Property Wrongs is Sightline’s report that chronicles Oregon’s experience with Measure 37. It tells six stories of communities that got stuck with the consequences.
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East Lake is tucked behind an ancient cinder cone in the Newberry Crater National Volcanic Monument amid Central Oregon’s pine forests and high desert. At 6,400 feet above sea level, it’s one of the highest lakes in Oregon, and it’s a quiet place, with few sounds besides the occasional splash of a trout or kokanee salmon. Many a visitor has soothed aching muscles where the volcanic hot water mixes with the colder water from the lake.
But now, an in-holding in the national monument is likely to win approval for a pumice mine, geothermal plant, and vacation homes. The owners of a fishing resort in the Monument are worried about the impacts on Newberry Crater’s natural integrity and water quality.
“This is a unique piece of property,” says David Jones, the resort’s owner. “It’s un-replaceable.”
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