News Release
| Release Number: | 99-045 |
| Dated: | 5/6/1999 |
| Contact: | Matt Rabe, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore.--The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released for public review and comment an environmental assessment detailing plans to construct a maintenance access road and bike path at Fern Ridge Lake. The road/path will be located at the north end of the lake on the east side of the dam, stretching 4,400 feet from Shore Lane to Eaton Lane, and along Eaton Lane to Amazon Dike No. 2.
The maintenance road/bike path will fulfill the Corps' objectives to manage habitat to promote wildlife richness and diversity while at the same time providing an eventual link between Orchard Point and the proposed Eugene-Amazon Creek Trail. Provision of a bike path was an element of the 1998 Fern Ridge Master Plan. Fern Ridge Lake is located 12 miles west of Eugene, Ore.
About 74 percent of the bike path construction is on Corps-owned land; the remainder is on existing roadway right-of-way. Construction of a bike path along the reservoir between Orchard Point and Shore Lane is no longer recommended. Instead, use of county roads is proposed. Construction is planned between June and October 1999.
The Corps' environmental assessment, addressing the environmental effects of the proposed action, is now available for public review. To comment on, or to receive a copy of, this EA, write to: District Engineer, U.S. Army Engineer District - Portland, Attn: CENWP-EC-E (Hamilton), P.O. Box 2946, Portland, OR 97208-2946, or call Lynne Hamilton, Environmental Resources Branch, at (503) 808-4772. Written comments should be mailed no later than June 1, 1999. Questions may be directed to Hamilton. Please refer to Corps ID number CENWP-EC-E-99-01 in any correspondence.
The road/path will be 12-feet wide with one foot clearance on each side and will be paved with asphalt. Appropriate signs, in addition to vehicle gates or removable barriers, will be installed at each end of the bike path segments accessible to the public, to preclude use by motor vehicles. Also, a broken or solid yellow center stripe will be painted on the paved surface.
The route crosses over wetlands in two areas, requiring about 250 cubic yards of fill and the installation of culverts. To mitigate for wetlands fill, the Corps proposes building an earthen dike across an embayment in the area of the bike path to impound 2.5 acres and improving existing and creating additional wetlands. The dike will be about 300 feet long and comprised of about 550 cy of fill and will cover about .0125 acre. A 24-inch aluminum pipe would be installed through the dike to facilitate water regulation within the impoundment.
Two proposed threatened or endangered and several sensitive species of plants and animals have been identified in the area, but the Corps believes that conservation measures can be used to avoid adversely impacting their survival. Kincaid's lupine, a perennial forb, is located near the bike path. The Corps plans to mark plant areas to help avoid their destruction during construction, which will begin after the plants have completed their growing period. Other populations of the plant exist in the Willamette Valley.
Additionally, the Fenders blue butterfly, which uses the Kincaid's lupine as its primary larval food plant, has been observed in the area. Other species known to be in the vicinity of the project area include: bald eagles, little willow flycatcher, olive-sided flycatcher, streaked horned lark, yellow-breasted chat, Oregon vesper sparrow, western bluebird, western meadowlark, common nighthawk and willow flycatcher.
Impacts to people are expected to be minimal, though there could be some disturbance to residents who live near the bike path. Also, it may be necessary to restrict hunting in the area of the bike path, if and when conflicts between hunters and path users develop.