Tweets,

Among the myriad of periodicals that flow through my home en route to =
the recycle bin is the "Capital Press", an agriculture weekly published =
out of Salem 'serving farms and ranches in Oregon, Washington, =
California, Idaho".

Among the usual wheat price reports, reports of last week's flood damage =
to farm country, and blatherings of the Sagebrush Rebellion neandertals =
on the editorial page (including a 1/4-page guest comment by Wash State =
Rep Cathy McMorris - NE Washington vice-chair of the House Ag. & Ecology =
Committee - titled: "Publicly owned land bad deal all the way round" - =
an attack on the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program) was another =
guest comment that has me concerned.

Mike Thorne, manager of the Port of Portland had a large column titled: =
"We must deepen the Columbia to ensure continued prosperity". He points =
out that unless the River channel is deepened, larger ships bound for =
the Pacific Rim trade will not be able to access the Columbia River =
grain. I quote: "As a wheat grower and a Port of Portland director, I =
believe there is no project more important to the future prosperity of =
the State of Oregon and its agricultural industry than deepening the =
Columbia River navigation channel from 40 to 43 feet."

The article goes on to state that the Port is conducting a multiyear =
feasibility study that "hopefully will be followed by funding and =
implementation", and points out that "..efforts will only be successful =
if people throughout our state - farmers, business people, and =
production workers - collectively reinforce the Oregon congressional =
delegation's efforts for the project."

Well, wait a minute! Isn't the Columbia River a shared resource between =
Orygun and Washington? And shouldn't the other uses of the river be =
considered in discussions of such a major plan?

I'd like to know what effects the removal of an extra three feet of =
river bottom will do for (or against) the wildlife and fisheries of the =
lower Columbia and its estuary? Where will this sediment be placed, and =
what effect will it have on bird life and juvenile salmonid habitats? =
There's a lot of money to be made for shippers if they can get bigger =
freighters up the River.

Mike Patterson, are you still on Tweeters? I'd like to hear the =
perspective of someone from the Astoria/Ilwaco/Kelso area before =
something like this just cruises on through without at least alerting =
the conservation community.

I've seen nothing in the Olympian about such a plan; of course I can get =
as much Washington State news in the Wall Street Journal as I can in the =
Daily Zero. Has anyone else heard about this proposal? Is it something =
to get all worked up about?

Thanks for any feedback. Here or to my own address.

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington 1996 Rain Festival: January 1st to December =
31st.
festuca at olywa.net