Message From Senator Westlund

No doubt, this is the good Senator's standard response to recent letters, but it lays out his stance pretty cleary. This was in response to a letter I recently sent:

Erik,

I am so grateful for your continued support in protecting the Metolius River basin. Unfortunately, the original legislation that I sponsored has been weakened.

After two hours of strong testimony and my introduction of hundreds of letters of support, the committee passed an amendment that makes the bill completely unacceptable to me… and I trust to you. The changed bill now allows resorts within the basin and gives the county the authority to map more if they choose. That’s the bad news… The good, is that at least the bill is still "alive" and hopefully we have the chance to amend it again so it truly protects the Metolius.

As it stands now, I cannot support SB 30. I voted against it as it was amended in committee and I will continue to oppose it as it is now written. The provisions do not protect the Metolius and some land use attorneys believe they actually make it easier for the county to site resorts!

The battle is not over …If we want to assure that this special place is protected for generations to come, then we must continue to support strong protections for the Metolius.

There is a time to compromise and there is a time to stand firm…I am standing firm. I ask you to stand with me and contact your legislators to ask that the bill be amended to reflect the original intent of SB 30 to protect the Metolius.

Ben