AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Webb Sterling Bauer for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography (Resource)presented on April 18, 1980 Title: A Case Analysis of Oregon's Willainette River Greenway Program Abstract approved: Dr. Keith W. Muckleston The Willamette River Greenway Program was created by an act of the Oregon Legislature in 1968 and modified by a second act in 1973. The purpose of the program was to protect the natural environment of the river from approximately the foot of the Cascade Range near Eugene, north to the Columbia River confluence, a river distance of 204 miles; while opening up additional parts of the river environment for outdoor recreation use. From its inception the Willamette River Greenway Program was immersed in controversy. Rural property owners along the river objected to the program chiefly on account of its provision for public outdoor recreation. Urban dwellers tended to support the goals of the program. However, even in their case objections were raised regarding limitations on industrial development and urban expansion along the river. This thesis examines the Willamette River Greenway Program from the middle l960s, when the idea for a greenway was first proposed, through December 31, 1978. Specific questions addressed by this thesis are (1) How and why did the program develop as it did? (2) What were the major issues? How were these issues resolved? (3) Who were the principal actors?What were their roles? (4) How might the program have been (and still be) improved to bring about a greater realization of greenway objectives? (5) What can be learned about this program that would aid in imple- mentation of similar programs in other areas? and (5) How do these findings relate to some commonly held theories in the social, political, and environmental fields? The analysis divides the program into three broad phases: (1) State and federal grants-in-aid to local government for land acquisition along the river (1967-1972); (2) State-local partnership in Willamette River Greenway planning (1973-1975); and (3) joint State administration of the greenway program and integration with local comprehensive planning (1975-1978). Each phase is introduced by a major legislative or admin- istrative action affecting the direction of the greenway program. The analysis concludes that the Willamette River Greenway Program has been a limited success at best. The reasons for this are complex, but in general they stem from conflicts inherent in the patterns of land ownership and land use along the Willamette River at the time the pro- gram was created; from a failure on the part of policy makers early in the program to look objectively at conditions along the river and to examine the requirements for a successful program in light of the methods advanced to satisfy the program's objectives; from neglect of the political element in the program's formative stages; from mistakes on the part of the program's principal administrative agency, the Oregon Department of Transportation; and from deficiencies in the greenway legislation and in other related legislation that might have been of assistance in furthering the objectives of the greenway program. The relationship of events in the Willamette River Greenway Pro- gram to general systems theory and dialectical theory is discussed in detail. The analysis suggests that, while each of these theories by itself is able to provide no more than a partial explanation of events in the greenway program, a synthesis of these two theories might provide a more complete explanation. ®Copyright by Webb Sterling Bauer April 26, 1980 All Rights Reserved A Case Analysis of Oregon's Willainette River Greenway Program by Webb Sterling Bauer A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Completed April 1980 Commencement June 1980 APPROVED: I Professor of Geography in charge of major Dean of Graduate School Date thesis is presented April 18, 1980 Typed by Karen Bland for Webb Sterling Bauer AC KNOWLEDGMENT An expression of appreciation is extended to Dr. Keith Muckleston, chairman of my doctoral committee at Oregon State University, and to committee members Dr. Richard Highsmith, Jr. and Dr. Raymond Northam of the Oregon State University Department of Geography and Dr. Richard Ragatz of the University of Oregon Department of Urban and Regional Planning, for their help and encouragement during the course of my graduate schooling and while preparing this thesis. Special apprecia- tion is also extended to Dr. John Harper, Dr. Lowell Bennion, and Dr. John Coleman of the Humboldt State University Department of Geog- raphy, where my interest in man-environment relationships first took seed. In addition, warmest sentiments are conveyed to my wife, Chesta Bauer, and to my children, Jeffrey, Valerie and Sandy, without whose support, encouragement, and understanding none of this would have taken place. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION 1 A. Need for Research 1 B. Objectives of Research 3 C. Scope of Research 4 D. Method of Research 4 E. Previous Research Concerning the Willamette River Greenway Program - 6 F. Why an Analysis of the Willamette River Greenway Program is Appropriate at this Time 7 G. Relationship of Research to Deductive Geographic Inquiry 8 II CONCEPTUAL CONSIDERATIONS 10 A. Overview of Willainette River Greenway Program 10 B. Unified Field Theory 13 C. Dialectical Theory 15 D. General Systems Theory 20 III EMERGENCE OF THE GREENWAY CONCEPT 31 A. The River Resource 31 B. Early History of the Willainette River 37 C. River Pollution and Its Remedies 42 D. The Greenway Concept Takes Shape 51 B. The Greenway Concept Defined 55 IV. THE FIRST GREENWAY APPROACH: LOCAL GRANTS-IN-AID 58 A. McCall's Greenway Proposal 59 B. The Legislature Produces a Bill 62 C. Funding Sources Established 68 D. Program Administration 1967-1969 72 E. State Parks Along the River 82 F. Willamette River Corridor Program 88 G. Acquisition Methods and Planning 95 V. THE SECOND GREENWAY APPROACH: STATE-LOCAL PARTNERSHIP 102 A. House Bill 2497 103 B. Consultant Prepares the Greenway Plan 109 C. LCDC Gets Involved 116 D. Straub's Greenway Plan 120 E. Greenway Land Acquisition 127 TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont) VI. THE THIRD GREENWAY APPROACH: JOINT STATE ADMINISTRA- TION AND INTEGRATION WITH LOCAL COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING 131 LCDC Reviews the Greenway Plan 132 LCDCts Greenway Program 139 Revising the Preliminary Plan 145 Related Greenway Developments: 1976-1978 153 Status of Greenway Program on December 31, 1978 155 VII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 168 Review of Major Developments in Willamette River Greenway Program 168 Principal Greenway Issues 172 Principal Greenway Actors 176 How the Greenway Program Might Have Been, and Still Might be, Improved to Bring About a Greater Realization of Greenway Objectives 178 Applicability of Findings to Similar Programs in Other Areas 185 Applicability of Findings to Established Theories in the Social, Political, and Environmental Fields 192 FOOTNOTES 201 BIBLIOGRAPHY 232 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 The dialectical process 16 2 A multi-leveled, hierarchically ordered set of systems 27 3 Willamette River drainage basin 32 4 Political jursidictions along lower course Willamette River 45 5 Changes in dissolved oxygen concentration along main stem Willamette River 1929-1971 50 6 Existing and proposed state parks along Willamette River, 1971 84 7 Boundary changes and property acquisitions in Willamette River Greenway Program, 1967-1978 157 8 Major forces and interrelationships in Willamette .River Greenway Program 195 LIST OF TABLES Table Page I Population of Wiliamette Valley Counties 1850-1977 39 II Population of Willainette River Cities and Towns 1850-1977 40 III Existing and potential public ownerships along the Willamette River, 1969 80 IV Willamette River Greenway acquisitions through December 31, 1972 96 V Willamette River Greenway acquisitions through December 31, 1975 128 VI Willamette River Greenway acquisitions through December 31, 1978 156 A CASE ANALYSIS OF OREGON'S WILLAMETTE RIVER GREENWAY PROGRAM I. INTRODUCTION A. Need for Research The l960s witnessed the beginning of large-scale interest in the natural environment. This interest had its source in the universi- ties and laboratories and particularly in the writings of such schol- ar-scientists as Rachel Carson, Paul Sears, and Aldo Leopold. While originating with specialists, this interest quickly spread to society at large and became the subject of numerous books, articles, documentaries, editorials, and the like. It may be said in sum to have become political. And being political and supported by many persons including a number in high places, it eventually became mani- fested in a spate of public laws and programs designed to preserve the environment or at least to prevent others from spoiling it very much. The point where the idea of preserving the natural environment became manifested in laws and programs to accomplish that very thing, is the point where scholarly interest in the subject tended to fade away. The notion seemed to be prevalent that once these laws and programs were in place the work of scholarship was essentially done; that scholarly efforts were best turned to other, less prosaic pur- suits. One consequence was that as our understanding of the natural 2 environment increased during this period, our knowledge of the impacts of programs to protect the environment grew barely if at all. We scarcely knew, for example, whether a given environmental program was a success, a failure, or something in between; much less what the prob- lems were. This could not help but affect our success in later pro- grams. Such a gap in our knowledge could be filled, of course, only by not cutting off inquiry at the inception of a law or program, but rather by continuing it well into implementation, to the point at least where matters had stabilized and distinct patterns and relationships had tended to form.