June 10, 2000: Gore proclaims protection for Hanford Reach

Gore proclaims protection for Hanford Reach

This story was published June 10, 2000
By Mike Lee
Herald staff writer

The Hanford Reach is the nation's newest national monument, Vice President Al Gore announced Friday from the shores of the Columbia River.

"Hallelujah," roared Dave Goeke, a recently retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service leader in Richland. "Hallelujah."

Rich Steele, still beaming from his short boat tour with Gore an hour earlier, gave a thumbs-up to the vice president during his morning address at the Washington State University at Tri-Cities campus in Richland.

"There's a lot of people who feel just as happy as I am," said Steele, a longtime champion of federal protection of the Hanford Reach. "You can see it in their eyes."

Gore's announcement leaked out a day earlier, but foreknowledge didn't dampen spirits of about 300 people who gathered to hear the official announcement.

"These lands are among America's treasures, and we owe it to future generations to preserve them," Gore said. "We act today so that years from now, Americans will still be able to paddle free-flowing waters and hike pristine peaks, enjoying these extraordinary stretches of our natural heritage."

Across the Northwest, Gore generated kudos from environmental groups for taking a big step toward regional salmon recovery.

"We have arrived at the hour of the Hanford Reach's salvation," said Rick Leaumont, one of the Tri-Citians most responsible for generating federal protection for the Reach.

Republicans criticized the move as dictatorial and dangerous because it was not done through Congress. President Clinton created the monument under the Antiquities Act of 1906, which presidents before him have used to set aside dozens of parcels across the country.

"I guess we should be thankful the Gore campaign is at least paying for this announcement today since the people of Central Washington will be stuck paying the price for the decision for generations to come," said Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., a proponent of local-state-federal management.

Mid-Columbia environmental leaders, however, expressed interest in working with local elected officials to craft a management plan.

The Reach is the 51-mile stretch of the Columbia River above Richland where 80 percent of upper Columbia fall chinook spawn. In addition to the river, Clinton's proclamation set aside as monument land about 195,000 acres that nearly circumscribe central Hanford. Much of the land has been a buffer zone, undisturbed since the early 1940s, for the former nuclear weapons production site.

"Over the years, we have asked much of the Columbia River, and it has always given generously," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who asked the Clinton administration for the monument designation when legislative efforts failed. "It has given us affordable energy, turned a desert into a farming oasis and provided a highway for international commerce.

Gov. Gary Locke praised the announcement, while his likely Republican challenger, John Carlson, cited his disappointment at the administration's unilateral decision.

Clinton also created three other Western monuments Friday as part of his plan to preserve public lands: Ironwood Forest, 129,000 acres of high desert in Arizona; Cascade-Siskiyou, 52,000 acres in Southern Oregon; and Canyons of the Ancients, 164,000 acres in Colorado that contain the nation's highest known concentration of archaeological sites.

The Reach proclamation sets forth the direction for monument management by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in coordination with the Department of Energy. Several times, it notes the biologically diverse landscape of "the largest remnant of the shrub-steppe ecosystem that once blanketed the Columbia River Basin." The land supports several species of rare insects and plants and is home to many birds and mammals.

"This is such an irreplaceable ecosystem," said Laura Smith, associate state director of The Nature Conservancy, which has exhaustively indexed the Reach's flora and fauna.

In addition, hundreds of prehistoric archeological sites have been found on monument land, making it especially important to Northwest tribes.

Tribal members also praised the chance to protect salmon - and to protect the region's electricity rate payers, who are already on the hook for millions of dollars spent on salmon recovery each year.

"We think it is a great insurance policy for the region," said Randy Settler, Yakama Nation Tribal Council member, noting that ruining the Reach chinook run would cost even more.

The proclamation prevents sale or leasing of monument land for mining or geothermal uses except where such projects further the goal of resource protection. Grazing is prohibited.

Also, Clinton directed the Interior and Energy departments to prohibit virtually all off-road vehicle use and he reserved, subject to existing rights, "a sufficient quantity of water in the Columbia River sufficient to fulfill the purposes for which the monument is established."

The president was clear that monument designation doesn't alter the Energy Department's responsibility to clean up Hanford.

Perhaps most importantly for farmers whose crops grow nearby, the president said, "Nothing in this proclamation shall interfere with the operation and maintenance of existing facilities of the Columbia Basin Reclamation Project, the federal Columbia River transmission system or other existing utility services that are located within the monument."

Murray and others predicted monument status would enhance the Tri-Cities' image and boost tourism.

Said Jim Timmons, Tri-City conservationist, as the national press corps packed up to follow Gore to his next stop: "There are a lot of people who have never heard about the Hanford Reach who will hear today."