Destroying The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg - Linda Davis, Sisters

[Sent to Senators Johnson, Kruse, Walker, Morse, and Metsger:]

I urge you in the strongest words possible to support SB 30 that would limit destination resort development in the Metolius basin. The Metolius River and its tributaries is one of the most fragile and unique water systems in the West. Upstream from Billy Chinook Lake, it remains in largely a pristine condition and significant and expensive efforts are being made to improve the ecosystem to reintroduce and expand native fish species. Destination resort development is totally incompatible with this effort. I don't care what the developers say they will or won't do, the huge numbers of people, septic tanks, water use, road development and recreators will destroy this unique river and the amenities that those who fish and recreate enjoy. It would be a classic example of destroying the goose that lays the golden egg!

I am a retired land use planner with 35 years experience, most of it in Oregon. I have rarely seen any developer who claimed that he would not impact a community not do so in the end, sometimes with the best of intentions and measures not to do so. There are too many unknowns in an area like this that can cause destruction. The soils, groundwater aquifer system -- so unique -- the vegetation, the bull trout population in the river are all potential impacted by this proposed development. We can add to the list of concerns forest fire danger which would increase immensely being so close to the Deschutes National Forest and Jefferson Wilderness area.

The shear number of people that would be in the area, long after the developers have left, will have impacts beyond what we can imagine. For example, Highway 20 and Sisters cannot possibly handle the level of traffic congestion that such a resort would cause. Highway 20 is already one of the most dangerous stretches of highway in Oregon, largely caused by the numbers of people that come over the pass on weekends and other peak holiday periods. I realize that this issue spans just the proposed resorts in the Metolius Basin, but we need to start somewhere to address this enormous problem.

Thank you for supporting SB 30.

Linda L. Davis
Sisters, OR