96 The Barging Illusion, Kell J. McAboy, Boise Weekly

The Barging Illusion
Letter by Kell J. McAboy
Boise Weekly, December 16, 1999

The following are facts regarding shipping and the Port of Lewiston:

Rail and truck shipping prove economically feasible for the multitude of other agricultural states (North Dakota, Montana, Iowa, etc.) that must get their products to market. Up until 1975, when Lower Granite Dam was completed, they did so for this region too.
Of the approximately 33,000 jobs in the greater Lewiston/Clarkston area, studies show fewer than 100 are actually related to water transportation.
With the exception of a few commodities and around 10 percent of Potlatch Corporation's entire product, very little else is shipped downriver to Portland and even less back up to Lewiston.

Whether we realize it or not, Lewiston gains very little economically from navigation on the river. The community's building materials, restaurant supplies, automobiles, Potlatch's bleach for paper -- all is brought in by rail and truck, not by barge. Life will surley go on in Lewiston if the dams are bypassed.

Letter by Kell J. McAboy of Spokane, Washington
The Barging Illusion
Boise Weekly, December 16, 1999

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