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BLM- EE&V Feature of the Month http://www.blm.gov/education/feature/2001/or2/index.html <br /> Bureau of Land Management <br /> Environmental Education <br /> Feature of the Month <br /> Oregon's West Eugene Wetlands Project and <br /> Environmental Education Center <br /> Since 1992, the West Eugene Wetlands Project has been a cooperative partnership among the Bureau of <br /> Land Management (BLM), the City of Eugene, and Lane County to acquire, manage, and actively restore <br /> the last remaining wetlands in Oregon's Willamette Valley, along the western edge of Eugene. (Wetlands <br /> are areas that feature standing water or with water-logged soils during the growing season.) <br /> It is estimated that less than 1 percent of the original upland <br /> ,,.e , - and wetland prairie habitat is left in the Willamette Valley. <br /> For example, populations of Fender's blue butterflies, which <br /> depend on upland/wetland prairie plant associations, have <br /> virtually disappeared because of this habitat loss and the <br /> decline of the caterpillar's host plant, Kincaid's lupine. The <br /> West Eugene Wetlands area, which covers 2,200 acres, <br /> forms a natural archipelago within an urban environment. <br /> The educational component of the project began in 1999; <br /> West Eugene has a unique temporary the focus of both the educational and restorative elements is <br /> structure for its environmental program: the stewardship of the unique wetland habitats of West <br /> a "yurt," modeled after a Mongolian Eugene. <br /> structure. <br /> Visitors can arrange for tours or interpretive hikes of the <br /> project area that allow them to see first-hand some of the unique plant and animal species native to this <br /> wetland habitat. Wetland Exploration Field Trips are conducted by volunteers who are trained by local <br /> scientists through the Lane County Audubon Society, the Eugene Stream Team, BLM, and the <br /> Willamette Resources and Educational Network (WREN). Such field trips target students in grades three <br /> through five, though activities are adaptable for all age groups. Educators are invited to meet with <br /> Wetlands education specialists in advance of field trips to help integrate the wetland experience into <br /> their regular teaching programs and establish learning objectives. On a limited basis, Wetlands <br /> volunteers are available to visit classrooms before field trips to prepare students. <br /> <br /> I of3 10/1/O] 10:34 AM <br /> <br />