We Need Leaders With Courage and Foresight - Tom Anderson

Dear Representative Nelson:

I think the last time I saw you in McMinnville was at Rite Aid. I hope to see you around town again soon.

I am writing to you about a piece of legislation that is very important to me. My fondest childhood memories are from my family’s summer trips to Camp Sherman. I think you know my parents, Herb and Barbara Anderson. Every summer, they took us to the Metolius River where we camped or rented a cabin. It was there that I first developed my love of Nature. I have been returning ever since to camp, hike, and fish, and ride my bike. It is close enough that I can even go for the day from McMinnville.

The thing about the Metolius and Camp Sherman that makes them so special is that the area is an incredibly beautiful natural wonderland where there is a perfect balance between accessibility and a quiet experience in a part of nature that if you’ve ever been there I think you would agree is paradise. I was shocked to learn that Jefferson County has decided to permit the development of destination resorts in the Metolius Basin with thousands and thousands of houses, golf courses, etc. I am not against development, but the Metolius River Basin is one of the greatest natural treasures in this state; it is the wrong place to build destination resorts because that would forever ruin the special character of this unique place, with overcrowding, traffic, noise, and pollution. Have you ever stood on the wooden bridge at Camp Sherman and fed the huge trout swimming below it? That bridge could not accommodate the 9,000 additional daily car trips the proposed destination resort would bring. The sleepy little village of Camp Sherman would be changed forever into something more like downtown Sisters—hard to even cross the road. I cringe to think of what the crowds would do to the banks of the river.

Senate Bill 30 prohibits the development of destination resorts within three miles of the Metolius River Watershed. It passed the senate without a single Republican vote. That’s why I am writing to you, my Republican representative. I don’t know how hard it would be for you to break ranks if that’s what it would take for you to vote for SB30, but if anyone has the strength of character to do so, I think and hope that it is you. Republicans can go down in history as some of the most well-regarded preservationists the world has ever known. Republican President Theodore Roosevelt is loved and remembered for permanently preserving some of the most unique natural resources of the United States, creating 150 National Forests, 51 Federal Bird Reservations, 4 National Game Preserves, 5 National Parks, and 18 National Monuments—a total of 230,000,000 acres.

Perhaps no one has done more to improve and preserve “livability” in Oregon than Republican governor Tom McCall. With the bottle bill, and preserving public access to our beaches, he brought national recognition to Oregon that in the decades since has paid off not only in making this one of the best places in the country to live, but it also has brought high quality economic development to our state. And two-term Republican Governor Mark Hatfield opened a statewide dialogue about livability when he spoke out against thoughtless speculators and developers who were befouling Oregon's landscape. When the Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce began touting the ticky-tacky stretch of U.S. Highway 101 through the county as the “Twenty Miracle Miles,” Governor Hatfield remarked that “Twenty Miserable Miles” would be a more fitting description.

We no longer have the courage and foresight of Republicans Theodore Roosevelt, Tom McCall, or Mark Hatfield, but we have you. With all due respect, if you vote with other Republicans to allow development of destination resorts in the Metolius River Basin some developers will be happy with you, but your constituents and the citizens of Oregon will not. Your vote and your mark on Oregon’s future will be remembered only by those whom it disappoints. If, on the other hand, you show the courage and leadership of a Tom McCall or Mark Hatfield, you will make a mark in the history of this state that will be revered. I’m not sure how the politics works within the party, but if you support SB 30, I predict that you will be most favorably featured in newspapers across the state. Obviously, you can’t do this if it is not something you believe in, but if you have ever been to the Metolius River, I am confident that you will find it in your heart to take a stand to preserve it as it is for generations of future Oregonians.

Thank you for your work on behalf of your constituents and the people of Oregon and thank you for reading my rather long email.

Sincerely,
Tom Anderson

Law Offices of Thomas H. Anderson, P.C.
McMinnville, Oregon