Cottage Grove Oregon News | Coast Fork Willamette Watershed Council, High School Sports Schedule

Oregonians for Water, Parks and Wildlife and I are writing to follow up to my email last week to the Watershed Council Coordinators, as well as to bring others up to speed who may not have received that earlier communication. The Water, Parks and Wildlife initiative has begun and we are laying the foundation for success of the November 2010 ballot Initiative! As you’ll see below in our email alert, we are launching our grassroots effort so volunteers can gather at least 60,000 signatures in just four months. To prepare for the arrival of our petitions in late February, we must recruit thousands of volunteers and coordinators around the state so we hit the ground running.

Janelle Sorenson, the campaign’s Statewide Organizer, or Bobby Sebastian, the Portland Regional Organizer, will be giving you a call soon to see if you want to get involved. Specifically, they’ll be asking if you:

2) Can gather signatures at events and stores where we’ll get 80% of our signatures. They provide materials and training.

3) Could be interested in helping to coordinate volunteers which means calling their volunteers in your area weekly to schedule them for signature-gathering shifts at public locations.

Please feel free to contact them directly at 503-206-8933 or Janelle@waterparkswildlife.org or Bobby@waterparkswildlife.org. Bobby’s region includes Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington Counties and Janelle handles the rest of the state.

Also, please forward this email alert to as many friends, family, members, colleagues and list serves as possible!

COAST FORK COUNCIL UPDATES

The Mt. Pisgah Mushroom Show on Sunday, October 26th, was the most successful mushroom show ever with over 5,000 people attending. Many stopped by our booth and signed up for more information or to volunteer!
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At the Garden Lake Park Work Party on Saturday, October 25th, over 25 students and adults participated in cutting blackberries and mulching trails with bark. Special thanks to the UO Softball team and Creswell High School!
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More than 30 people attended an update on the Willamette Valley Floodplain Restoration Feasibility Study on October 22nd. The presentation included large maps of the watershed prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The maps showed possible projects that could help return the river’s floodplain to its historical condition, with areas color coded to indicate levels of project feasibility as well as existing projects. Corps Project Manager Christine Budai explained that the maps showed 35 possible areas for restoration. Eventually 10 will be selected for which the Corps will pursue congressional funding.

Both the Coast Fork and Middle Fork Watershed Councils in partnership with the Corps will be contacting landowners in the flood plain and making site visits to possible restoration areas. With input from landowners, they will assess the level of local interest and feasibility for pursuing each project. Eventually a draft of the 10 proposed projects will be sent to Washington, D.C., for congressional approval and funding.

Greg Taylor, fisheries biologist with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, outlined the effects floodplain restoration has had and may have on the fish populations in the valley. He discussed water temperature control measures in effect at several dams and ongoing mitigation efforts to lessen the environmental impact of those dams.

Merri Martz, biologist with Tetra Tech, explained the Corps maps and project approval process. She noted that some worthwhile projects may be identified that don’t make the top 10. She expressed the possibility that the local watershed councils might be able to step in to execute and pursue other funding for them.

For an interesting and detailed view of the watershed maps and possible restoration projects, please stop by the Council office.
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The second annual Friends of Mosby Creek Picnic took place on Sunday, September 14th at Blue Mountain Park, with support of the Coast Fork Willamette Watershed Council. Mosby Creek is the focus of a broad collaboration between these local groups, ODFW, BLM, and Weyerhaeuser to improve habitat for spring Chinook, cutthroat trout, and Western pond turtles.
Volunteers created a display and interpretive signage of the native flora just for this event. The rustic site had floodplain and riparian characteristics that the council seeks to enhance in future projects with local landowners.

Site visits are beginning this winter! Please call the office at 767-9717 to schedule one today.

Restoration Resources

U.S. Corps of Engineers Willamette Watershed Restoration Maps are available for viewing in the Coast Fork office.
--
Pamela Reber

Coordinator & Project Manager
Coast Fork Willamette Watershed Council
28 S. Sixth St., A
Cottage Grove, OR 97424

coastfork@willamette.net
www.coastfork.org
http://coastfork.wordpress.com/

(541) 767-9717

COTTAGE GROVE CELEBRATES
THE OLYMPIC TRIALS WITH THE GOLD RUSH 5k RUN!
By Romney Taylor

Cottage Grove High School 2008 Hall-of-Famer and Olympian track star (4-min miler!) Dyrol Burreslson & CG's "Scoggins" enjoy the race.

Wal-Mart LOOKING TO EXPAND A
SUPERSTORE TO COTTAGE GROVE, OREGON
-Neighbors oppose-

A letter from a local resident

Wal-Mart's Public Hearing at the Cottage Grove City Hall in front of hundreds of onlookers was rowdy and controversial to say the least. The meeting which was supposed to last from 7:30-10:30PM was nearly filibustered by an overwhelming testimony of Wal-Mart attorneys who turned the "public hearing" into an overwhelming display of slide shows, projected land use changes and traffic -studies that gave the public little-to-no-right to speak in opposition. Wa[lMart's pitch for the Superstore is mainly to sell groceries (while expanding its operation to over 150,000 square feet - not to mention the outdoor "uncovered" grounds which are not included in the square foot expansion estimates). They said, "it will bring competition to Cottage Grove." A Wal-Mart Superstore does not just sell groceries, but many, many other items that compete with a majority of local businesses trying to stay alive in our unique community.

A town like Cottage Grove is filled with locally-owned businesses that cannot compete with the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, who imports the majority of its items from China and other overseas companies with great buying power that any local business cannot compete with. We urge you to support your local Cottage Grove businesses by attending the next Public Hearing to be held in approximately two weeks.

The Cottage Grove Planning Commission will accept more
public comment on Wal-Mart's proposal.
Where: City Hall Council Chamber, 400 Main St.
When: 7:30 p.m. Jan. 31

Chair:
Matt Parsons
P.O. Box 232
767-2367(hm) 942-7300(wk)
Term expires: 12/31/2009

David McClean (Vice-Chair)
304 Adams Avenue
767-0931(hm) 485-3970(wk)
Term expires: 12/31/2008

Savannah Crawford
810 Withycome Avenue
521-8092(hm) 541-957-3639(wk)
Term expires: 12/31/2009

George Devine
33631 Cedar Park Place
942-2769(hm) 942-1301(wk)
Term expires: 12/31/2007

Mike Fleck
1125 East Harrison
942-7301(hm) 683-4205(wk)
Term expires: 12/31/2009

Lloyd Williams
1490 Jason Lee Avenue
942-1310 (hm) 682-2679 (wk)
Term expires: 12/31/2007

One of Cottage Grove's residents has recently made a short documentary on the problems local LTD riders are facing with limited scheduling and bus capacity. It is an interesting story with some great viewpoints of what the current LTD scheduling issues are and what sorts of different inconveniences it is causing the users. You can watch the movie by clicking here.

We have also added a new Bulletin Board category called the "LTD RIDERS' FORUM" specifically for the LTD riders and community to post their comments and concerns on. Any participation is certainly appreciated!

The new (OSRM) Oregon State Railroad Museum scheduled to open in 2005 (the new owners of the Perrydale Depot), is currently considering at 2 former Lane County area logging railroad right of ways, on one they hope to open the excursion part of the new museum. Both right of ways are owned by Weyerhaeuser, with one going from Springfield to Marcola; and the other Going West, out of Cottage Grove. Weyerhaeuser has not disclosed the location of that right of way; but at a meeting this week (July 12-19), Weyerhaeuser reps will fill in the details for us. We believe though, that the line they are suggesting, is the old Chambers Mill Logging Rail Line; and if it is, the old covered railroad bridge, will once again handle trains across/through it.

Once open, the Museum and it's tourist excursions (steam trains, diesel and electric trolleys) will attract literally 10's of thousands of tourists per year; and whichever city's line the museum selects, that city will witness an economic boom. This means that a lot of jobs will become available in CG; at both the museum / railroad; and in throughout the city.

OSRM has a web site at http://osrm.org While it is not complete yet, it will give you a lot of information and a good of what we have planned for the museum. If you like what you read about us, there are email icons, you can click on, to volunteer, ask questions, and a Paypal contribute icon with which you can use to contribute (donate).

If we find that it is the line with the bridge, that will become a major decision factor; when working out the final details with Weyerhaeuser. We will also need volunteers to help us move the depot to the museum's new site.

NOTE: If the old OP&E Depot next to Walmart is available, we'd like to move it and add it to our museum as well. If anyone knows about it, please contact us. info@osrm.org

The big deal is that we are growing! Not taller, but in numbers. Cottage Grove's new census report says we went from 8,912 to 9,010 residents...that's a whopping 98 residents! Well, a little more traffic will never hurt anyone!

Cottage Grove was again named "All American City" Saturday by the National Civic League in Atlanta, GA. This is second time that Cottage Grove has been recognized, and is now one of only two Oregon cities to be awarded this recognition twice (Salem received the award in 1960 and 1982).This will undoubtedly make Cottage Grove an even more desirable place to live and help to develop additional recognition, economic development and tourism.

NEW HIGH SCHOOL IS OPEN!

Cottage Grove High School

Cottage Grove's beautiful new High School is open for business. Sunday September 7th was the official grand opening date. The new school is a proud addition to the community!

Ciochette Field
"Ciochette Field" plays hosts to a number of District and
special occasion sports for local schools due to its
state-of-the-art facilities.

Track & Field

Peace Health / Cottage Grove's new hospital is open and in business! Cottage Grove's new hospital will handle all physician and Level 1 trauma patients for the surrounding areas.

CottageGrove.net is looking for a news editor to cover local events and gather news-worthy items. We encourage local folks and business management to send press releases and other pertinent info to: CottageGrove.net
PO 590
Cottage Grove, OR 97424

Cottage Grove, Oregon - News and Sports

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