Monday, August 20, 2007

I am writing in hopes that someone will help us save our Valley before nothing is left except an interpretive sign!

            In 2000 Columbia Land Trust a Vancouver, Washington based Non Governmental Organization came to our area. CLT came to pick up where the government left off. CLT held public meetings to gain support; the community didn’t buy into CLT’s rhetoric. CLT promised preservation was the goal, no dikes would be breached, nor tide gates removed, and the community would benefit. The community did not believe CLT.

            I have a beautiful piece of property; it is the first place I have ever felt at home and safe in my life. It is in the way of CLT’s goal to flood the entire Valley. An elderly woman has been threatened in that she will not do anything to save her home, the river laps at her back door and erodes her land, a family up fossil Creek lost most of their land because permits to clean their tide gates were refused.

2004 CLT purchased the Kandoll Farm. CLT requested I sell to them, I refused, and I was then targeted as an unwilling seller. No permits were needed since CLT is a NGO, Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board sponsored CLT’s “project”. The Streamlined Hydraulic Project Approval (HPA) was used meaning, no environmental impact studies were done, no engineer studied the project, and permits were not required.

Immediately, sloughs were filled in, my utility room flooded destroying my freezer, all the food, linen, and supplies that were stored there (utility room is two feet lower then house). In 2005 CLT asked me to give them my land, I refused. A thirty-six inch tide gate was replaced by two thirteen-foot culverts, more sloughs filled in, a county road made lower in areas and higher across form my property, eagles nests were bulldozed over, and the area looked like a war zone. The only thing left of habitat is mosquitoes. The chum get swooshed onto the fields there they flop and die. The same type of project was done on Wirnnika Road, the rivers depth went from 21 feet to 9 feet due to the increased sediment and debris thrown into the river, thus destroying fish spawning areas.

December 31st, 2005 my home, property and barns flooded. My home and out buildings stayed immersed in water till March 17th 2006 with each high tide the water got deeper, the property itself stayed flooded until late June. Almost everything was a total loss, No automobiles ran, classic cars destroyed, a professional automotive shop, and all the tools gone. My home had extensive damage.  CLT requested I give them the property, I refused.

I repaired what I could, it took me two months to get enough money to buy a used van in the meantime I had to hitch hike to work. I made the house somewhat livable again. I could not replace the tiles so I have bare wood under lament. My minimal insurance would not cover they determined third party error.  

When my property flooded I had three to four foot waves crashing from their “project” it sounded as though I was at the beach, I live 25 miles inland. The water filled my property then headed east flooding Altoona hwy and the Scott’s B&B. If I allow CLT to take over my property it opens it up for the entire Valley to be flooded I will not do this to my neighbors and the community I care so much about.

Ducks Unlimited who partnered with CLT on the Kandoll road project had Battele’s Pacific Northwest Laboratory do a modeling of the project this was shown to stakeholders in September of 2006 although they imputed that water was never on my driveway when in fact Ian Sinks of CLT was walking up my drive way as the water crashed, the water was up to his thighs and he is a man of over six-foot. Even though crucial facts were eliminated it still showed the project was in error and caused me to flood. CLT again requested I sell/give.

November 5th, 2006 at around five am I woke to waves coming again. I grabbed what little I could and left. The water was about two foot deep on the driveway at this time. My daughter and I went done at about 1pm to see what we could and John Oxford of DU and Ian Sinks, CLT was there. We pointed out to them the water was running to the east towards the Grays River not from the Grays River, They saw this and agreed it was interesting later they dismissed this fact. The grays River did flood over its banks it is interesting to note I am the only one who had damage.  In all honesty the first flood caused more damage as things set in water for months. This flood came and went.

Again they asked me to reconsider. The next phase of CLT flooding me out consists of building the county road up higher this will enable the depth of water to be greater on my property, a levy built from my mail box to the Grays River when the river reaches capacity it has no where to spread out CLT has directed it right into my home.

I have not had a night without nightmares since CLT came to our community. It seems they are above the law, armed with our tax dollars through governmental grants under the guise of salmon recovery they can commit Felony Vandalism. CLT has come to make the Grays River Valley the Grays Swamp. Won’t you help?