May 16, 2000: Babbitt in town today to get look at Reach

Babbitt in town today to get look at Reach

This story was published May 16, 2000
By Mike Lee
Herald staff writer

Don't tread on us.

That was the message two Washington politicians and the state Farm Bureau sent to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt on Monday, trying to ward off a possible presidential order protecting the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River.

"The local community wants the opportunity to resolve this issue on its own - without a decision being forced upon them from Washington, D.C.," said Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash. "I ask you to trust them to work out their differences. If you don't, you can be sure the reaction will be explosive."

Rep. George Nethercutt, R-Wash., echoed Gorton. "I ... disagree with the idea that federal protection is the best and only way" to prevent environmental harm to the 51-mile stretch of river above Richland.

The Reach is one of the best salmon spawning grounds in the Northwest and the backbone of Columbia River fish recovery efforts.

Babbitt is visiting the Tri-Cities and the Reach today on boat and driving tours. And a community meeting on the Reach is from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Red Lion Hanford House on George Washington Way in Richland.

Given the intensity of debate that's raged in the Mid-Columbia over the last several years, the meeting is expected to draw a large crowd. Room capacity is 150.

Babbitt will hear both sides of the issue - those who demand the president leave the future of the Reach to legislation and those who say the debate about control of the land and water has gone on too long without results.

For years, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., has pushed legislation to designate the Reach a national Wild and Scenic River under control of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Her efforts have been countered by Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash, who wants a county-state-federal board to play a role in protecting the Reach.

Neither bill appears to have a promising future in the current Congress.

During the last few years, looming in the background has been the possibility of a presidential order to lock up the Reach under federal control, a measure some say is the best way to ensure its prodigious fish runs and natural beauty aren't compromised.

Late last week, Murray announced Babbitt's visit, saying it's time for action. The most likely bureaucratic "tool" is the Antiquities Act of 1906, a law that gives the president broad powers to secure "historic landmarks ... or other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated on lands owned or controlled by the government."

President Clinton's use of the Antiquities Act has riled communities across the West in the past few years.

Babbitt has said he is on a fact-finding mission, and he is not expected to make an announcement about Reach control today.

Already, Mid-Columbia county commissioners have appealed to President Clinton to make the trip himself before taking action. There doesn't appear to be room in the existing law for local input on how national monument lands are managed.

On Monday, several opponents of total federal control demanded Babbitt leave the Reach alone.

Any other move, said Gorton, would "undo years of effort and any trust that local citizens have in the federal government's willingness to meet with them to resolve this issue."

He noted there doesn't appear to be any immediate threat to the Reach. And he asked the administration to let politicians continue to seek a compromise bill - an effort Murray said has stalled.

The Farm Bureau also restated its opposition to an executive order, saying, "There is no need for the president to insert himself at this late date, and in effect, say all the hard work the community has put into this process doesn't matter because he makes the rules."