Camas bulbs preserved and transplanted thanks to partnership

More than 1,000 native camas (Camassia quamash) bulbs were salvaged from an EWEB construction site and replanted in Eugene parks.

Parks staff notified EWEB that their construction site soil was rich with camas bulbs, a native bulb-producing plant that is ecologically and culturally significant to the Willamette Valley.

Through partnership and coordination with EWEB, Parks staff and volunteers were able to save more than 1,000 camas bulbs.

Roughly 400 bulbs have been planted in the Westmoreland Park prairie area, where volunteers are also doing an invasive grass removal project. About 110 of the bulbs were provided to Native Youth Wellness, and the remaining were planted at restoration sites in the West Eugene Wetlands.

Camas root has historically been a highly prized natural resource for the region's indigenous population, including the Kalapuyans and Chinookans of western Oregon. Native women cooked the camas bulbs in earthen pit ovens over the course of two days. Camas cakes, produced from baked camas left to dry, were stored for use during the long winter months or used for trade with other regional groups.