Once upon a time, there was a skulk of No Bridge in My Backyarders, which led to a bridge blocker bill being snuck into the Oregon Legislature through a gut and stuff, which led to some careful scrutiny of the bill, which led to the bill dying, which led to the bridge blockers trying again with a bill that had no legislator’s name attached, which led to more scrutiny and the bill’s final death.

That sounds so very schemey and convoluted. But it is that kind of thicket where a bridge concept by the Bend Park & Recreation District was taken circa 2018. We hope the new debate over the idea doesn’t go there again. Talks have resumed about the proposed pedestrian/bicycling bridge on Bend’s south end across the Deschutes River.

The Bulletin’s editorial board was strongly in the pro-bridge camp in those days. The primary reason: We favored creating more access from Bend’s east side to its west side for bikers and hikers to some of the fine Forest Service lands beyond. It would also cut down on vehicle traffic.

If there is anything that gets editorial writers uppity, though, it’s catching people trying to manipulate the system. We felt like we did. We discovered the somewhat sneaky bridge ban bill, by doing the usually unrewarding work of monitoring changes in the Legislature’s bills. We then asked then state Rep. Gene Whisnant, R-Sunriver, why he backed a bill to ban a bridge that the park district backed and didn’t bother telling the park district. We then uncovered an emptiness behind what seemed to be an environmental group backing Whisnant’s bill. And there was more.

Why does any of this matter now?

It’s context.

Any new bridge over the Deschutes River is going to get pro camps and anti camps riled up even before the legal complications complicate things. There are concerns for property owners, environmental impacts, trail impacts and access issues. Swirl them together and there will come a raveling and perhaps renewed scheming.

We hope you can take a moment to read some of the facts before passing judgment on the bridge. If you want to know the history and better understand the issues involved, there is a long summary here, tinyurl.com/thebridgestory, produced by the park district. See pages 3-42. Bulletin reporter Clayton Franke distilled what is going in a more readily digestible article here: tinyurl.com/theshortbridgestory.

If the bridge is going to happen, the park district board is going to need public support and public pressure to make it happen. Even then, it may not happen. So please take a moment to look into it and tell the park board what you think. You can email the park board at board@bendparksandrec.org.