[Originally published in the OTHER paper, Eugene, Oregon in December, 1995.]

According to a November 24 Register-Guard front-page story, "A rare plant vs. Hyundai's plant," Bradshaw's lomatium, an endangered plant residing in the Eugene wetlands, is the only obstacle to the proposed Hyundai plant, and Laura Todd, a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) biologist, sees no problem with the two types of plants cohabiting successfully.

Todd's assertions are interesting in light of the 12-page USFWS testimony to the Army Corps of Engineers last July by Supervisor Russell Peterson, expressing concern for several endangered or threatened species besides Bradshaw's lomatium and for protection of non-endangered species and the wetlands ecosystem as a whole. The agency called for an Environmental Impact Study.

As with the simplification of the spotted owl issue in forestry, focusing on one species grossly oversimplifies and trivializes the concept of wildlife protection. Species do not exist in a vacuum; they cannot simply be picked up and moved and be expected to thrive. They exist in certain environmental situations in interdependent relationships with a variety of other species.

At least three other rare plants may exist on the DAG Trust property being purchased by Hyundai, and it is home to the endangered Western pond turtle. The Dept. of Environmental Quality's (DEQ) recent conditional certification of the site for development failed to include requirements regarding the habitat needs of the latter.

In November, it was announced that a new species of snail and a new genus of crayfish had been discovered on Nature Conservancy property adjacent to the proposed plant site by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) back in May. Why did BLM withhold information on two new water-quality dependent animal species from the hearing process on the Hyundai plant?

Investigation is needed to determine the distribution and abundance of both species, which should produce another snag in Hyundai's plans. Eugene is the only known site for these species; the DEQ is mandated to give them high priority.