetlands by 4 to 10 million acres. The draft of the more limited definition is supported by the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
NWS36 : "Truce emerging on wetlands issue," The Register-Guard, 5/20/1991: This article describes the first version of the West Eugene Wetlands Special Area Study as a project that offers a compromise on the West Eugene Wetlands between property owners, developers and business interest groups on the one hand, and environmental groups on the other. The article announces the first public hearing on the plan, and mentions the possible impact of the proposed change in federal wetlands definitions, and explains in some detail how the preservation of the West Eugene Wetlands could contribute to the filtering and management of storm water, which normally contributes heavily to water pollution.
NWS37 : "Wetlands a swamp of uncertainty," Chicago Tribune, 8/25/1991: Rest of article missing. This article from the Chicago Tribune by Jane Lehman, uses the individual example of a property owner, Richard Adamski, to explain how mitigation-- the federal government's rule that a wetland can only be built on if the property owner turns another area, twice the acreage of the property he or she plans to develop, into a wetland. The article describes how mitigation, and in particular mitigation banking, are used to guarantee that no wetlands are actually lost when a wetland is developed. Both supporters and critics of mitigation banking (usually a for-profit enterprise) are cited. The article also puts mitigation into the larger context of the proposed revisions of the federal wetlands definition.
NWS38 : "Wetlands pit developers against ecologists," The Register-Guard, 9/14/1991: This article uses the West Eugene case as an example the massive conflicts that arise betwen developers and property owners on the one hand and environmentalists on the other hand when wetlands are discovered. Property drops radically in value, and developers frequently have to mitigate for the loss of the wetlands they destroy. Developers thus have very little interest in supporting federal and state efforts to protect wetlands. Esteve also points out how the conflict gets aggravated when wetlands definitions change, as they have done several times in the past, and when areas suddenly become wetlands and change in value.
NWS39 : "Wetlands standards retained," The Register-Guard, 10/6/1991: This Associated Press article announces that Oregon will follow the 1989 federal wetlands protection regulations, rather than adopt the changes recently proposed by the President's Council on Competitiveness, which could reduce Oregon's wetlands by half. The proposed changes are criticized by Ken Bierly, the wetlands program manager for the Division of State Lands, as unscientific. Oregon's removal-fill law is already stricter and more comprehensive than the federal regulations of wetlands.
NWS40 : "Wetlands funds clear last hurdle," The Register-Guard, 10/19/1991: This article announces that the city of Eugene is about to receive $2 million of federal funds for the purchase of wetlands in the West Eugene area. The money, which constitutes the first installment of a total of $6 million grant, is part of the $12.2 billion Interior Appropriations bill expected to be approved by House and Senate. The purchased wetlands will be managed by the city of Eugene and the Nature Conservancy, while the title to the land will be held by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
NWS41 : "Michigan case could set wetlands standard," Chicago Tribune, 11/10/1991: This five-column Chicago Tribune article gives the Eugene Wetlands Case a national context. A building permit issued by the Department of Natural Resources of the State of Michigan for a golf course to be built on a wetlands site was revoked by federal EPA officials. Environmentalists see this case as a test case for the willingness of the Bush administration to protect wetlands.
NWS42 "EPA chief: Wetlands definition belongs back on drawing board," Associated Press, 11/24/1991: This Associated Press article addresses the potential conflict between the chief of the EPA , William Reilly, and the Bush administration about the proposal to revise the definition of wetlands. Wetlands experts from the EPA, the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spoke out against the revisions, which would result in a massive reduction of wetlands. The White House, on the other hand, wants only minor revisions of the new definitions before the new Wetlands Manual is approved.
NWS43 : "Hiding the bad news about wetlands," Chicago Tribune, 11/27/1991: This editorial criticizes the Bush administration for not making available the results of the tests of the new wetlands policy that were administered by four government agencies. The author points out that the test results were hidden because they made clear how many wetlands areas would be lost under the new wetlands definition, among them parts of the Everglades and other well-known wetlands.
NWS44 : "Byway threatens turtle, critics say," The Register-Guard, 1/23/1993: This article addresses the environmental problems that arise from the plan to build a four-lane expressway through the west Eugene wetlands area, which harbors two endangered plans and a rare species of pond turtle. Environmental experts and local environmental groups question the need for the highway, given that it would endanger the turtle population in particular, and are planning various protests and hearings on the issue. Steve Gordon from the Lane Council of Governments argues that the planned parkway, approved by the voters, should be built, albeit in an environmentally sensitive way that avoids contact of the road with endangered plants.
NWS45 : "Move to lower wetlands value receives praise," The Register-Guard, NEED DATE: This article describes how property owners, real estate brokers and environmental groups all welcomed the proposal to reduce the assessed value of wetlands in West Eugene by Lane County Assessor Jim Gangle. The value of the land will go down to the price for agricultural land, so that property owners would pay less taxes on their land. Local brokers warn against speculation on the basis of the reduced values, however. (Must have been written shortly after NWS 26, 7/28/1990.)
NWS46 : "Preservation at a Price," The Register-Guard, 5/28/1994: This article describes in retrospect the compromise between environmental protection and development that was found for the west Eugene wetlands after four years of negotiations and planning. The city of Eugene has approved a plan that mixes protected wetlands with land that can be used for low-impact business development. Eventually, west Eugene will be a preserve of about 4,500 acres of wetlands. But many property owners are angry because they had to sell their land at a huge loss to the Bureau of Land Management.
NWS47: "Volunteers channel efforts into cleanup," Register-Guard, 6/5/1994
NWS48: "Grass fires may help wetlands," Register-Guard, 9/16/1994
NWS49: "City eases wetlands building procedure," Register-Guard, 9/20/1994: This article announces the new streamlined wetlands permit procedure that Eugene has developed. The permit procedure now takes about 45 instead of 90 days, because the permit is issued directly by the city and no longer has to approved separately by state and federal agencies. Eugene is the first city in the U.S. to be authorized to issue wetlands permits.
NWS50: "Turtles getting head start at life," Register-Guard, 9/20/1994
NWS51: "City can stamp wetland permit," NEED SOURCE