Updated Multimedia Piece for Gateway 3, J207 Winter 2010, Parks and Open Spaces. Long version.
What if we didn’t have parks and open spaces? Where would we play? run? bike? explore? We are very thankful for the parks in our community, and we want to inspire others to support their important open spaces.
Multimedia Piece for Gateway 3, J207 Winter 2010, Parks and Open Spaces. Short version.
What if we didn’t have parks and open spaces? Where would we play? run? bike? explore? We are very thankful for the parks in our community, and we want to inspire others to support their important open spaces.
Filed under: Park Maintenance | Tags: Eugene, Hendricks Park, Rent-a-goat
By Erik Maurer
Take a trip out to Eugene’s Hendricks Park sometime soon, and you might catch a glimpse of some interesting new members of the park’s maintenance crew. Why are they so intriguing, you ask? I’ll give you a hint: They are small, will eat just about anything, and they pack a mean kick.
Give up?
They’re goats.
That’s right, Eugene’s Parks and Open Spaces Division has employed these voracious farm animals in their new, eco-friendly strategies to combat the hordes of ivy and undergrowth that thrive in the Northwest’s fertile climate. They’re cheap, don’t require much supervision, and they free up workers who could be focusing their energy on other assignments.
Starting last summer, the nibblers have been munching away and clearing loads of pesky brush in places that aren’t easily accessible to the new bike maintenance trailers. These new, pedal-powered maintenance powerhouses are a part of the new sustainable maintenance initiative the Parks division has undertaken (check out this Register Guard article for more info on that effort). Their small size and ability to work easily on uneven ground allow them to whack weeds in places that crews would have a tough time getting to.
This creature feature isn’t just a phenomenon unique to Eugene, either. Park maintenance crews all over the country have employed this clever creature to keep their parks free from invasive plants seeking to overrun their neatly kept pathways and lawns. Parks in locations from Napa valley to urban L.A. have put the weed-munchers to work gnawing away at unsightly brush.
“They work long hours, won’t collect a pension or charge for working overtime and won’t call in sick,” praised L.A. rent-a-goat business owner George Gonzales.
The average herd of 100 goats can clear 2 1/2 acres in about 10 days. The cost for hiring workmen to do the same job would have been as high as $7,500. But the goat rental costs less than half of that, coming in at around $3,000. And it’s (practically) emission free. Check out these before and after images of a herd hard at work on a hillside.
Goat rental businesses have been popping up in cities around the nation, in response to country-wide efforts by park management to maintain their parks in a more environmentally conscious manner.
They’re cheap, eco-friendly, and always hungry. And instead of an afternoon of grueling hard work, the industrious herds see a tasty buffet in every new patch of pesky, overgrown weeds.
Munch on, kids.
Links:
Eugene’s Parks and Open Spaces Division
Park Workers Respond to Call to Use Less Fuel
Rental Goats Clear Brush Better, Beat Cosmonauts in Space Race
100 Goats are Put to Work Downtown
Filed under: Importance of Parks, Video | Tags: eco-activism, Parking Day Network
Volunteers from all over the world have been painting the sidewalks green with their citizen powered eco-activism efforts.
In an effort to promote green spaces and eco consciousness within cities, hundreds of people in numerous countries have come together to turn streetside parking spaces into mini-parks within the urban environment. Sponsored by America.gov and the Parking Day Network, these one-day events are organized online. The participants then meet up offline with truck loads of sod and plants, ready to revitalize a lucky street corner. The mini parks vary widely in size and content, from just a tree or picnic table, to a full on outdoor fun center, with ball pits, hula hoops, and bike repair centers. Visit their site at www.parkingday.org for more information and to get involved with the next event in your area!
Filed under: Riverfront Research Park | Tags: Eugene, Oregon Research Institute, Riverfront Research Park, Trammel Crow Co., University of Oregon
We’re fighting them on the beaches. The University Senate, along with a few students of the UO’s School of Architecture, are fighting to keep the Oregon Research Group, along with Trammel Crow Co., from breaking ground on the as-of yet undeveloped land of the defunct Riverfront Development Park.
The storied history of the university-owned plot begins in the late 1980′s, when the first master plans to develop on the ex-waste dump were drawn up. The plans came with a conditional use permit for the UO to begin construction, with a shelf-life of 20 years.
Fast forward to the present, and we’re sitting in the decision hot seat. Eager to break ground, the research group is pushing to develop north of the tracks – now. A dispute over the true starting date of the permit, the precise date of which had been muddied by a 3 year long appeals process by the city, may give the opponents of the research center ammunition to prolong the construction until 2012.
The university has indicated they are keen to build, however, as they sought an extension on this date in order to keep the permit valid while the construction commenced.
It’s not that no one wants anything to ever be built there, however; many just think the originally approved 1989 master plan is outdated, and needs to be updated to modern standards. Newly proposed plans for the waterfront include ample green space for biking, walking, and integration into the riverside environment, a big improvement on the parking lot wasteland the original plans had unceremoniously called for. Development of these parking lots may quash any hope of ever cleaning up the toxic waste that lies beneath the proposed site.
Some, however, still vehemently oppose absolutely any construction on the waterfront. Even the School of Arts and Architecture is in internal conflict, with faculty Ron Levinson and others up in arms about harming the hallowed ground. “This is a tragedy. The land is sacred ground!” he exclaimed. The city has received hundreds of complaints from concerned citizens, almost every one of them in opposition to the plans.
The research group has a vested interest to build now and not let the issue be struck down. After all, they still have well over a half million dollars already sunk into the project.
The University Senate will remain opposed until the master plans get updated. They passed a resolution on Wednesday, Jan. 13th, stating that they will remain opposed to the building “until the University undergoes a student and faculty inclusive, open process for revising the RRP Master Plan.” They claim that the views of students, faculty, and the Eugene community have not been properly considered in the planning process.
The site is prime real estate for building. 20 years into the process, it seems a bit ridiculous now to throw the whole thing out the window. Questions remain as to whether the university is legally obligated to allow the construction to proceed as planned. Signs indicate that the Senate is ready to oppose the resolution to build as long as they can, at least until a further investigation and revisionary efforts have been granted.
Majority wants a new planning effort before construction begins
Riverfront Research Park Master Plan 1989
Sneak Peek at EWEB waterfront redesign options
UO Senate passes riverfront resolution
Blog By: Erik Maurer
