From a Watchdog in Reedsport:
Rob, Check out this video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/l3gaOGGd6Pw This was taken by the guy that lives across the street from me. The reason that I am sending it to you is to point out that something like this could be a huge advantage to you. In 1970, Bohemia, Inc., had purchased the Umpqua River Navigation Company, my employer at the time. They desired filling portions of Bolen Island, using pumped fill from the river. The area of the river to be pumped was part of the river channel that was filling in. The Corp of Engineers had not yet been taken over by environmentalists, but we still needed a fill permit. I was detailed to work with the attorneys to gain that permit. I had a pretty good understanding of the Umpqua drainage wetlands and I knew that not many others did. To make the case that the wetlands were not threatened by this 6 acre fill, I gained the use of the Bohemia heliocopter. I mapped out a flight that would display the enormity of the wetlands and we conducted tours to make our case to company attorneys and the officials. It was a slam-dunck. The hearing went in our favor and we got the fill permit. The Corp got some free dredging of the river channel. | It will not be as dramatic as the flight that we did, but it could be a real help to the Coqille farming community and their neighbors to have a pictorial display of the Coquille River wetlands taken by an overflight. I am surer that you will quickly see that you could gain a huge audience to view the display. The audio added could be a big factor in establishing the public opinion that you desire. This would be lots of advertising at a very minimal cost. I would look at the Bandon Marsh at the same time, you may have to go through that adventure again sometime. Merv |