Eugene recognized as a bee-friendly city

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) – Eugene is a fine place to be if you’re a bee.

The Register-Guard reports that an environmental group dedicated to protecting bees, butterflies and pollinators has given the city a Bee City USA designation.

Eugene is the 71st city to get the honor from the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

An international decline in bee populations has environmentalists worried about the insects.

Five years ago, beekeepers and others urged Eugene leaders to stop using a pesticide suspected of killing honeybees at a golf course and on downtown flower pots. The city stopped using the pesticide in 2014.

Eugene also received the designation because it has 10 parks where herbicides are not used.

Krystal Abrams of Beyond Toxics, a Eugene-based environmental group, says the city uses pesticides sparingly, only when it has to control an outbreak.

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Information from: The Register-Guard, http://www.registerguard.com