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Greenway group honored Foundation receives Jackson County service award The Bear Creek Greenway Foundation was recently honored by Jackson County officials for its fund-raising prowess. Over the past 12 years, the foundation has raised more than $500,000 for the Greenway project. Last week, the Board of Commissioners said thanks in the form of a Community Service Award. The Greenway project is a partly completed 18.5-mile network of trails for pedestrians and non-motorized vehicles, which links Central Point, Medford, Phoenix, Talent and Ashland. The goal is twofold: provide a multi-use transportation alternative and preserve the Bear Creek riparian zone. Much of the foundation's work has been raising money to match federal grants for land acquisition and, in more recent years, underwrite trail construction costs. With the Greenway slowly nearing completion, the foundation has begun to shift its fund-raising focus to trail maintenance. This winter the group teamed up with the Oregon Community Foundation to start an endowment fund -- up to $1 million -- to defray maintenance costs. At the commission meeting Wednesday, the foundation presented a $10,000 check for the project. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA