Skagit Oral History Project Phase I: Final Report
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Skagit Oral History Project Phase I: Final Report Prepared by Edward Liebow Dorinda S. Bixler Sara J. Breslow with Evelyn Jarosz videographer Environmental Health and Social Policy Center Seattle, WA December 2003 Skagit Oral History Project ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work is part of an ongoing project to document through oral history some of the key events in the unfolding story of environmental stewardship in the North Cascades of Washington State and British Columbia. We are especially grateful to the Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission for its support of this project, and for its creative approach to international cooperation in environmental stewardship activities in the North Cascades. Tom Brucker took the initiative to work with us on the Commission’s behalf to help the project take shape. Shirley Solomon provided the initial spark and enthusiastic support for the Skagit Oral History Project. Tom Perry and John Miles provided helpful suggestions and introductions to narrators and source materials. Nikki Neuen transcribed the recorded interviews. Humanities Washington made available their video equipment. Our most heartfelt thanks are extended to the individual narrators whose accounts fill most of these pages. They have generously made time for us, shared with us their experiences and insights, and their uniformly high standard for responsible stewardship and civic engagement serves as a lasting inspiration. The Environmental Health and Social Policy Center was created in 1997 to work with public agencies, community-based organizations, foundations, and private industry on a variety of community-focused projects. The Policy Center’s mission is to promote public conversation about building the Next Economy in a fair and sustainable fashion. CONTENTS The High Ross Dam Controversy .............................................. 1 Highlights – Key Themes .............................................. 4 Recommendations for Further Work .............................................. 5 Selected Bibliography .............................................. 5 The Interviews (April – May 2003) .............................................. 7 Bert Brink (May 14, 2003) .............................................. 7 Tom Brucker (April 29, 2003) .............................................. 15 Tony Eberts (May 15, 2003) .............................................. 23 Ken Farquharson (May 14, 2003) .............................................. 30 John Fraser (May 15, 2003) .............................................. 38 Patrick Goldsworthy (May 8, 2003) .............................................. 45 Ben Marr (May 13, 2003) .............................................. 53 Margaret & Joe Miller (May 5, 2003) ................................... 66 Tom Perry (May 14, 2003) .............................................. 73 Bob Royer (May 9, 2003) .............................................. 89 SKAGIT ORAL HISTORY PROJECT THE HIGH ROSS DAM CONTROVERSY If you ask people whether they care about the By adding to an oral history about environment, most will tell you, "Of course, I environmental stewardship in the watershed, do." But when you ask these same people our work aims to give credit to local knowledge what they think should be done to best protect of environmental history, and to offer a the environment for future generations, this is contemporary reminder of why it is so where the disagreements start. Some people important to translate the rhetoric of might tell you: "Whatever it takes" – even it environmental policy into a concrete local that means giving up some measure of reality of restoration and protection. The comfort and convenience. Or you might hear, documentation and dissemination of the "I'm doing everything I can already, so don't meanings this shared landscape has for its ask me to make more changes," or even diverse constituents aims to sweeten some of "Environmental problems – they're not my the bitter tone of local policy debate, thus fault, so why should I have to change?" facilitating joint efforts at environmental protection. We were initially drawn to the Skagit because of such disagreement, and the creditable Our first interviews had involved residents of efforts underway to resolve them. The Skagit the more densely settled lower reaches of the watershed has a rich history of environmental watershed. However, it quickly became problem solving, and we were introduced to apparent that there was an “elephant in the the area through the public debate over the living room,” a large, looming, long-standing best way to protect salmon habitat and restore presence that everybody took for granted and the once-abundant fisheries. The Skagit nobody talked about. These were the dams in watershed transcends the international the upper watershed. Baker Dam is operated boundary, stretching from the Cascade crest by Puget Sound Energy, and Seattle City in lower mainland British Columbia to the Light’s Skagit River Hydroelectric Project inland waters of Washington State’s Puget consists of three dams – Gorge, Diablo, and Sound. On its course downstream, the Skagit Ross – that harness power from the Skagit. encounters pristine old growth forests, prime bald eagle nesting areas, rich farmlands, and Ross Dam was completed in 1949, but City burgeoning urban growth. Native peoples Light’s original plans had called for raising its have fished these waters since time height to increase power production for the immemorial. We felt that recording a growing metropolitan Seattle region. In 1942, personalized sense of the complex history of the International Joint Commission had the watershed, from the perspectives of those approved the dam project, including the height who have lived and worked there for increase, with World War II’s outbreak serving generations, would be an important step in as justification. British Columbia officials capturing the sense of place and valuing the signed an agreement with City Light for restoration and protection efforts underway. compensation, but the province reconsidered in the early 1950s, and what had become But the path toward restoration and protection known as the High Ross project stalled. is crowded by rancorous debate over how these dangerous circumstances developed City Light’s plans were further jeopardized by historically and, hence, how best to move the movement to establish the North forward to protect and celebrate this Cascades National Park on the US side of the watershed and its widely cherished resources. border. When the Park was created in 1968, The idea of "restoration" implies a former state its authorizing legislation kept open the to which a return is desired. Of course, it is not possibility of raising the dam. Environmental possible simply to turn back the clock. What is activists on both sides of the border rallied in possible, however, is to capture and opposition to the High Ross project, and memorialize the diverse perspectives and eventually the government of British Columbia insights about place and change, to remind was persuaded to fight the project. ourselves about the values and ecological functions that are worth protecting. 1 SKAGIT ORAL HISTORY PROJECT History, international law, and environmental environmental activists (Bert Brink, Tom activism collided in the High Ross controversy, Brucker, Ken Farquharson, Pat Goldsworthy, which continued into the 1980s. City Light had Joe and Margaret Miller, Tom Perry), and the received permission to proceed from the US press (Tony Eberts). There are many others Federal Power Commission, and the we would like to include, and hope to invite to International Joint Commission had participate in subsequent stages of the work. determined that its original order authorizing High Ross remained valid. However, there The interviews were each about 60-90 was substantial pressure to negotiate a minutes long, and they were recorded with settlement that would help protect the upper professional video and audio equipment. Skagit Valley. In 1984, Canada and the US Transcripts have been produced for the Skagit signed a treaty that settled the controversy by Environmental Endowment Commission, finding another source of power for City Light, along with digital copies of the audio and video compensating British Columbia for the flooding recordings. that Ross Lake had already caused, and creating the Skagit Environmental Endowment In the next section, we briefly highlight a few of Commission to assure long-term the key themes that we heard in these environmental stewardship for the upper thoughtful, inspiring, and highly personalized Skagit watershed above Ross Dam. accounts of civic engagement. Then we get out of the way, and present edited versions of The current project recorded interviews in April the transcripts, so you can hear, in their own and May, 2003 with 11 individuals who had words, about the extraordinary sense of place key roles to play in resolving the High Ross and optimism that mobilized these folks in controversy. These individuals, six from their commitment to find a durable resolution Canada and five from the US, were selected and lay the foundation for further because of their roles as political officials environmental stewardship activities in the (John Fraser, Ben Marr, Bob Royer), region. The Skagit River starts in British Columbia and drains a large portion of the North Cascades 2 SKAGIT ORAL HISTORY PROJECT Historical Timeline 1897 Washington Forest Reserve created, including Skagit Valley above Goodell’s