the reason the TWD has been so protective and secretive at preventing any significant public access so that they could proceed with “management” activities such as logging beyond and without direct public scrutiny? Why is the management of the Cedar River watershed, with the exact same purpose, so diametrically different that the Green River watershed? The last question might be: How and why did a public water utility get so deeply into the logging business? Several things are perfectly clear. The management principles of the Green River watershed are not new. They have been inflexibly the same for more than 40 years and through a succession of elected Boards managing the TWD. With the watershed out of sight, out of mind, and a serious distance from Tacoma itself, the actual owners, the people of Tacoma have NOT seen fit to question or change these management principles. So long as they can turn on a tap and get water, they have been seemingly satisfied. Theory and Conjecture The difference between watershed management is the difference between Seattle and Tacoma. Seattle in the 1950’s was a city that had escaped dependence on the wood products industry and was then dominated by the Airline industry; in one word, BOEING. Tacoma then was perhaps the largest mill town in the U.S., the home of the timber giant, Weyerhaeuser. In the 1950’s, driving through Tacoma was an experience dominated by one’s nose as the pulp mills pumped out their odorous effluent. People in mill towns tend to keep their mouths shut regarding their employers and non-critical issues. Boards of public utilities, especially back in a pre-activist era, tended to be drawn from the top of the business community, were often chosen and “blessed” by the dominant businesses of the city, and elections are often perfunctory. Now, we can assume, of course, that the TWD was insulated from the occasional back room, under the table, sweetheart deals that could occur in such a circumstance. With the exception of the “deal” to make Lester residents unemployable in the local timber mill, that is. But there is the appearance here that possibly the public utility used it’s charter and "public interest" powers to acquire (with public funds) a vast timber holding which has subsequently been managed primarily for it’s timber interests rather than water interests, WITHOUT significant public awareness or scrutiny.
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