Get involved, be informed about new County expense

The Corvallis Gazette-times reported on Monday, September 14: County absorbs cost of saving butterfly. ARTICLE: Hefty permit fees are no longer part of a plan to protect the endangered Fender's blue. Pending grants should cover land costs, and the county will seek other revenue sources for administrative funds.

Benton County has chosen to involve itself extensively in enforcing the Endangered Species Act, even tho’ the US Forest Service is charged with the responsibility, thereby incurring large new expenses for the County. At the Benton County budget hearings a few months ago, department heads were reminded that the levy voters passed last year is the only reason that draconian cuts were not made in Department budgets, yet Commissioners are moving ahead on unnecessarily funding in the Prairie Species Habitat Conservation Plan. Funding will take a big piece of the Parks Department budget, and Commissioners “hope” that grants will be found to pay for unfunded costs.

Commissioners may have thought that their involvement would bring new development revenues to the County. However, because of massive public outcry, the Commissioners announced that they would drop plans for charging a fee to build a dwelling in the area where the Fender’s Blue Butterfly and half a dozen other species are found.

Public Meeting Sept. 16

A public meeting will be held at the Corvallis- Benton County Public Library, 645 NW Monroe Avenue in downtown Corvallis, on September 16th from 7-9 pm to provide information about the changes to the Benton County Prairie Species Habitat Conservation Plan since the last draft and to provide an opportunity for comments and questions. Please attend so you will have accurate information about the changes and comment on the County’s involvement in this plan.

The revised draft of the Benton County Prairie Species HCP is now available for a 30 day comment period ending on October 7th, 2009. The draft can be downloaded on the Benton County Natural Areas and Parks website http://www.co.benton.or.us/parks/hcp/documents/ and copies will be available for review at all Benton County Public Library Branches and at the Benton County Natural Areas & Parks Office. The draft Prairie Conservation Strategy will be included as an appendix to the HCP but can be downloaded separately. Comments may be emailed to the County at hcpinfo@co.benton.or.us or mailed to the Benton County Natural Areas & Parks Department at 360 SW Avery Ave, Corvallis, OR 97333.