r/Eugene • u/Turbulent-Law7722 • Dec 01 '24

Petition to save Tv Butte in Oakridge! Activism

If we let this project happen, local tourism will go down which will take away jobs and harm our economy, on top of the environment. Here’s hoping I can post the link in the comments?

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u/oreferngonian Dec 01 '24

I’m telling you where it is because I live there

Oakridge is on the headwaters of the Willamette and this butte is in between two of those creeks

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u/kerit Dec 01 '24

Yes, and the DEQ is in charge of protection of those resources.

Resources have to come from somewhere.

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u/oreferngonian Dec 01 '24

lol No one comes up here.

I’m glad you trust some DEQ to care about a dying town of 3000 living in poverty. But I’m here to tell you no one cares about Oakridge period

We are going broke running an ambulance on hwy 58 for all the shitty drivers

I’m tired of forgotten Oakridge and ppl like you are part of the problem

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u/kerit Dec 01 '24

The neat thing is that you have the Middle Firk Willamette Watershed Council made up of diverse stakeholders that works with potential pollution sources to maintain water quality and more heavily involve DEQ if it is needed. So, DEQ doesn't even have to come to town, you have a local group.

You want OROR to change and improve, but when someone wants to invest in the area and likely create a few good paying jobs, Y'all try to nope them out of there.

It's a bold move, Cotton.

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u/oreferngonian Dec 01 '24

This is not going to bring many jobs

Funny thing is you are arguing with someone who’s family has been here since the 20’s

We had a great industry and our town flourished during logging and when we had two mills.

You think some rich guys rock quarry is replacing two mills of jobs and boost our towns economy

lol You really like to sound smart but the reality is that you are just smoke and mirrors

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u/kerit Dec 01 '24

I work in natural resources. I get it. But even if the mills came back, they'd employ 20 percent of the old workforce, if that. And logging crews are much smaller too.

But, you know what makes a huge difference to small communities? A few good jobs.

Just as a fun little exercise, let's say the incoming administration makes massive progress on reopening our forests for timber harvest. Do you know who is going to be the type of person to build new timber processing facilities in OROR? It'll be rich people who don't live in town.

Go figure.

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u/oreferngonian Dec 01 '24

Ugggg. I get you think you are sooooo smart but you are condescending to boot and it doesn’t make you get places with ppl

I live here and if you think I’m not skeptical of intentions in my little town you would think I’m stupid. The neat thing is(since you like to say that) is I know what this town was… my family has logged this forest for a hundred years starting with horses and ending with my father losing his job because of an owl found up the north fork. I lived through what losing the timber industry did to blue collar workers in Willamette Valley. My dad went into nuclear containment instead. Also something ppl made go away bc they didn’t understand it.

We can agree to disagree what Oakridge needs but a quarry isn’t going to help us much and tbh 58 isn’t a great highway for the traffic considering how many accidents happen already, just food for thought

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u/kerit Dec 01 '24

Facts and logic that don't support your cause isn't condescension.

I feel for your community. I want all of rural Oregon to improve. In general, turning away outside investment isn't the way to that goal.

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u/oreferngonian Dec 01 '24

Im not against the quarry

I’m against the false narrative that it’s gonna help us

We will gain nothing

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u/kerit Dec 01 '24

If you aren't against a quarry, why do you care if a wealthy person dumps money into it and creates a few jobs?

OROR needs all levels of improvement.

MCP taking over Willy? Great! Bike folks running shuttle services and festivals like MBO? It helps too. New medical providers? Nice.

Those improvements support businesses like the 3 Legged Crane. It snowballs.

Those smaller impact community investments will be much healthier in the long run than a big employer who could shock the community with furloughs or shutdowns are forced by commodity economics or environmental conditions. That's the reality of natural resources these Days.

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u/oreferngonian Dec 01 '24

I told you why.

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u/oreferngonian Dec 01 '24

3legged crane was the pub before and ppl who support them are mountain bikes using the trails up salmon creek… just saying

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u/kerit Dec 01 '24

I've been in there a lot, and in always the only bike people in there. It serves the general community.

I offered them as an example of the type of 2nd tier business growth that could come from expanded smaller investments. You should want more things like the 3LC.

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u/oreferngonian Dec 01 '24

I have my art in their gift shop and I own a small business We just see this differently and that’s ok

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u/oreferngonian Dec 01 '24

And it’s your delivery not content that is condescending

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u/larry_flarry Dec 01 '24

You need a history and economics lesson. Your dad's job was going away because of profit margins, and the spotted owl was a convenient scapegoat. You're literally spouting propaganda straight from Weyerhaeuser's corporate suite playbook. The old growth smash and grab was drying up, and the industry's exit plan was underway long before the Northwest Forest Plan emerged.

The timber industry fucked your dad, and they did it gleefully, laughing the whole way to the bank because of the easy scapegoat they were handed, by an agency desperately trying to protect the pitiful, fragmented shambles of old growth that managed to escape the shortsighted profit whoring of your family's employers.

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u/Budtending101 Dec 01 '24

Why wouldn't a rock quarry provide good jobs?

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u/oreferngonian Dec 01 '24

We have a quarry already… handful of ppl work there. We need a mill.

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u/Budtending101 Dec 01 '24

Presumably they've done their due diligence and there is a market for another quarry. 6 Oregon mills have closed this year. Probably not a market for one.

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u/oreferngonian Dec 01 '24

Do you know Oakridge?

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u/Budtending101 Dec 01 '24

I was just there yesterday delivering propane, multiple people talking about how there’s nothing there and the town is dying. Seems like another business would be welcome, provided environmental concerns are taken care of

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u/oreferngonian Dec 01 '24

To my knowledge this would be a blast quarry where are current one just crushes river rock n such plus is past our water supply. So we would hear blasts from the quarry along with the loss of heckletooth mountain bike trail It will consume the butte to retrieve the rock and get trucked on hwy 58 which is dangerous and our ambulance is bleeding us dry on out of city limit calls since we go from Willamette pass to Lowell

I’m not against it as much as I’m skeptical of true intention bc no one cares about Oakridge we burn all summer and can be cut off by one tree across the road. I don’t see locals getting these CDL jobs driving the rocks and it’s that our population needs a lot more than a handful of quarry jobs

We need LCC extension with vocational training and social services available for ppl. Our school needs to really look at the hard truth that these kids have nothing but leaving and pulling strong vocational training could allow some room for self employment here to build our services

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u/Budtending101 Dec 01 '24

Well if it's blasting close to town and effecting the waterways I would be against it too. Not sure what the answer is, but Oakridge and so many other Oregon towns need an industry. I don't think mill jobs are coming back anytime soon, it's a rough time for lumber. Hope it works out for y'all

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