Hanford Reach Nat'l Monument Script 2009

Hanford Reach National Monument Script

KEY
CAPITAL - Narrator VO
Standard - Interview words

Stricken out -  cut out if possible. Left in for audio reference

Underlined info  - check factuality / writer’s notes

*  *  *   -  Words omitted

Notes ON FOOTAGE:  DRIVE UP TO RIVER IN CAR (VERNITA BOAT LAUNCH)

                                    VISITORS to B-REACTOR (have release)

VIDEO	AUDIO
(Monumment  Pan) 7_5_09 atop Snake R. Mtn. **(don’t we have a map?? –kw) ice-floods image/vid Scenic of Snake R. Mnmt & Creek 7_5_09 WS River 7_6_09 CU River flowing (not sure there is such a shot but if is would be on 7_6_09 cards) NPRR train Historical  Image(s) Hanford / White Bluffs in 30s, 40s Barbed Wire video, pull from reactor to pretty flowers in foreground	VO:  BEFORE ANY SHIPS EVER SAILED FOR AN UNKNOWN WORLD, IN THE LAND WHERE A GREAT RIVER RAN, PEOPLE AND NATURE COEXISTED. IN THE ARID DESERT STEPPE OF EASTERN WASHINGTON, LOW PRECIPITATION AND A RICH GEOLOGIC HISTORY HAD FORMED AN ENVIRONMENT OF LOW PLANTS, STARK MOUNTAINS AND LIVELY CREEKS. DESPITE THE OPULENT WATERS OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER, ITS BASIN HERE WAS NOT ATTRACTIVE TO EARLY EUROPEAN SETTLERS.  TOO DRY FOR AGRLICULTURE, WITH NO WOOD FOR BURNING OR BUILDING, THE REGION WAS HOME EXCLUSIVELY TO THE WANAPUM PEOPLE AND OTHER NATIVE TRIBES UNTIL THE RAILROAD, IRRIGATION AND – ULTIMATELY – THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT, CAUSED PROGRESSIVE SURGES IN POPULATION GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. DURING WORLD WAR II AND THROUGHOUT THE COLD WAR, HANFORD’S NATURAL BEAUTY WAS PROTECTED WITHIN THE 640 SQUARE MILES THAT THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY HAD ENCLOSED FOR THE NUCLEAR RESERVATION IT BUILT HERE IN THE ‘40s.
Cont’d pull over Lamont’s first few words	Lamont Glass 23:06:35:00 Though all of those lands, because of the nuclear activities, were protected from development, were protected from intrusion by, by people and, as a result, wounded [sic] up with some pretty significant wildlife resource values.  And so, later, as the mission of the Hanford site changed away from  nuclear [sic] production and facilities, the need for that security began to decline.  And over time, a movement went forward to, to preserve some of those lands .
Michelle *Photos of press and dignitaries at site(X:) *No Fed. Control” sign on 7_6_09, 32card1 (?) Rick photos X:/Nat’l Parks/ LARO&HARE /HARE/Images for Edit /Rick Leaumont… -  use cropped versions, edited by Mike for edit use.	Michelle Gerber 7_5_09     8-5 32card 1 23:45:15:00 The process of getting preservation wasn’t, was not short, was not simple. Um, there were a lot of competing viewpoints over what should happen. Whether it should be federal, whether it should be locally controlled.  Um, this stretch of river has four counties that border along it, so that if you had local control, you’d have at least four types of jurisdictions, you might not have the same rules in each case. So A lot of the local citizens, even though they favor local control in general, came to believe that federal control was the right answer in this case. Out @ 23;46;13.15
Rick Vide of Lamont and Dan Haas cleaning up  illegal use of beach on 7_6_09 OR Lamont and Lacey getting in FWS car and driving off to Rattle Snake Mt. Continue ftg above over Rick 1st sentence Rick	Rick Leaumont,  Conservation Committee Chairperson, Lower Col. Basin Audubon Society 00:05:30:00 …. we, we wanted the property transferred to the management of the fish and wildlife service, where professional wildlife personnel and a wildlife agency uh, could maintain this treasure. So, uh, although the Department of Energy still owns the land it has been designated as a national monument and is managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. OUT @ 00;05;52.19 00:07:33:12 Shrub step Habitat in the northwest is disappearing faster than Old Growth Timber which has, had the headlines for decades. Uh, this and the Yakima Firing Center and the Yakima Indian Reservation are the only large blocks of shrub step habitat remaining in Washington. So this is the on-, one of the only opportunities we have to protect an entire ecosystem, the shrub step ecosystem. It’s really the only place we have it along the Columbia River. Now there are a number of wildlife species, birds and plants that are dependent on wil-, on shrub step. We think it’s extremely important to protect that.
Michelle and/or Hanford scenic.  River, White Bluffs.	Michelle Gerber 23:51:55:00 The Hanford Reach National Monument offers many different attractions. If you’re interested in eco-tourism or historic tourism. The Columbia is the 8th largest river in the world, and this stretch of river here is the only free-flowing stretch in the United States. In other words, you can see the river unimpounded, you can see it swirling and going through rapids and eddies and things that you normally don’t see down river.
THE PROCLAMATION PDF file on X: /kwsu /NAT’L Parks /LARO + HARE/ HARE/ Images for edit **CHECK CHANGES	THE WATERS OF THE COLUMBIA FLOW ALONGSIDE THE HANFORD NUCLEAR RESERVATION, A PLACE ONCE USED FOR NUCLEAR ARSENAL DEVELOPMENT.  HERE, NEAR THE END OF WORLD WAR TWO, MOST OF THE NUCLEAR FUEL USED IN THE ATOMIC BOMB DROPPED ON NAGASAKI WAS PRODUCED. BUT THOSE DAYS ARE GONE. IN JUNE OF 2000, PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON SIGNED A PROCLAMATION WHICH DESIGNATED LARGE SECTIONS OF HANFORD AS A NATIONAL MONUMENT.  TODAY, THE SITE IS COMMITTED TO RETURNING EVEN MORE OF ITS LAND TO ITS ORIGINAL CONDITION AND OPENING IT UP FOR PUBLIC ACCESS.
Lamont PROCLAMATION / Scenics/ Monument MAP **REDUNDENT	Lamont 23:07:16:00  [can cut for time] And so in 2000, with the Clinton declaration, he basically created the Hanford Reach National Monument, which is this sort of half-circle around the original Hanford site, in which is created for the protection of wildlife.  And, as a result was decided to be administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as a part of its Refuge system.
B-Reactor visitors (have release – use).  OVERLOOK point.  Car to water at Vernita Bridge, POV inside car. People recreating at Vernita Boat Launch	THE PROTECTION OF WILDLIFE IS THE CENTRAL FOCUS OF A NATIONAL MONUMENT.  UNLIKE NATIONAL PARKS, WHICH CAN HAVE VARIOUS OTHER MISSIONS, A NATIONAL MONUMENT FOCUSES ON THE PRESERVATION OF WILDLIFE AND ITS HABITAT.
Lamont People boating on River Vernita boat launch footage all on 7_6_09	Lamont Glass 23:10:20:00 … As a member of the Refuge System, we have certain sort of core ideals…that, that we’re required, by congress, to to manage these lands under.   And, basically, what it is is: Refuge lands are Wildlife-first lands.  And what that means is that everything is sort of centered around wildlife.   We wouldn’t generally go in and mine an area, because that’s certainly not a wildlife-friendly activity.    *  *  * THE SIX MAJOR RECREATIONAL ACITIVITIES SUPPORTED BY THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE AT HANFORD ARE:  FISHING HUNTING WILDLIFE OBSERVATION SUCH AS  BIRD WATCHING WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY ENVIRONMENTAL INTERPRETATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION -- ALL WILDLIFE-DEPENDENT ACTIVITIES
Dan Video of Ringold on 7_6_09 – the most green thumbnails w lush trees	Dan Haas 21:45:36:00 The Ringold Area was one of the  most heavily hunted areas on the monument.  They hunt both water foul and upland game birds like chucker, gray partridge and pheasant and California Quail.    Um.  That’s about it.
Dan and Lamont picking up garbage from illegal beach use 7_6_09 Lamont	ACTIVITIES PEOPLE MAY OTHERWISE ASSOCIATE WITH NATIONAL PARKS OR MONUMENTS MAY NOT BE SUPPORTED AT HANFORD.  BEACH USE, FOR INSTANCE. Lamont 23:14:00:00 Beach use is generally not a compatible for wildlife refuges.  You’re not there to, you know…uh, working your tan is not…seeing wildlife.  It’s not centered around that wildlife activity that we’re looking for.   OUT @ 23:14:31:00
Elk, deer and other animals
	TODAY, UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, HANFORD IS A PLACE WHERE VISITORS CAN EXPERIENCE NATURE IN WAYS NOT READILY AVAILABLE AT OTHER PARKS AND RECREATION AREAS.
	Dan 21:39:54:00 One of ten goals is to manage for solitude and aesthetics.  Ahm…  You know, it’s.  Despite it’s being one of the largest clean-up efforts in the world, It’s amazing how many places you can go out there and not hear anything except the wind or the …or the birds. .  Ah…it’s not under any major flight paths or anything like that, so that makes it almost unique in and of itself.  It’s…It really is a kinds of ay, ay unique experience in this world any more.  Rick Leaumont 00:10:19:00 …Uh, I would say my favorite uh, part of the Hanford Reach is to put uh, a boat in at the Vernita Bridge and to just drift down the river, go through the Coyote Rapids, uh drift along the uh, White Bluffs, uh, look at the raptors at uh, at that perch along the bluffs. Enjoy the white pelicans, and just the, the peace and the quiet and the solitude of uh, the river
	Kris Watkins 1:05:49:00 when you’re taking the jet boat and you’re, you’re going down the river, you’ve got these beautiful white bluff canyons that are just right in the background um, so the experience is just a multitude of different things, it’s a learning experience, uh, and it’s also just a sensory type of experience (waves hands).  Because you’re visually seeing the beautiful and experiencing the beautiful river as well as learning about the history of the Manhattan Project and the tribes, um, and just enjoying the outdoors, being in the greater outdoors,
	HANFORD’S NATURAL BEAUTY IS REPRESENTED BY THE INDIGENOUS SHRUB-STEPPE HABITAT, BY THE ANIMALS…THE SALMON.  BUT ALSO BY THE SHIMERING WHITE BLUFFS THAT LINE THE RIVER’S REACH HERE.
	Dan 21:34:40:00 The White Bluffs are the signature feature of the Hanford Reach and probably the Monument as a whole.  It’s what’s on all of our posters.  It’s what’s on our brochures.  It’s what the locals market.  Ah…It’s, it’s the thing that everyone wants to see, and if you could see it at sunrise or sunset, you’d understand why.   OUT @ 21:34:59:00
	IT COULD BE CONSIDERED A LUCKY CIRCUMSTANCE THAT THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY CHOSE THIS REMOTE WASHINGTON LANDSCAPE IN 1943 FOR ITS WARTIME NUCLEAR WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT.  THROUGH THE RESULTING SECRUTITY AND PROTECTION, THE HANFORD SITE – NAMED FOR A TOWN THAT WAS EVACUATED AND DEMOLISHED FOR THE PROJECT - GAINED THE STATUS OF NATRUAL-RESOURCES PRESERVE.   THE LAST UNTOUCHED EXPANCE OF SHRUB-STEPPE HABITAT, THE ONLY FREE-FLOWING SECTION OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER, AND A PLACE WHERE THE REGION’S DEER, ELK, BIRDS, AND COYOTES CAN THRIVE WITHOUT FURTHER THREAT OF DISPLACEMENT. THE SITE’S MILITARY HISTORY, HOWEVER, GIVES THE VISITOR’S EXPERIENCE A LAYER OF HISTORY THAT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE IF THE LAND HAD BEEN PRESERVED FROM DEVELOPMENT IN SOME OTHER WAY.
Footage of reactors along river.  Historical photos of Hanford and pics along bank. (kids bathing?).  Also, footage from lookout point on other side of shore.  Chris said too far away but look at it. Footage of B reactor along road where sightseers found. 7_5	Dan 21:23:43:00 A trip down the River is a trip through time.  You’ll see everything from intake structures from the mid-1800s for the communities that sprang up along the river, to intake structures and nuclear reactors from the Cold War.   Uh, all of that contributes to …your..trip through history as you go up and down the River and it’s / it’s ay / an experience unique to Hanford. THE B REACTOR, ONLY THE SECOND NUCLEAR REACTOR IN THE NATION, IS VISIBLE FROM THE RIVER AND FROM THE SHORE.  ALTHOUGH IT IS NOT ON MONUMENT LAND, VISITORS TO THE MONUMENT CAN SEE THE REACTOR, AND SEPARATE ARRANGEMENTS CAN BE MADE FOR AN INSIDE VISIT. Michelle Gerber 23;54;20.18 It turns out the B Reactor is the one signature facility that’s left in the entire nation that symbolizes the Manhattan Project. 23:47:25:00 I’m so glad of course that the Hanford Reach is preserved. It is unique and along its banks, sits a museum on the landscape. Um, a look at American history.    B Reactor was built in response to Pearl Harbor. N Reactor, just down river, was built in response to Sputnik. Other reactors were built in response to international events. And so, as a historian, I have to say, this is amazing, unique, important and I’m so glad it’s preserved. 23;47;52.08
	THE HANFORD REACH NATIONAL MONUMENT WAS ESTABLISHED IN [THE YEAR] 2000, AFTER MORE THAN A DECADE OF EFFORT BY COMMUNITY GROUPS TO PRESERVE THE AREA FROM MODERN DEVELOPMENT.  TODAY, IT IS A NATURAL PRESERVE FOR THE PROTECTION OF WILDLIFE AND HAS A RICH HISTORY. NATIVE LANDS, EUROPEAN SETTLEMENTS AND FEDERAL USE HAVE LEFT A STORY HERE THAT MERGES NATURE AND TECHNOLOGY.  ODDLY SEEMLESS, THE CLEAN-UP EFFORTS CONTINUE WHILE VISITORS ARE ENCOURAGED TO VISIT THIS LARGELY UNTOUCHED WASHINGTON TERRITORY.
Dan	Dan Haas 21:37:45:00 I did want to tell you a little story.  It’s one of those defining moments in life.  I was fortunate, uh, if that’s the right word, to be on the bank, opposite the B Reactor, on the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki.  And the wind was howling that day, but other than that, that was the only sound in the entire area.  We were standing in a little patch of wild flowers and the wind was chasing clouds across the sky, creating this shadowed, dappled effect.  And …it didn’t strike me at first but then, after sitting there and reflecting for a few minutes, I came to realize that 50 years ago, the material that had come from the building right across the river from us had changed – or…ended – the lives of 50 thousand people in an instant.  And it’s always stuck with me and it’s really, really kind of shaped how I look at world events now.  Um. ..
	21:38:40:00 But that’s what Hanford was and  What Hanford is now is coyotes and deer.  It’s Elk and porcupines and pelicans and cormorants.  It’s Native American use stretching back 10 thousand years, at least.  Ah… it’s people fishing, it’s people coming to experience history and maybe even learn a little bit about themselves.  And that’s  what the Monument represents today.     [the end]