Worried About Water - Susan Watkins, Salem

Dear Senator Walker:

I had the opportunity to attend the hearing held April 5 on this bill, and I am writing to urge you to pass SB 30 to stop the resort sprawl that threatens the Metolius Basin.

I have been involved in outdoor wilderness activities in Oregon’s Cascades for 35 years. When I began backpacking in our mountains in 1971, we were able to drink the water from the mountain streams without treating or filtering it. In the winter, the snow banks along the highway were well over our heads. However, since then all of the wilderness areas in Oregon have become polluted. There are still areas in the world where one can drink the water without treating it. The Patagonia of Argentina and Chile and the Southern Alps of New Zealand are two with which I am familiar.

The area that was designated as a possible site for a destination resort on the map of the Newton Consultants, Inc.’s handout lies due east of Square Lake and Booth Lake. These two lakes are just east of Three Fingered Jack, one of the peaks in our small range of mountain peaks that overlook the Metolius Basin. The destination resort site is about half-way between these lakes and Camp Sherman. This area constitutes some of the most popular hiking and backpacking areas for people from all over Oregon. The area has been overused in the past and has been subjected to a major forest fire in recent years. This area is recovering but is delicate. At this time there is no development on the north side of the highway. The only development is on the south side around Suttle Lake.

Because this area is so well used by all Oregonians, I feel that the Metolius Basin is a state issue and should be protected for all to enjoy for many years to come. I am greatly concerned about the impact a destination resort would have on this area. The glaciers in Oregon’s mountains are receding just as they are in the rest of the world. These glaciers and the annual snow pack are the source of most of our water. As the glaciers recede and the snow pack keeps melting earlier in the spring, this water source becomes threatened. Our main concern should be how to protect our primary water source. I commend the developer’s use of environmentally designed structures. However, any business has to attract enough clients to maintain a profit. Development amplifies the warming trends that affect our climate and water source and adds to the pollution of the area.

Destination resorts increase traffic in the wilderness areas bringing with it a large increase in carbon emissions from automobiles, traffic congestion, and accidents. The traffic going over the highway through the Metolius is already very heavy. It will also encourage over use of the surrounding areas. When humans encroach on the wilderness, the animals retreat searching for other places for their habitat. When one destination resort is allowed to be built, another will surely follow. When development like this occurs, we soon lose the beauty and pristine nature of the area that attracted us there in the first place.

I voted for Measure 37, but I voted to allow farmers to build a house for themselves on their own property, for a farmer to have a small restaurant to sell his own produce. I did not vote for Measure 37 to allow encroachment into our wilderness areas, and I do not appreciate developers’ threats to invoke Measure 37 when development that will adversely affect all of us is denied.

Sincerely,

Susan Watkins