New Search
2 <br />or street parking. I understand the current road easement is 40'. LTD is proposing a road <br />bed that includes three lanes, maintaining a through street for traffic and a dedicated lane <br />or two for EmX. <br />BLM's concern regarding this alignment is that LTD will need a wider road width than <br />the current easement for Stewart Road. There is BLM land on both sides of Stewart Road <br />and these parcels were purchased through the use of Land and Water Conservation Funds <br />(LWCF). <br />-<-.~ ` -- ~. As you inay,know:this funding source was created by the US Congress in 1964 (P.L. 88- <br />578) authorizing purchase of land deemed important to the conservation of, among other <br />things, habitat for threatened or endangered species. This act requires that, absent <br />approval by the Secretary of Interior, "property acquired or developed with the assistance <br />of this fund shall not be converted to other than, the purposes for which it was acquired." <br />Further, it is the policy of BLM that disposal of LWCF-acquired land and interest in land <br />by any means, including exchange, Recreation and Public Purposes lease/patent, and sale <br />is prohibited. . <br />Based on the presentation at the public meeting, it is not clear what additional i~pacts <br />EmX would have on the wetlands, wildlife, or associated recreation. <br />Amazon Channel Alternative <br />BLM has expressed concerns over the Amazon Channel route and potential impacts to <br />the Gudu kut Natural Area. As you may know BLM holds a conservation easement for <br />this parcel which was purchased using the LWCF program. The City of Eugene holds fee <br />title to this property. It is along the east side of City View Street, south of West 11~'; tax <br />lot 17-04-3633-202. There were no sketch level designs or an actua~ alignment of the <br />,_ ~ , . . _, <br />,.. <br />proposed Amazon Channel EmX route available at tlie public meeting. - <br />In a conversation at the public meeting, Ms. Johnston was led to believe that one possible <br />solution to avoid the Gudu kut Natural Area with EmX, is to have EmX use the current <br />bike path alignment on the north side of the channel, leaving the bike path to be <br />reconstructed on the south side of the channel, at the Gudu kut site. If this is an accurate <br />option, LTD would need to analyze the impact of the EmX project to the Gudu kut site <br />(i.e. reconstruction of the bike path). Again, the enabling legislation creating the LWCF <br />program and BLM policy would need to be considered in any action that may affect the <br />resources on this parcel for which the conservation easement was originally acquired. <br />