Have you ever driven down a freeway and noticed that you can drive hundreds of miles and see only non-native grasses? How much open space is there throughout the whole of Eugene that is completely unused and overgrown with invasive species? My plan is to replant every possible unused square inch of Eugene with native species of grasses, shrubs flowers and trees. But we can't stop there. There are enormous tracts of unnecessary pavement throughout the city. We don't need two sides of the street for parking in every residential area of the city. Tearing up the hundreds of acres of unnecessary pavement and replanting with native foliage would place Eugene back at the forefront of the environmentalist and sustainability movements in the US.
What would all of this do? The effects would be numerous: The newly planted foliage would decrease the net total of carbon dioxide emissions in Eugene and improve air quality, it would substantially restore habitat for native species of animals, fungi, and fauna, it would improve the beauty of our already beautiful city and increase property values, it would improve water quality and decrease storm runoff into the local rivers and water supply, improving water quality and it would soften temperature swings caused by the insulating and heat storage effects of the vast amount of excess concrete in use on our residential streets, as well as improving air quality.
This is just one of many things we can do to help Eugene and set a model for the rest of the country and the world.
