From Deseret News archives:
Bear Lake residents oppose power plant
Company says dam project will produce clean electricity
"In all the time we've been around Bear Lake, it's the most frightening thing I've seen yet," Merlin Olsen said over the phone Friday from his home in Park City.
Olsen made himself available to media to talk about Bear Lake and a proposal by Symbiotics LLC.
Olsen, 67, was born in Logan and graduated from Utah State University, where he also earned a master's degree in economics. In the NFL he played for the Los Angeles Rams and later gained TV fame as a character on "Little House on the Prairie."
As a child, Olsen said he couldn't wait for visits to Bear Lake. One of the first cabins built on Bear Lake belonged to the grandfather of Olsen's wife, Susan, to whom he's been married for 46 years.
The cabin, which Olsen said is still in the family, remains a popular destination for the Olsens' children and grandchildren, who spend lots of time during the summer months boating, fishing and relaxing on the banks of Bear Lake's clear blue waters.
"That's a special place for us as a family," he said. "I have lots of emotional ties to the lake."
Former NBA coach Dick Motta operates a bed and breakfast on the Idaho side of Bear Lake. Utah Jazz assistant coach Phil Johnson spends time at his cabin on the lake and his wife is on the Bear Lake Watch board.
A host of critics, including Olsen, are already worried that Symbiotics' dam and pump project will change the lake's look and alter its ecosystem by disturbing Bear Lake's bottom. Symbiotics also has been accused of wanting to do the project primarily as a money-making scheme, buying energy at a low price during the night to operate its facility and selling electricity at a higher cost to consumers during the day.
"It's not the right project for a lake like Bear Lake," Olsen said. He and others believe there will even be a net loss of energy in the marketplace when factoring how much power the plant will consume for its operations compared to how much electricity it will sell.
Recent comments
I'm a conservative politically, and have agreed with very few "tree...
Conservative | April 10, 2008 at 12:32 p.m.
The residents of Garden City, Laketown, Fish Haven et al should...
Karen Smith | April 9, 2008 at 9:19 a.m.
The theory behind pump storage can be debated at length. But why put...
Realist | April 8, 2008 at 11:45 a.m.
- Stocks waver after jobs report 12:40 p.m.
- Woods crash did $3,200 damage 12:39 p.m.
- Advocate charged with sex abuse 11:52 a.m.
- Sp. Fork city blamed for flooding 11:51 a.m.
- State to keep four-day work week 11:50 a.m.
- Bennett enlists campaign chairs 11:49 a.m.
- Miles is back, but others still out 11:48 a.m.
- Phoenix vote on temple Wednesday 11:02 a.m.
- Iran whistleblower poisoned 10:58 a.m.
- Robotic hand controlled by thoughts 10:51 a.m.
- Witness: Mitchell wanted attention
- 2 citations issued at Y.-U. game
- Unbeaten BYU takes trip to Logan
- Why is Y. ignoring spew of hatred?
- BYU says Hall incident resolved
- Max Hall: a fixture in rivalry lore
- Find joy in life, Bishop Burton says
- Utahns growing tired of Bennett
- BCS just keeps dirty laundry on spin
- Orem pair getting a rep for crime
- Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
909 - Cougars beat Utes in overtime
483 - Hall reprimanded by MWC
404 - Max Hall issues apology
388 - Hall's pain reflects self-betrayal
355 - Utes won't respond to Hall
276 - BYU says Hall incident resolved
241 - 2 citations issued at Y.-U. game
166 - Religion in politics is tiresome
148 - BYU is champion of the state
144
As the TV cameras Tuesday night scanned the West Point audience during...
LDS Church publisher Deseret Book has some specials for the holidays.
He is very manipulative, he knows exactly what he is doing, and doing it...
So you're saying we should be planting more trees and stopping clear-cutting?...
Thanks to Blake for helping my cousin out of his truck and calling his wife....
The reason he said BYU has a chance at a BCS bowl is because they were on the...
I have always seen this as incumbent protection. It is safe to expect...
Democrats believe in food "handouts" to hungry people. Starving, homeless,...
Matheson is one of the most decent, hard working, and intelligent members of...
Who cares who is better than who? All that matters is SCOREBOARD. What a...
So what if they are members by culture? I'm a Mormon because I was born into...
I think you should start printing the "Quest for Perfection shirts right now...


