The Community Planning Committee invited special guests to our July and August meetings.
Joe Stack, Regional Habitat Biologist, South Willamette Watershed District, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), attended the July meeting. He introduced us to Priority Wildlife Connectivity Areas (PWCA). Between 2019 and 2022, ODFW, Portland State University and Samara Group identified the areas in Oregon with the highest overall value for facilitating wildlife movement. They used 54 surrogate species including Rocky Mountain Elk, Pacific Marten, western toad, and Fender’s Blue Butterfly. PWCA project documentation and web map inform acquisition, restoration, and conservation of habitat for fish and wildlife, long-term planning for managed lands, land use development, and transportation. Corvallis and Benton County have several corridors running through them. They are not currently protected in the Corvallis planning documents.
Cory Rowan, Transportation Manager, Corvallis Public Works Department, will attend our August 14 meeting. We have asked him to update us on several transportation projects, including updates to the Corvallis Transportation Plan for Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities, responses to the Parking Audit and elimination of parking mandates, additional road diet areas, next improvements to the Neighborhood Bikeways and multi-purpose paths, and future planning for mass transportation.