One of several geothermal exploration sites in Oregon is Newberry Crater, where a company has found a lot of underground heat but no geothermal fluid.
Bill Reynolds/Flickr
The Newberry Crater in Central Oregon celebrates 25 years as a national monument Thursday. The 55,000-acre federal monument was designated to protect the area from energy development.
Dr. Stu Garrett chaired a citizen's committee to protect the Newberry volcano three decades ago.
"I love the open space, I love the vistas," said Garrett. "I love the dramatic variety of volcanic occurrences there, the big obsidian flows."
The 1,200-square-mile Newberry volcano is about the size of Rhode Island.
In the 1980s, developers began digging test wells to explore geothermal energy.
Garrett helped form a group to develop the monument proposal to keep developers out of the caldera.
"So we put skiers, snowmobilers, geothermal companies, timber companies and motorized recreationists all on the same committee. We just sat down and said, 'what do we all like about Newberry? What do you think needs to be preserved?' And then we just sat down and began negotiating."
Some conservationists wanted to protect more of the volcano. Some geothermal developers wanted to be able to put plants in the center of the crater. But in the end, collaborators reached a compromise.
"I think it was a resounding success. Everything that we hoped it would be turned out to happen," said Garrett.
The monument was championed by then Oregon GOP Rep. Bob Smith with help from Democrat Peter Defazio and Senator Mark Hatfield.
The volcano last erupted 1,300 years ago, but scientists say it could reawaken any time. Energy developers have explored the area surrounding the monument for geothermal potential.
"The area really hasn't changed much in the past 25 years and hopefully it will remain the same," said Garrett. "I'm really proud of what we did."
