Metolius is Unparalleled - Mary Wood, Eugene

[Sent to all Representatives:]

I urge you to support SB30, a measure to protect the Metolius Basin from development.

The Metolius is unparalleled in its quiet, serene setting. This bill was crafted in response to predatory destination resort proposals that would destroy the basin and deprive future generations of this stunning natural area.

You are the trustees of the great natural resources we Oregonians enjoy. If there is one place to pass along to future generations, it should be this river, in its peaceful, natural state. Citizens from across the state come to this basin every year to experience its quietude.
It shocks the conscience to think that any public officer would approve a development proposal that would devastate one of the state's most supreme natural treasures. The county officials that approved this are allowing the profit of a few exploiting individuals to steal from what rightfully belongs to future generations.

Moreover, in this day of climate crisis, the last thing public officials should allow is more development that results in greenhouse gas emissions. The Oregon legislature cannot continue to turn a blind eye to this crisis facing the planet. It makes no sense to, on one hand, pass an energy bill to reduce carbon, yet on the other hand allow counties to approve developments that would result in potentially 35,000 car trips a day (3,000 homes multiplied by 9 car trips, which is the average according to Dept. of Transportation figures provided in separate testimony to the Senate).

I’d like to leave you with a few lines from a poem that my great-grandfather, Charles Erskine Scott Wood, wrote in 1921 as he was sitting on the banks of the Metolius River. He was a lawyer, an author, and a poet, and about 70 years old when he wrote this poem. I’m going to read you just the lines where he bequeaths certain things to his grandchildren. I hope it fills you with a sense of obligation to the future generations of Oregonians.

I Charles Erskine Scott Wood,
Make now my last sure will and testament
For those grandchildren who share with me this solitude
And whom I must too shortly leave.
I give all trout in the Metolius. . .
I give them mornings on the river-bank,
Song of the river when the new sun shines. . .
And the solemn discourse of the pines,
At evening when the melting shadows fall
And Peace sits on the bank with folded wings’
The birds all [offering] a good-night call,
And deep in dusk a yellow warbler sings.
The river is for their delight.
CES Wood, Poet in the Desert

Sincerely,
Mary Fox Wood
Eugene, Oregon