From the grave, Tom McCall says “Save the Metolius”

Reflections on this day flow over me in words and images as clear and pristine as the waters of the Metolius.   The Metolius flows through the ages of time strong and pure, carving its valley, and nurturing all around it. The Metolius lives today with civilization, in a mutually supportive, accommodating, and sustaining relationship.  We must not deceive ourselves by thinking—for one moment—that a massive injection of suburbia into the quiet woodlands and meadows nurtured by the river will not plunder and massively disfigure this natural treasure.

 This is a moment in time when Oregonians have the chance to protect a wonder of nature that my father cherished.  My father considered the Metolius River Basin to be in the same extraordinary natural Endowment that includes the Oregon Beaches, the Columbia River Gorge, and Crater Lake — all legacy public resources that deserved special and everlasting protection.  Sadly, my father's life was cut short before he could ensure the permanent protection of the Metolius.  This left a gaping hole in his conservation hopes for Oregon.

 Nevertheless, Tom McCall did set up a process that lives beyond his life to afford Oregonians a method by which to ensure protection of a landmark treasure like the Metolius.  This process is the designation of the LCDC and Area of Critical Concern, all contained within SB100, which is the original land use law.  It is a fitting and profound continuation of Tom McCall's legacy to see Oregonians today invoke the protection of the LCDC and the designation of an Area of Critical Concern for the clear purpose he envisioned.

 I wish to recount a story from my father's final days, which Oregonians who enjoy the fruits of my father's passionate commitment to Nature and conservation will appreciate:  During his campaign against Measure 6, Tom McCall said, "You all know I have terminal cancer—and I have a lot of it.  But what you may not know is that stress induces its spread and induces its activity.  Stress may even bring it on.  Yet stress is the fuel of the activist.  This activist loves Oregon more than he loves life.  I know I can't have both very long.  The trade-offs are all right with me.  But if the legacy we helped give Oregon and which made it twinkle from afar—if it goes, then I guess I wouldn't want to live in Oregon anyhow."

 There is only one choice—only one issue—facing us at this moment:  preserve the Metolius, or destroy it.  Take your choice.  And may that choice be to preserve this pristine river as I and millions of others have for decades. You, the public, can be part of the legacy my father helped give Oregon by being one of those who rises in passion to Save the Metolius.  My father's spirit is “twinkling from afar,” relishing in Oregon's passion for conservation.