_______________________________________________________________ 
     Open Letter To Larry Zander                      March 10, 1997 
     Opinion Page Editor
     The Chronicle
     
     
     This letter is in response to your editorial March 4, 1997.
     
     I have been giving my presentation, Volcanoes, Floods & Skagit County, 
     37 times for almost 3 years now based on 20 years worth of research.  
     From Bellingham to Vancouver; from 4th graders to University Geology 
     Seniors; from Federal & State Agencies to City Councils and citizen 
     organizations.  NEVER has the presentation been critiqued with more 
     insulting personal attacks, half truths & false & misleading 
     information then your editorial.
     
     I was not "brought" to the "Twin Cities" to "debunk" anything.  I 
     volunteered to speak at Rochester to show concerned citizens the 100 
     years of Flood Control Follies of Skagit County.  If you had been 
     there you would have known that.
     
     If I was there to "debunk" your Flood Action Council ("FAC") I would 
     have attacked it's make up of primarily developer/urban interest 
     excluding Indian Tribes and rural interest. I would have attacked the 
     formation of a flood control district ("FCD") as another layer of 
     government with unlimited taxing authority with little or no public 
     involvement that does not treat all taxpayers the same.  I would have 
     attacked the "historical document" prepared by the husband & wife team 
     which only showed the public and the FAC what they wanted to show them. 
      I did not do any of those things. 
     
     What I did do was prepare a comparison document for the FCD and the 
     Flood Control Zone District.  Another "funding mechanism" which gives 
     taxpayers and voters more control and treats all taxpayers as equals.  
     Something your County Commissioners should be praised for recognizing. 
      If you had been there you would have known that.
     
     I never said I had the "answers" to "major flood problems" in the 
     "Twin Cities area".  The words "Twin Cities" were never mentioned.  
     Part of the presentation deals with a comparison of "Flood Control" 
     vs. "Flood Plain Management".  If you had been there you would have 
     known that.
     
     Farmers should not "be paid" to allow their farm land to flood unless 
     their flooding has been induced by Urban protection such as levees or 
     Interstate 5. If you had been there you would have known that.
     
     It is the location and height of the levees not the "length of the 
     levees" that cause destruction when they fail.  No levees should be 
     placed on the edge of any river. If you had been there you would have 
     known that.
     
     The Burlington levees "have served very well in protecting 
     Burlington", however they are directly attributable to the severity of 
     the flooding from Sedro Woolley to Fir Island by backing up 4 feet of 
     water upstream and sending 8 feet of water downstream.  They are why 
     Skagit County and the State of Washington are being sued in Superior 
     Court in Snohomish County. If you had been there you would have known 
     that.
     
     As for the term "Outsider" which was the greatest insult of them all, 
     until your FAC locally raises the undocumented 90 million dollars you 
     say you are going to get from "OUTSIDE SOURCES", any taxpayer in 
     America has the right and obligation to participate in "YOUR" flood 
     control project.  This would include Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, 
     Mississippi's River Valley, California, and oh yes, Skagit Valley.
     
     Due to your irresponsible editorial it would be easy for me to just 
     write you off as just another Twin City businessman trying to promote 
     future profits (commercial advertising in your paper) by promoting 
     further development of the floodplain just because the State 
     Department of Transportation irresponsibly designed I-5.  But I'm not 
     that kind of person.  What I suggest is this:
     
     I am willing to come back to the Lewis, Thurston, Grays Harbor area 
     and give my presentation again to any concerned citizen group, 
     planning commission, County Council, school organization, Indian 
     Tribe, Flood Action Council, Economic Development Association, 
     government agency or even your editorial board.  I do not charge for 
     my work.  I take vacation days in order to give the presentation.  It 
     is my idea of public service.  I have been paid twice to give the 
     presentation, each time I have signed over the checks back to the 
     organization to further their goals.  What might be most productive is 
     for your paper to sponsor a public forum.  I would give the 
     presentation to be followed by a round table discussion consisting of 
     members of the FAC, Chehalis Indian Tribe, citizen organization 
     representatives and government agencies (DOT, DOE, COE, U. S. Fish & 
     Wildlife Service).  If invited I too would be willing to participate.  
     Following the discussion, a question and answer session from the 
     audience would be in order.
     
     In closing, again, your editorial was insulting and full of 
     misinformation.  At a minimum you owe me and the Chehalis River 
     Council an apology.  At a maximum you owe me the chance to allow you 
     to view the presentation that you did not see and evidently know 
     nothing about.
     
     Sincerely,
     
     Larry J. Kunzler
     floodway@sos.net
     "The Outsider"
     
     cc:        The Daily World
                The Morton Journal
                The Olympian
                The Tenino Independent & Sun News
                Lewis County News
                Lewis, Thurston & Grays Harbour County Commissioners 
                Corps of Engineers
                Washington State Dept. of Ecology
                Washington State Dept. of Transportation 
                US Fish & Wildlife Service