Written Testimony - Erik Kancler

Good evening, Senators.

My name is Erik Kancler, I’m the Executive Director of Central Oregon LandWatch and I’m hear to tell you about a site we’ve created called noresorts.blogspot.com.

The purpose of the site is to bank copies of letters sent to legislators in support of SB 30 and display them for everyone to see, along with helpful information and updates and so forth.

So far, in just over 72 hours, we’ve received over 130 submissions, almost all of which are copies of letters sent to legislators – 120 to be precise, and still counting. I’m sure that this is only a fraction of all the letters that have been sent on this matter and that many letters remain uncaptured on our site.

These letters have been sent or copied to lawmakers nearly 500 times, including over 230 times to the members of this committee alone.

In addition to the letters, we’ve received many beautiful images, personal stories, historical accounts, and even poems from all over the country.

The two most common places we’ve received letters from are Portland and Camp Sherman.

The two largest trends we’ve seen are from the Willamette Valley and Central Oregon, but really they’ve come in from everywhere.

We’ve received letters from Seattle, Vancouver, Boise, the Bay Area, and all the way from Florida and Boston. We’ve even heard that the Metolius is big in Korea.

Within Oregon we’ve received letters from all over the state from Yachats, Hood River, Sauvie Island, Maupin, Wasco County, Salem, Portland, Eugene, McMinnville, Lake Oswego, Hood River, Sisters, Bend, Redmond, Terrebonne, and of course from Camp Sherman.

We’ve received letters from Democrats and Republicans, from war vets, farmers, hunters, fisherman, doctors, lawyers, planners, developers, former public-officials, 92 year olds, 4th and 5th generation residents, as well as numerous long-time visitors and folks who just plain can’t believe what Jefferson County is willing to allow.

The common thread in all of these is a desire to keep resorts out of the Metolius and an unwavering support for an uncompromised SB 30.

Their messages are personal, articulate, and passionate, their memories - priceless. I’d strongly encourage you to visit the site if you haven’t already, at noresorts.blogspot.com. It’ll paint a picture that you won’t forget.

Thank You