Parks Pulse

When the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the mass shutdown of businesses, services and travel, our world grew infinitely smaller. Like many, Whitney Donielson pivoted to work from home full-time and severely limited her outings. When Whitney looked at Eugene with a new perspective, her world started to grow again.

The hard work and patience of the Native Plant Nursery staff and volunteers has paid off, literally. A key plant for restoration sites, Hall's Aster plays an important role in providing late season nectar and pollen to bees. But propagating this precious plant doesn’t come easy, which is why it’s worth $1,000 a pound. This season, the Native Plant Nursery yielded 10 pounds, valued at $10,000!

Celebrate wildflowers and 10 years of volunteer stewardship with the Friends of Awbrey Park! 

With the purchase of new property, the City's successful Mitigation Bank program can continue to provide sustainable ecological benefits in advance of unavoidable impacts to wetlands caused by human activity.

What do Western pond turtles and river otters have to do with wildfire protection? Over the past year, the Parks and Open Space Ecological Services Team undertook an innovative collaboration to make our natural areas more resilient to wildfire while also improving habitat and benefiting our river friends.

Every winter, volunteers show up in the cold and wet to plant native trees and shrubs along Eugene’s waterways. The value that these planting provide to Eugene’s waterways and local residents is immeasurable.