Lane Metro Youth Corps Supervisor, Willie Friedman (center), poses with two crew members, Shenae (left) and Haley (right) at the Army Corps of Engineers nursery located near Fern Ridge.
Since 1990, Looking Glass' Lane-Metro Youth Corps has coordinated work crews year-round, providing paid work experience each summer to Lane County youth and helping to make improvements to a variety of local natural resources and natural habitats. As this year’s crew experiences come to a close, the Army Corps of Engineers is thankful for the impact Looking Glass crew members have had on the indigenous plant life they’ve worked to restore near Fern Ridge and nearby wetland areas.
“Looking Glass has been a huge help to us!” said Adam Kotaich of the Army Corps Engineers. “Covid really short staffed us this year, so having their help has been tremendous.”
Adam Kotaich of the Army Corps of Engineers, shows off some of the native plants that the Looking Glass summer crew has worked to help replant in and around the Fern Ridge wetland areas.
As Adam explained, there is less than 1% of native Willamette Valley wet prairie left and the impact on the plant life has been staggering.
Among other projects the summer youth crew has worked on, including working on BLM meadow maintenance, removing debris and helping the forest service with cleanup related to the holiday farm fire, the crew has completed extensive evasive species removal in the West Eugene wetlands.
In addition to receiving a paycheck, the youth who participate in the summer crew program have the chance to learn about the local ecology, bond with their co-workers, and earn credit toward their high school diploma.
“The highlight of the summer for me has been getting to know my co-workers more and helping my community at the same time,” explained Haley, age 16 and a 2nd year summer crew member. “It’s like getting a second family. We really connected last year and promised each other we would come back.”
The Pyrracoma Recemosa, in the sunflower family, is one of the native plants that the Looking Glass Lane Metro Youth Corps Summer Crew worked to help restore in and around the Fern Ridge wetlands areas.
The 2021 summer work crew, led by Willie Friedman as crew supervisor, had 11 youth participate. The Fern Ridge project included the transplanting of over 900 native plants.
“I love this work,” said Friedman. “It combines my two greatest passions - environmental education and improving the quality of public lands.”
The program is operated by Looking Glass in partnership with the Lane Workforce Partnership, Oregon Youth Conservation Corps, and the Bureau of Land Management, the Army Corps of Engineers and the US Forest Service. Private donations are always welcomed to help offset other, additional expenses.
If you would like to learn more about the Lane-Metro Youth Corps, please contact Riverfront Director Cheryl Zwillinger at cheryl.zwillinger@lookingglass.us.