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361eri _Lim <br /> ATTORNEY AT LAW d <br /> CITIZENS BUILDING <br /> 975 OAK STREET, SUITE 790 <br /> EUGENE, OR 97401 <br /> TELEPHONE: (541) 687-7592 <br /> MAILING ADDRESS: FACSIMILE: (541) 687-0805 <br /> ROBERT D. LOWRY P.O. BOX 12010 CELLULAR: (541) 954-4451 <br /> EUGENE, OREGON 97440 E-MAIL: R DLOWRY@LOWRY-LAW.COM <br /> May 9, 2006 <br /> VIA FAX & REGULAR MAIL ��// .5--Q <br /> A 5- ��// <br /> Mr. Rocky L. ouston A40/1"1_,4` e- 0744,Recreatio Trails Coordinator Ste! <br /> Oregon tate Parks Department <br /> 725 mmer Street NE, Suite C kkA,, '-7 <br /> Sa em, OR 97301 fifA-Yc - <br /> Re: Doug Newman State Parks Trail Award - ongest <br /> Recommendation for Honoring Mel Jackson (Deceased) and <br /> Eugene Parks & Recreation Department <br /> Dear Mr. Houston: <br /> With this I would like to make the strongest recommendation <br /> that this year' s Doug Newman State Parks Trail Award be given to <br /> the honor of long-time Eugene Parks & Recreation Department <br /> employee Mel Jackson, now deceased, and to the Eugene Parks & <br /> Recreation Department for their historical and ongoing efforts to <br /> make parks and their recreational potential apparent to all users, <br /> and maximized for the benefit of all park users . The classic <br /> example is their well-established, long term and continuing success <br /> with Spencer Butte (City) Park in Eugene . <br /> By way of background, probably my first "outdoor" adventure <br /> after moving to Eugene in 1967 to attend the University of Oregon <br /> was with the person that this Award honors, Doug Newman and, as it <br /> turned out , we shared birthdays . That trip was not one of Doug' s <br /> legendary treks to a remote forest service lookout on some high- <br /> back country mountain ridge but, instead, to Spencer Butte (Eugene <br /> City) Park at the south edge of town. <br /> That really marked the beginning of an almost endless number <br /> of "wilderness" trips for me, urban and otherwise, which most often <br /> for many years included Doug Newman and Mel Jackson. <br /> It also marked the beginning of my life-long (almost 40 years) <br /> personal adventure involving Spencer Butte which, off and on, I <br /> have continually climbed shortly after 5 : 00 a .m. , twice a week, <br /> daylight or dark (primarily) except for circumstances of lightning, <br /> ice or personal injuries . <br /> By the late 1960s and early 1970s, Spencer Butte was literally <br /> being "trashed" by people, including the Oregon Track Club' s then <br /> annual "Storm the Butte, " and by others generally creating their <br /> own trails . There were mainly two trails up, the longer, more <br />