Written Testimony - Sage Wood

[To the Senate Committee and Education and General Government:]

My name is Sage Wood Fox and I would like to save the Metolius River because I catch frogs, fish – big fish, grasshoppers, and everything that a kid like me would like to catch. And it is a very sacred place to me because I love going there. And if it’s developed, there will be thousands of people ruining it. And it is no fair because I may be only 9 years old, but I should have the authority to have what people who are about 40 years or older used to have when they were kids just like me. And my grandfather and baby sister’s ashes are buried here and it would not be sacred any longer because it would be just like a miniature city and that makes nothing special because there’s gas, houses, cars, and tons of people. It would be a very ugly place to live in.

The county government is doing nothing, simply nothing, to save the river. And it is very mean of the county government to do that because they are listening to the people who would get the money. Of course, they would say, yes, let’s build tons of houses, because they get tons and tons of money.

Metolius is one of the only places that I get my favorite food, like fish and wild strawberries. My baby brother, Nicholas, will be very mad if the government lets the developers build all those houses, because Nicholas will not get to see what I saw and wish to see later, and he will be very disappointed.

So I hope you can protect this beautiful place so that Nicholas and my children and grandchildren will experience what my mom and I have experienced.

Sage Wood
Eugene, OR