** CFF Activities
-- Annual Yard Sale A Success
** Local
-- 1000 Friends Appeals West Eugene Parkway
-- EPA to Warn When Pesticides Used
** Oregon
-- Measure 7 Unconstitutional
-- Stormwater Management Plan Required
-- Bicycle Friendly Communities Report Card
** National and International
-- Global Warming Lawsuit Filed
-- The Sod Squad Wants to Soak You
-- Sprawl Linked to Drought
-- Neighborhoods From Strip Malls
-- AARP Looks at Senior Walking Problems
-- Washington State Environmental Education Resources
-- 2 Acres of Farmland Lost Each Minute
** Links of Interest
-- Urban Advantage - Images of smart growth
-- Making Sense of Fire History
-- Volunteer Wetland Monitoring
-- Urban Sprawl Model Offered
-- League of Women Voters' Land Use Report
-- New State Lands Web Site for Removal-Fill Permits
-- Water Atlas
-- National Coastal Condition Report
** Upcoming Events
-- CFF Meetings
-- Oregon Shores Annual Coast Conference
** Election 2002 Information
** Activism Via the Net

- - - - -

CFF ACTIVITIES

-- CFF's Annual "Deep Pockets" Yard Sale was a whopping success.  We made enough money to finance two of CFF's projects - providing city council meeting video tapes to the local cable TV station, and CFF's  web page - for another six months.  Thanks to all those who volunteered their time, and donated their "stuff" for the yard sale.  Our next meeting is November 1 (see below).

LOCAL

-- 1000 FRIENDS APPEALS WEST EUGENE PARKWAY - 1000 Friends of Oregon notified the Land Use Board of Appeals that they will appeal decisions by local governments that lay the ground work for the West Eugene Parkway.  1000 Friends believes Eugene, Springfield, Lane County and the Lane Transit District failed to comply with statewide planning goals (specifically, Goal 12, transportation) when amending local transportation, wetland and land use plans to accommodate the 5.8-mile parkway.  Other appeals may follow.  http://www.friends.org

-- EPA TO WARN WHEN PESTICIDES USED - EPA signed agreement to notify farmworkers groups before they authorize use of certain fungicides on snap beans grown in Oregon. http://www.citizensforflorence.com/News/arch-0209.html

OREGON

-- MEASURE 7 UNCONSTITUTIONAL - Supreme Court Finds Measure 7 Unconstitutional.  Measure 7 violated Oregon's constitutional requirement to vote on each change to the Constitution separately, and is therefore void in its entirety. The decision cannot be appealed. 1000 Friends press release and statement: http://www.friends.org/issues/press/rel_measure7.html
Summary of the ruling: http://www.friends.org/issues/supremeruling.html
Editorial from Eugene Register-Guard: http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/10/05/ed.edit.measure7.1005.html

-- STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PLAN REQUIRED -  Storm water management is not a new concept.  According to the 1998 National Water Quality Inventory, 11 percent of impaired rivers, 12 percent of impaired lake acres, and 28 percent of impaired estuaries are affected by urban/suburban storm water runoff.  To comply with recent storm water regulations, municipalities have to develop and implement best management practices to satisfy six minimum control measures.  Two of the most important measures require public education and  involvement.
http://www.epa.gov/owow/info/NewsNotes

-- BICYCLE FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES REPORT CARD - The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) has graded Oregon’s largest 22 cities and compiled the grades in  the "Bicycle-Friendly Communities Report Card," released last week. The comprehensive report card evaluates the cycling strengths and weaknesses of each community, providing a tool to help citizens advocate  for bicycle infrastructure and programs. At the top of the pile is Corvallis (A-), followed by Eugene (A-), Portland (B+), and Ashland (B-).  At the bottom of the rankings were Keizer (D), Tualatin (D-), Medford (D-) and Roseburg (D-).  Six other communities were dubbed "Flat Tire" communities (McMinnville, Milwaukie, Oregon City, Springfield, Tigard and West Linn) where so little commitment to bicycling was demonstrated that no data were available. Full report: http://www.bta4bikes.org

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

-- GLOBAL WARMING LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST AGENCIES - While many interests were meeting at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, another group of interests filed a  major class action lawsuit against the United States Export/Import Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. The lawsuit alleges that both US government agencies have violated the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) which requires any government agency to do an environmental impact assessment of their loans, which in the last ten years have amounted to $32 billion for fossil fuel energy projects all over the world. Those projects have a direct impact on global warming.  The case was filed on behalf of Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, the City of Boulder, Colorado and other interested plaintiffs.
http://www.evworld.com/databases/storybuilder.cfm?storyid=402
 

-- THE SOD SQUAD WANTS TO SOAK YOU - The Sod Squad Wants To Soak You -- Look out, you water scofflaws -- it's "water-efficiency month," and enforcement agencies across the West will not look lightly upon water-wasting infractions.  Water cops are tossing out tickets that range from a slap on the wrist (and a free how-to-conserve-water brochure) for leaky faucets, to a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail for  illegal lawn watering.
http://www.citizensforflorence.com/News/arch-0209.html

-- REPORT LINKS SPRAWL, DROUGHT - Sprawl development is making the nation's drought even more painful by impairing the landscape's ability to recharge aquifers and surface waters, according to a new report released by American Rivers, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Smart Growth America. Nationwide, paved-over land sends billions of gallons of water  into streams and rivers as polluted runoff, rather than into the soil to replenish groundwater. The report, “Paving the Way to Water Shortages: How Sprawl Aggravates Drought,” estimates the extent of this phenomenon in 18 rapidly growing cities. The authors estimate that in Atlanta, the nation's most rapidly sprawling metropolitan area, recent sprawl development sends an additional 57 billion to 133 billion gallons of polluted runoff pour into streams and rivers each year. This water would have otherwise filtered through the soil to recharge aquifers and provide underground flows to rivers, streams and lakes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/29/national/29WATE.html
http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/waterandsprawl.html

-- NEIGHBORHOODS FROM STRIP MALLS - According to an Aug. 25th story in the Seattle Times, "While no one was looking, housing in the Puget Sound area grew in some remarkable ways. People are living in areas that just a few years ago would have been unthinkable. Builders are providing well-designed apartments and  condominiums in locations once occupied by warehouses, factories, strip malls and parking lots. Over the past  decade, the state's Growth Management Act set in  motion new public policies that discouraged the relentless outward expansion of our metropolitan areas. The act directed development into areas already served by roads, utilities and transit... Communities of all sizes are evolving in response to new laws, demographic trends, consumer preferences, and the fact that builders are, finally, offering new choices.”
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/northwestlife/134520288_hometransform25.html
(this may have to be re-entered into your browser)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27190-2002Sep2.html

-- AARP LOOKS AT SENIOR WALKING PROBLEMS - Recently, the AARP commissioned the "Understanding Senior Transportation Survey," a nationwide telephone survey of adults age 50 and older (50+). The purpose was to better understand the transportation needs and preferences of mid-life and older adults. The survey particularly focused on transportation concerns of adults age 75 and older (75+), because personal mobility shrinks as individuals age. About one in four adults age 50+ consider 'everything is too far away' and 'walking is too hard' to be large problems with walking. One in five consider 'no place to rest' to be  a large problem with walking. Respondents with poor health and disability status (HDS) are many times more likely than their counterparts with excellent HDS to report large problems with walking.. summary: http://research.aarp.org/il/2002_04_transport_1.html
full report: http://research.aarp.org/il/2002_04_transport.pdf

-- WASHINGTON STATE ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION RESOURCES - Looking for examples of great nonpoint source pollution education resources? Washington State Department of Ecology recently developed a web site to help Pacific Northwest educators finds and access exceptional resources from across the region.
http://www.epa.gov/owow/info/NewsNotes

-- STUDY: 2 ACRES OF FARMLAND LOST TO SPRAWL EACH MINUTE - A new study by the American Farmland Trust  finds that two acres of farmland are lost each minute because of sprawling development patterns, not development itself.  It is the fastest such decline in the country's history, and most of the loss has been on the edge of the outer suburbs, where some of the country's best fruit farms are being replaced by houses on large lots, linked by new roads, highways and malls. "We are consuming more land per person than at any time, in the most wasteful way," said Ralph Grossi, president of the trust.  The National Association of Homebuilders supported that conclusion.
 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/04/national/04FARM.html

LINKS OF INTEREST

-- Urban Advantage - Images of what smart growth can look like: http://www.urban-advantage.com/imageshtm1.htm
-- Making Sense of Fire History West of Cascades - Science Findings Newsletter - Pacific NW Research Station  http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw
-- Volunteer Wetland Monitoring - EPA recently released the Volunteer Wetland Monitoring: An Introduction and Resource Guide. http://www.epa.gov/owow/info/NewsNotes
-- Urban Sprawl Model Offered - A new model that could help predict future urban expansion.
http://www.nature.com/nsu/020819/020819-1.html
-- League of Women Voters Education Fund 2002 Update  “Land Use: Progress and Challenges”
http://www.open.org/~lwvor/LandUse2002.htm
-- New State Lands Web Site for Removal-Fill Permits - status of DSL Removal-Fill Permit applications.Go to: http://www.statelandsonline.com
-- Water Atlas:  www.wateratlas.usf.edu
-- National Coastal Condition Report - describes the ecological and environmental conditions in American coastal waters: www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/nccr/index.html

UPCOMING EVENTS

-- CFF Meetings:
- November 1, 2002 - 6:00 pm, Bill Fleenor's house. Potluck dinner.

 -- OREGON SHORES ANNUAL COAST CONFERENCE October 19-20 Hatfield Marine Science Center, Newport

ACTIVISM VIA THE NET

CFF provides these links for your convenience only, and recommends you research any issue before participating.

-Oregon Community Protection Coalition - Keep Measure 7 off future legislative agendas:
http://www.protectoregon.org/page6.html

-Sierra Club's Take Action  http://www.sierraclub.org/takeactoin/lists

-Prevent War on Iraq  http://www.moveon.org/nowar/

-Oppose Forest Fire Amendment:  http://capwiz.com/awc/issues/alert/?alertid=465531

ELECTION 2002 INFORMATION

-- State Of Oregon on-line version of voters pamphlet: http://www.sos.state.or.us/elections/nov52002/guide/measures.htm

 -- 1000 Friends of Oregon Initiative 2002 Web Page: http://www.friends.org/ballot/initsmore.html

-- Oregon League of Conservation Voters PAC Endorsements for 2002 elections: http://www.OLCV.org/endorsements.html

-- Lane County Measures: http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/10/01/1a.countymeasures.1001.html

** Local
-- Anti-War Rally in Florence
-- Independent Grocery Store Bites the Dust
** Oregon
-- 'Property Rights' Activist Lied -Made Big Money
-- West Linn Mayor Wants Sprawl Reform
-- Appeal Fee Increase Rejected
** National and International
-- Urban Sprawl - The Big Picture
-- Countering Developers Affordable Housing  Distortions
-- Unions Fight Sprawl
-- Talks on "Takings"
-- Trails and Greenways Report
-- Report Slams BLM's Land Exchange Process
** Links of Interest
-- Are you in the shadow of a nuclear reactor?
-- Nuclear Waste Transport Route Map Locator
-- Governor's Sustainability Web Site
-- Conservation Grants Web Site
-- Water to Drink, Sustaining Watersheds
-- Sake of the Salmon Technical Assistance Database
-- Governor's Oceans Policy Group Report
** Activism Via the Net
-- Oppose Noise Producing Ocean Sonar
-- Oregon Ocean Shore Management Plan Comment Site
-- Eugene Salmon Protection Comment Site
** CFF Calendar

LOCAL

-- PEACE THEATRE STAGES ANTI-WAR RALLY IN FLORENCE - In Eugene, sure. But an anti-war demonstration in Florence?  It happened Tuesday.  A mostly graying  contingent of about 50 people gathered in blustery weather at the intersection of Highways 101 and 126 and staged a rally against the Bush administration's push for war against Iraq.  http://www.citizensforflorence.com/News/arch-0212.html

-- ANOTHER INDEPENDENT GROCERY STORE BITES THE DUST, THIS TIME IN FLORENCE - The owner of Owen's Thriftway Market said the opening of the Fred Meyer Store at the north edge of Florence more than two years ago was a catalyst for the sale of his store. According to Owen, there is not enough business in town to support three major grocery stores. The Thriftway market had about 25 full and part-time employees.
http://www.citizensforflorence.com/News/arch-0212.html

OREGON

-- WEST LINN MAYOR WANTS SPRAWL REFORM - Four decades of nearly unchecked growth have left West Linn officials scrambling to slam the brakes on what they see as state-mandated sprawl. And if the city succeeds, the painful political exercise of expanding the Portland area's urban growth boundary may be a footnote in history.
http://www.citizensforflorence.com/News/arch-0212.html

-- APPEAL FEE INCREASE REJECTED - The Oregon Court of Appeals rejected Yamhill County's appeal of a decision of the Land Use Board of Appeals which agreed with Friends of Yamhill that the County cannot increase the amount of the appeal fee from $250 to $700.
http://www.citizensforflorence.com/News/arch-0212.html

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

-- URBAN SPRAWL - THE BIG PICTURE - Earth-orbiting satellites have a wonderful view of our planet's fast-growing cities, but most city planners don't have access to this "big picture" from space. NASA-supported scientists are working to change that. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/11oct_sprawl.htm?friend

-- COUNTERING DEVELOPERS’ AFFORDABLE HOUSING DISTORTIONS - Developers are working hard to exploit what they view as the Smart Growth movement’s Achilles heel: The shortage of affordable housing.  An opinion piece on why that’s faulty: http://mlui.org/mailinglist/redirect.asp?i=603&l=114

-- UNIONS FIGHT SPRAWL - Greg LeRoy describes how unions are joining the national movement to curb sprawl. Labor's non-partisan ratings of elected officials, Mr. LeRoy reports, show that politicians from sprawling areas seldom vote with unions on a range of issues from "fast track" trade agreements and workplace safety to collective bargaining rights and pay equity for women. As Don Turner of the Chicago Federation of Labor puts it: "After a day of looking at all this, some of us began to think that sprawl is one giant anti-union conspiracy." http://mlui.org/mailinglist/redirect.asp?i=603&l=150

-- TALKS ON "TAKINGS" - At a recent regulatory impacts conference, Professors Joseph Sax and Hans Linde each delivered thoughtful luncheon talks about the issue of “takings” Joseph Sax: http://www.law.georgetown.edu/gelpi/papers/saxtalk.pdf
 Hans Linde: http://www.law.georgetown.edu/gelpi/papers/lindetalk.pdf

-- TRAILS AND GREENWAYS REPORT - "Trails & Greenways: Advancing the Smart Growth Agenda" from the Tails-to-Trails Conservancy explores how America's built environment has evolved without regard for the walking and biking infrastructure most communities desire, and asserts that this imbalance has led to a lack of opportunity - and place - to walk and bicycle. Drawing on existing research and case studies, the report defines the myriad positive impacts trails have on advancing today's smart growth objectives, plus addresses transportation planning, public health and  social justice issues as they apply to urban trails and regional trail development. http://www.enhancements.org/rtcdocs/tgandsg.pdf

-- REPORT SLAMS BLM'S LAND EXCHANGE PROCESS - For years, watchdog groups have said the Bureau of Land Management underestimates the value of the land it trades away to states and private landowners, effectively giving away chunks of the public domain worth billions of dollars.  A new report, released in mid-October, adds credence to those claims and may have set off a shuffling of two high-level agency officials.
http://www.citizensforflorence.com/News/arch-0212.html

LINKS OF INTEREST

- Are you living in the shadow of a nuclear reactor?  http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/nuclear/locator.htm
-Nuclear Waste Transport Route Map Locator http://www.greenpeaceusa.org/nuclear/locator.htm
-Governor Kitzhaber's Sustainability Web Site http://www.Oregon Solutions.net
-Conservation Grants Web Site http://www.conservationgrants.com/water.htm
-Water to Drink, Sustaining Watersheds http://homepage.mac.com/WatertoDrink/
-Sake of the Salmon Technical Assistance Database http://www.4sos.org/tad/tadsearch.asp
-Governor's Oceans Policy Group Report  http://www.orgonocean.org/index.shtml

ACTIVISM VIA THE NET
CFF provides these links for your convenience only, and recommends you research any issue before participating.

-- Oppose Noise Producing Ocean Sonar http://nrdc.org/wildlife/marine/nlfa.asp
-- Oregon Ocean Shore Management Plan Comment Site http://www.prd.state.or.us/osmp_hcp.php
-- Eugene Salmon Protection Comment Site http:www.ci.eugene.or.us/salmon
-- Sierra Club's Take Action  http://www.sierraclub.org/takeactoin/lists

** UPCOMING EVENTS **

-- CFF's UPDATE Calendar