June 2000

The fight to save Portland’s finest climbing crag, the Madrone Wall, from quarrying by Clackamas County is continuing into its third year. The County which owns the 44 acres on which the Madrone resides, has continued to delay its decision to file for a conditional use permit which, if filed, could lead to a change in the land’s zoning that would allow for quarrying. The County recognizes both its potential as an aggregate resource as well as the broad-based community support fighting to preserve this amazing civic treasure.

To legitimize the climber’s preservation concerns, the Madrone Wall Preservation Committee (MWPC) incorporated in March 1999 as an Oregon public benefit corporation. It is led by three directors with active meetings of concerned rock climbers. The MWPC funded a botanical survey by Portland State University graduate students, which inventoried over 100 plant species as well as numerous birds and amphibians. While none of the species is threatened or endangered, it is an impressive inventory that is a testament to the vitality of the Madrone’s unique cliff face, forest, and wetland habitat.

MWPC directors continue to be active on the board of the Clackamas River Basin Conservation Alliance (CRBCA) which is primarily made up of concerned Carver citizens. Together, with retained attorneys, we forced the County to comply with the MWPC’s public records request. This revealed the County’s concealed strategy of spending in excess of a quarter of a million dollars to prepare a wide variety of quarrying, noise, and wildlife studies. These studies have helped the MWPC understand the County’s tactics as well as providing us with valuable information to help build a case for preservation of the Madrone.

For eight months, the MWPC participated in a County-organized Aggregate Task Force comprised of County employees, private quarry owners, and concerned citizens. In February, the task force presented its findings to the Board of County Commissioners, which identified private quarry sites near the Madrone that could be considered as potential alternative aggregate sites. Private quarry contractors would like to produce aggregate for the County, but the County’s onerous bidding process all but prevents the private sector from supplying aggregate for the County’s roads. The findings also included an incomplete economic analysis of quarrying the Madrone itself, which did not take into account several major factors impacting quarrying costs. The inconclusive task force findings has resulted in a follow-on study which the CRBCA is leading and the MWPC is helping fund which will help develop a more complete and accurate accounting of the actual quarrying and remediation costs should the Madrone be quarried. The report will be completed sometime this summer. From the County’s perspective, the economic cost of producing aggregate from the Madrone is central to their interest in quarrying the site while preservation of this unique natural basalt cliff remains sadly irrelevant.

The MWPC is grateful for the generous financial support provided by Mazama and The Access Fund grants. These grants are the oxygen that is helping us take our case to the County in this protracted fight. To learn more about the MWPC, please visit our website at www.bwalsh.com/madrone. The MWPC requests donations from the climbing community, however, it should be noted that donations are not tax deductible because the MWPC does not have 501(c)(3) status. Donations can be sent to: Madrone Wall Preservation Committee at 3129 N.E. 65^th Street, Portland, Oregon 97213. The MWPC is also grateful to the concerned climbers who have and continue to voice their support in letters and email to the County Commissioners for preservation of this land as a unique part of Oregon’s heritage. While this dispute continues, we request that climbers continue to respect the County’s "No Trespassing" order.