About the Lane County Butterfly Club
This chapter of the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) was formed in October 2000 under the name NABA Eugene-Springfield. In March 2017, the name was officially changed to NABA – Oregon. This is our name in the Oregon Business Registry. In January 2024, we took the assumed business name of Lane County Butterfly Club. We are still a chapter of NABA.
2024-25 Chapter Officers
President: Sharon Blick
Vice President: Sue Anderson
Treasurer: Jim Mitchell
Secretary: Jim Blick
At Large: Dala Gant, Lori Humphreys, Rick Ahrens
History
The idea for starting a NABA chapter in Eugene came about during a Native Plant Society hike at Iron Mountain in the summer of 2000 where our founders met each other and saw a lot of butterflies. Our chapters founders are Eric Wold (first president), Neil Bjorklund (first vice-president), and Sharon Blick (first secretary-treasurer).
Sharon had started the Eugene Butterfly Count in 1991, and it was run by Nearby Nature through the summer of 2000. In 2001, our NABA chapter took over running the Eugene Butterfly Count and started the Browder Ridge Butterfly Count at Iron Mountain and nearby areas in the Cascades. Both counts have been completed annually since then (see Count page).
In 2001, Neil created our chapter website on the NABA national website. We added more information every year so it could serve as a resource for butterfly watching, gardening, and conservation.
In 2002, chapter officers worked with local artist Tanya Harvey to create a NABA Eugene-Springfield t-shirt featuring a Sara Orangetip and its native host plant. This was the first of many t-shirts that we designed and sold to raise money for the chapter.
In July 2002, the National NABA conference was held in Bend and seven of our chapter members attended. Members Neil Björklund and Eric Wold collectively led four field trips there and Neil also gave a slide presentation on Oregon Butterflies at the opening night session. We also sold our t-shirts there.
In May 2003, member Marta Makarushka, with assistance from several chapter members, completed the First Edition of the Lane County Pocket Guide to Butterflies. In May 2004, chapter President Neil Björklund wrote and published the guide Finding Lane County Butterflies. Both authors have donated all sales proceeds to our NABA chapter and these books became a significant source of revenue for the chapter.
In the first five years, the chapter hosted 21 speaker presentations (including two large events with Robert Michael Pyle), organized eight butterfly counts, and led 12 additional field trips. Meeting attendance meeting attendance averaged over 40. We also staffed booths at several local events per year to sell t-shirts and books and educate the public about butterflies. In addition, our chapters activities were featured in several stories in our local daily newspaper, our local public radio station, the Salem newspaper, and the Alaska Airlines magazine.
Our chapter officers have published articles in American Butterflies and Butterfly Gardener magazines. Our members gave a presentation on butterfly gardening with native plants to more than 10 groups throughout western Oregon. Our chapter helped start a native butterfly garden at the Masonic Cemetery in south Eugene and created and maintained a native butterfly garden at the Amazon Park Community Garden for many years. We also organized group purchases of native plants at wholesale prices for members.
From 2005 to 2015, each year the chapter hosted 4 speaker presentations, 2 butterfly counts, and several field trips. We also collaborated with individuals and organizations hosting other butterfly counts and field trips in Oregon and the Northwest. Our chapter also conducted several butterfly surveys at different sites on public land and in 2009 was given an Appreciation Award from the Nature Conservancy and the City of Eugene Parks and Open Space for our work in support of butterfly research and conservation in the West Eugene Wetlands.
In 2016-2022 we hosted 16 speaker presentations, the decrease due to change of leadership and the pandemic. We continued doing our two butterfly counts each year.
In 2023, Sue Anderson moved to Eugene and became an officer in our chapter so we took on her two long-running butterfly counts (Metolius and Ochoco) as part of our chapter work starting in 2024