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V ` +b r t � " stewardship ecologist for the Conservancy. He also serves f ' ��: stiikat 4 + . Z as a wetlands consultant to the city, and his shared salary c,� - ' m is a good example of the cooperative spirit that developed , . ,• ;� " as the Wetheads proceeded. That's just how Catherine Macdonald likes it. She's the ,!% . rt f e b� � , � = Conservancy's director of stewardship for Oregon. 1f k t o : .� .� _ y f d , „ h, „• "Protecting biological diversity in an urban setting can �sA ► , 4 a ` � t involve complex land -use and engineering issues," she ' ' �� says. "By forming a partnership with the city of Eugene, we can take advantage of each other's expertise and resources. - orarrk Alverson fords the east fork of Willow Creek, the only A Native prairie grasses planted near Spectra Physics' stream in the Amazon Creek drainage that hasn't been complex in Eugene — part of the company's effort to channeled for flood control. He heads for several acres restore wetlands habitat. where the endangered desert parsley is flourishing. This open area also fosters the endangered Fender's blue but- terfly. On the west fork of the creek he checks a beaver They also met individually with property owners and oth- dam, looking for the rare western pond turtle. These wet - ers wanting to ask questions or express concerns. lands contain five other rare endemic species, such as the The workshops drew as many as 150 people, and many Willamette Valley daisy, Kincaid's lupine and the shaggy property owners attended them all. The atmosphere was horkelia. dominated by a sense of frustration —until early 1990. "Our philosophy has always been to seek a win -win "In that workshop we finally had an official wetlands solution," Alverson says. "The wetlands plan is a reincar- inventory and maps," Gordon recalls. "Some people were nation of that on a bigger scale." relieved to find they didn't own wetlands after all. Others The Conservancy now owns 200 acres in West Eugene realized their land did fit the definition and that they had outright, and is negotiating to purchase 150 acres it man - a common problem that was caused by changes in state and federal regulations, not by local folks. They started to _ understand we'd all have to work together." As the public — especially property owners —found they could take officials at their word, the atmosphere mellowed. "All sides compromised, and those compro- y �a ati , t • � 11 \ ��I U t _ mises make sense," says Deborah Evans. "They meet state . and federal wetlands law and they return certainty to i , - development." 1. ;/ THE NATURE CONSERVANCY played an important role in the process, Gordon says. "The Conservancy is very /' • ` s \ '.•• good at negotiating with private property owners. They • Chuck Missar (right), Spectra Physics' facility man - brought that tool box to the planning group. They're sci- ager, and county official Steve Gordon survey newly entifically sound, and interested in the broader ecosystem. rehabilitated wetlands. And then they brought in Ed Alverson as staff in Eugene, so we had day -to -day contact with the Conservancy." The Conservancy had set the tone for wetlands protec- ages under leases. The Conservancy's dream has been to tion a decade earlier when it leased its first acreage in the connect its acreage to other pieces of wetlands through a southeast carner of the West Eugene wetlands. The orga- greenway running north to Fern Ridge Lake. With the nization had identified the site as the best remaining piece West Eugene wetlands plan, that dream could well come of the Willamette Valley wet prairie —an important habi- true in the next two decades. tat for rare species that has been reduced to less than 1 percent of its original size. THE WETLANDS PLAN balances ecology with industry, Ed Alverson was hired in 1991 as Willamette Valley protecting the most ecologically valuable areas while SEPTEMBER /OCTOBER 1993 . NATURE CONSERVANCY 13