As long as I can remember, the management and development of the Columbia River Gorge has been the subject of a bitter dispute between the feds and state interests over who should control the beautiful site and what types of development should be permitted in the future, if any.
Frankly, I think both sides in the squabble are markedly shortsighted. We need dreamers, not squabblers. And, most of all, the issue should involve not only the Gorge but the entire Columbia River Valley, including the source of the river in Canada just north of the Washington State border.
A plan involving the entire river valley has existed for a number of years, and I have been trying to gather support for it in newspaper columns and editorials, in TV and radio commentaries, in speeches in the Northwest and across the nation, and in appeals to lawmakers in Congress and the Washington legislature.
Back in the early 1960s, a Wenatchee dreamer named Kirby Billingsley asked himself this provocative question: Why not develop the entire river from its source in Canada to the Gorge and Delta on the Pacific — and, in the process, make it an international vacation Paradise?
Such a plan would include recreational, educational, historic, and archeological features. Public or private boats could sail the length of the river, being raised or lowered at dams along the way. Museums, recreational centers, and resorts would mark historic places along the river, which is rich in Indian and early American history.
Two Seattleites, Marvin Durning and Jack Wright, helped Billingsley develop a plan for the Corps of Engineers. I wrote a series of articles on the proposal and sent copies to our congressional delegation. Later, when I served as managing editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, I ran an article concerning the idea across the top of Page 1.
In addition, I tried to add luster to the whole idea by advancing my own ideas on its development and giving it a new name — the Columbia River Paradise Plan. I also tried to provoke additional interest by adding the idea that it could become an appealing site for vacationers, honeymooners, and visitors from foreign lands.
As to our congressional members, all of them praised the idea — and, characteristically, not one did anything about it. So, an inspired international plan for a Columbia River Paradise Valley continues to gather dust — while congressmen toss darts at each other across the river over some bulldozers in the Gorge.
I’m still waiting for some enterprising individuals or civic organizations to run with the idea and realize its full potential. Both Washington State and British Columbia would prosper considerably with fulfillment of the plan, which would draw a great number of visitors and greenbacks to the Pacific Northwest.
One of the first actions that should be taken to get the plan off the ground, so to speak, should be a meeting of American and Canadian officials to write a simple treaty in which both nations would agree on the international aspects of the plan. That would be necessary because many visitors or honeymooners would board boats at the source of the river in Canada and travel into U.S. waters. What are we waiting for!!!???