If we don't change it, someone else will

To The Eagle,

I love the Grays River Valley and all the beauty here. Our farms and our timber, now, are almost totally inaccessible. And who is causing that? Money from across the world buying up our timber and cutting off our access so we don’t mess with their investment. This area is ready at any time for tourist investors. But I have my own ideas of how it could be developed.

First, I’d like Port Two to invest in the Rosburg store property so a small store with coffee and local information could be present for those visitors wanting to hunt, fish and stay the night. Johnson Park’s big field up the hill is a good place for RV’s to camp. Maps could give information about fishing, biking, river drifting, kayaking, and walking. Thousands of people over the years have driven to see the Covered Bridge. We have history available at the Appelo Archives Center, the Deep River Church and all the way out to Altoona where the last standing cannery is located.

Secondly, we need an assisted living or nursing facility built out here. Many of us don’t want to leave our homes, but we have to move to Longview or Astoria as we age. A company could build a facility like that, again, at Johnson Park. Some folks think the document that gave the property to the County by the Johnson family would make it illegal, yet Earl Johnson himself told me, “I wouldn’t care as long as my kids could still go play up there.”

Third, let us stop being so negative about the Columbia Land Trust. Yes, they are outsiders, but so am I. Their mission is not to destroy our culture here; it is to preserve it. They provide access to their land, they buy from willing sellers and they work with their neighbors. We all want the fish back so we must help make that happen and partner with those who have the capacity to work on river projects that we can’t do ourselves.

If we don’t think ahead, identify our own projects (oh and how about Naselle Youth Camp just sitting there), and work with our County Commissioners and Chamber of Commerce, our beautiful area will be willy nilly developed and we’ll be sitting here as others move in and change it all.

Karen Bertroch,

Grays River