LET TERS
PAINS OF DISPLACEMENT
The most world-respected literary
personage from our area is Ken Kesey. He
is principally known for his novel One Flew
over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962). It develops
a common theme where individual and
group clash, both losing. In this case, we
like to give the edge to the skill of the fi rst-
person artist who renders us the depiction.
The seed for this novel is a script Kesey
typed up in late 1956 for submission to
UO’s Glenn Starlin, then teaching Kesey’s
class in “Radio and TV Writing.” Kesey’s
paper is entitled “Sunset at Celilo.” It was
prompted by the imminence of the U.S.
government’s closing of the fl oodgates in
The Dalles Dam, “almost completed.” On
March 10, 1957, it took only four and a
half hours to drown Celilo Village; with
this in mind, Kesey graduated June 9.
For 20,000 years, perhaps, native
peoples had perched on the rocky platforms
of Celilo Falls to catch plump but exhausted
returning salmon on the upward jump. The
enormity of this silencing angered Kesey,
as it has angered a fairly large group of
Northwest writers.
Although the fl esh-and-blood author is
no longer with us, his paper-and-ink teller
resounds the violation, the pain of such
peremptory cultural displacement. It has
been translated across the globe.
In the upper left-hand corner of his paper
VIEWPOINT
Kesey typed his address, “1795 Columbia,”
one of the post-war military barracks the
UO now has posted for demolition. In
England, such places get blue plaques. At
the foot of his essay Kesey appended a
hopeful note to his professor: “It hasn’t all
happened yet.” In 1975 he asked this town
to save the Armory at 7th and Oak, to no
avail — a building warm with memories of
his growing up; in 1986, The Mayfl ower
Theatre at 11th and Alder — to the same
end. At this very moment, he is probably
hanging out with Rodney Dangerfi eld. His
paper is part of the UO’s Special Collections
(Ax279, Box 15, Folder 4).
Michael Powell
Eugene
LAST HOPE FOR CIVIC
I am insulted and outraged that the
Eugene School Board threw out the offer
from Friends of Civic Stadium. Having
played football on Civic’s turf and been
a spectator at many baseball games, my
future access to this property grows dim.
My last hope is the city’s offer.
I am insulted because the Friends of
Civic Stadium Board represented the
community’s interest. This unpaid board has
worked tirelessly to keep the stadium and its
10-acre parcel for community use. For fi ve
years they have worked long hours against
a huge corporation. That corporation has
access to attorneys, designers, builders and
money. It is an unfair fi ght. As a longtime
member of this community, the School
Board’s decision was an insult.
I am outraged and this is why: Since
the building of Civic Stadium, it and its
adjoining property have been continuously
used for recreational pursuits and the
public has had access to the property. It’s
comparable to our free beaches, where
thanks to the Beach Bill of 1967, our
beaches are still publicly accessible. But in
that case the people and a strong governor
stood up to halt private ownership.
So, yes, I am outraged that a large
corporation oozing with money has the
ability to take from me, and our community,
free access to a dearly beloved treasure.
Joe R. Blakely
Eugene
USES FOR THE STADIUM
I hope it’s not too late for the 4J
School Board to fi nd the part of its brain
where imagination and creativity reside,
because Civic Stadium could continue
to be a wonderful and more varied South
Eugene community resource. Imagine a
neighborhood venue for concerts and plays
as well as sporting events.
Hey guys, Eugene is “Track Town,”
right? People pay real money to watch
excellent athletes. How about promoting
excellent baseball and soccer and other sports
culminating in playoff games generating
revenue? Outdoor concert venues such as the
Cuthbert and now the problematic Emerald
Meadows are limited. We have local
musicians who desperately need an outdoor
venue for orchestral as well as rock concerts
that could also generate revenue.
We have many theatrical companies
and school drama classes that could
perform Shakespeare in the Park-like
plays. Hey, musicians, and hey, you bar
owners and theater companies, how about
organizing yourselves and passing the hat
at performances. Let’s get off our butts
and do it to support the Friends of Civic
Stadium proposal. See wkly.ws/1oa and
tell 4J to do the right thing at 4J.lane.edu.
As for the YMCA, the Y management
and directors made no attempt to engage
us members about their plans except as
cheerleaders. Many members support the
purchase for a new facility because they
oppose a Fred Meyer purchase. Members
should be concerned about whether the
Y will realize their highly speculative
revenue forecast.
Estimates, projections and budgets are
routinely exceeded. Is the YMCA risking its
fi nancial health? What will be the effect on
the membership and our fees and dues? Con-
trary to the hype, the Y buildings are not de-
crepit. Why tear down perfectly good build-
BY A NDY STA HL
O&C Land Exchange
WHAT HAPPENS IF BIG TIMBER GETS THE OLD GROWTH?
W
hen I pointed out to EW (12/5/13
news story) that Sen. Ron Wyden’s
recently released O&C forestlands
bill (SB 1784) includes a “land
exchange” loophole (Sec. 117)
big enough to drive public wilderness and old-growth
forests into private hands, Seneca Sawmill’s general
manager Todd Payne objected [Letters 1/16]. Payne
says that Seneca “does not consume old-growth
timber in any of its manufacturing facilities,” and my
“implication” that it does “is just a continuation of the
‘fear-based’ messaging by environmental organizations
as they know they can’t stand behind the truth.”
Wow, strong words. But, I never said that Seneca
uses old-growth timber in its own mills. I said that
Wyden’s bill would allow Seneca to “get” old growth
under the guise of consolidating the O&C checkerboard
lands. I can only speculate as to what Seneca might do
with its newly acquired big trees.
Perhaps Seneca would deed these irreplaceable
ancient forests to the Nature Conservancy and take a
tax write-off for its charitable contribution? That would
sure be nice, but not likely.
Or maybe Seneca would log the old growth and
sell the big trees to some other mill that does process
large logs? Indeed, that’s what Seneca (and every other
“small” log company) now does when old-growth
timber comes into its possession. And there’s a pretty
penny to be made, too, from these big logs. Clear,
vertical-grain Douglas fi r is a premium product used
4
January 23, 2014 • eugeneweekly.com
for construction in the fi nest homes. Woodworking
Network points out “the raw log cost is tremendous” for
knot-free Douglas fi r, which means tremendous profi ts
for old-growth forest owners.
In 1995, Seneca’s owner Aaron Jones proposed
the Umpqua Land Exchange, which would have done
precisely what Wyden’s bill now allows — the exchange
of private clearcuts for public old growth. Seneca’s
lobbyist persuaded Congress to spend $6 million to
justify and promote the Umpqua exchange. The project
died stillborn in 2004 when the money ran out.
Wyden’s O&C bill revives the Umpqua Land
Exchange and, in fact, expands its scope to all 2.6
million O&C acres. Nothing would be off limits from
exchange, including the proposed Devil’s Staircase
wilderness, ancient forests and streams used for
domestic water supplies. The bill includes no safeguards
or public process; exchanges would be backroom deals
between the interior secretary du jour and private
timberland owners. The only “public interest” criterion
an exchange would have to meet is that it “improves
effi ciency.” Of course, with the O&C checkerboard
ownership pattern, any exchange could be justifi ed as
“improving effi ciency.”
If effi ciency is all that matters, why not just sell
the public’s O&C lands to the highest bidder? That’s
the fi rst choice of timber industry and the Association
of O&C Counties. But no legislator would support a
western Oregon-wide sale of federal land. What timber
interests can’t get through the front door of a land sale,
they’ll try to sneak through the back door of a land
exchange.
Of course, it’s possible that I’m wrong, that I’m just
a “fear-based” environmentalist. Maybe Seneca doesn’t
want to exchange its cut-over land for federal timber. If
so, I invite Payne and Aaron Jones to join me in asking
Wyden to delete the land exchange provision from
his O&C bill. Existing federal law already allows for
land exchanges, done through an
open and public process that
protects our land, air, water,
fi sh, wildlife and recreation.
Why Wyden would
propose a secret process
that provides none of these
protections is beyond me.
If he can be persuaded to
dump this ill-conceived
exchange provision, the
balance of his O&C lands
solution could get the fair
hearing it merits.
Andy Stahl, a forester, is
executive director of
Forest Service Em-
ployees for Envi-
ronmental Ethics.