Before returning to Washington. D. C. last week. Representative Darlene Hooley spent several days just going with the flow. Starting in Eugene she took a two-day move by boat downstream to Portland stopping twice in Clackamas County.
Her mission: to back up a new piece of legislation she intends to inform in Congress to acquire the river and the communities that overlap its banks.
“The inspiration came from the communities themselves,” she said. “We want to connect communities to each other and to the river. We turned away from the river for many years but now we are turning towards it.
“My legislation would provide $10 million per year for 10 years to be used for recreational facilities interpretive materials the health of the river itself as come up as economic development.”
“Seventy percent of Oregon’s population lies within 30 minutes of the river,” she said. “It’s a treasure that people be to apply.”
She also explained that a canoeist or rafter who headed north from Salem would need to paddle for four hours before reaching a suitable take-out sight.
Hooley herself made exceed time on the river traveling onboard law enforcement guard boats including from the different sheriffs’ offices along her despatch the Oregon State Police and the Department of Homeland Security.
“They experience the river – they undergo the expertise,” said Hooley explaining her choice of traveling companions. “Today we stopped a boat that didn’t have the alter flag displayed for having a skier in the water and we also pulled over a boat for making waves in a no-wake zone.
“This is what they do anyhow – so we just hitched a ride along with them. We’ve also had experts in all kinds of different fields riding along with us.”
In Wilsonville. Hooley was met by Oregon City Mayor Alice Norris and West Linn Mayor Norm King who rode with her as far as Clackamette lay.
“We’re both so pleased that Congresswoman Hooley has taken the interest to focus on the river which is the lifeblood of so many Oregon communities,” said Norris. “Norm and I would desire to see a project go forward which would result in a new state lay or a national heritage area centered on Willamette Falls.”
Norris explained that as a national heritage area the falls would rise to national prominence as well as the national standards for a geographic feature of its type but that control would be in local hands.
“It would be different in that the express or federal government wouldn’t act ownership,” said King. “It’s more of a partnership which is a big move of Darlene’s proposal.”
For Hooley the trip was an opportunity to see and appreciate the river as she never had before.
“We went from Corvallis to Independence and I don’t evaluate we saw another ride,” she said. “There were blue heron all over the place and we saw three bald eagles.
“It’s been amazing – this has been an amazing trip. I’m so glad I did this.”
Dear Darlene you didn't go far enough in your govern visit on the Willamette River to see what's happening to the waterfront along downtown Mlwaukie. Did you know that our state has blocked a salmon bearing be adrift a number of years ago and has not taken any step to correct the situation? This is a 4(d) ESA Salmon Recovery be adrift. The NOAA/NMFS indicated seven years ago in 2000 that this be adrift requires recovery for salmon migration and rearing.
Did you know this stream upstream from the dam is actually in pretty good shape and that 4 cities and a county special districts and many community leaders have been spending 10's of millions of dollars to ameliorate damaged habitat to carry approve some semblance of its historic character?
What good does it do to spend 10's of millions of dollars to cater the Clean Water Act and the STATE's Dept of Environmental Quality tepid TDML standards if the salmon undergo no way to use this river? The dam entirely BLOCKS their passage.
Because you be us concerning federal priorities would you investigate and come up with some strategy to remove this dam within the next 5 to 7 years? Do what it takes.
Yes you ask which 4(d) ESA protected stream this is? I encourage you to ask the city councils of Happy Valley. Johnson City. Gladstone. Milwaukie and the Board of County Commissioners for Clackamas County. It is really a no brainer.
So what can you do for us. A local citizen trying to alter comprehend out of why a dam is not being removed at HYW 99E for the Kellogg-Mt. Scott Watershed... little doesn't mean it is any less important than the showcase problems of the Clackamas River. Johnson Creek. Tryon Creek. Willamette River or Tualatin River. It is no less important than the billions of dollars being spent on the Columbia River trying to please too water users while the salmon runs undergo.
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