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planted along different branches of Amazon Creek to enhance the quality of the streamside habitat for fish and wildlife. The West Eugene Wetlands Partnership is a collaboration among the City of Eugene; U.S. Bureau of Land Management; The Nature Conservancy; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Oregon Youth Conservation Corps; U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; McKenzie River Trust; and Willamette Resources and Educational Network (WREN). It has one of the most successful track records of any similar program in the region and is considered a national model for innovative and collaborative wetlands management. For more information, contact Wetlands Program Supervisor Eric Wold at 682- 4888. # ## Two Projects at Dragonfly Bend Improve Stream, Riparian, and Prairie Habitats In summer 2002, the City of Eugene used a combination of federal, state, and local funds to purchase a 70 -acre site in the West Eugene Wetlands. The site, which is called Dragonfly Bend, is situated immediately north of Meadowlark Prairie, and is bordered on the east by the A -1 Channel of Amazon Creek and on the west by the Amazon Diversion Channel. With the help of Kipco, a local contractor, the City's Wetlands Program began implementing two major habitat improvement projects at Dragonfly Bend this summer. The first project is focused on enhancing the stream and riparian habitats on the A -1 Channel. Funded by a $740,000 Cooperative Conservation Initiative grant from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the project involves excavating and re- contouring the A -1 channel so that Amazon Creek can form multiple channels, islands, and pockets of deep water within the channels. In addition, prairie habitats will be established immediately adjacent to the channels, and the streamside vegetation will be re- planted with a diversity of native riparian trees and shrubs. These types of changes will greatly improve habitat for western pond turtles and Fender's blue butterflies and improve shading of Amazon Creek. The channel banks, which are currently very steep, will also be re- contoured to create a more gradual slope, allowing western pond turtle and Fender's blue butterfly to move more easily between the creek and the adjacent prairie. Following excavation and re- contouring, the entire site will be re- planted with a wide diversity of native plants that are typical of these habitats. The majority of stream channel work should be completed by October 15. The second project is focused on enhancing the 50 acres of wetlands that lie to the west of the A -1 Channel. Funded by the City's wetland mitigation bank, the project will generate 24 mitigation credits, which can then be sold to satisfy wetland mitigation requirements for local development projects. The primary objectives of this project are to remove agricultural drainage ditches that were on the site, kill the existing non - native vegetation, and re -plant the entire site with a high diversity of wetland prairie and vernal pool species.