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Bill opens Diamond Lake to skiers The Oregon Senate has cleared a bill to open Diamond Lake to water-skiing until its trout fishery is restored. House Bill 2536, which passed 23-1 last week, heads back to the House for action on minor amendments that allow the lake level to be drawn down 8 feet when the chemical rotenone is added. The chemical will kill illegally introduced tui chub, which outcompete rainbow trout for food and space, and allow trout to be restocked in the lake 90 miles northeast of Medford. At a hearing of the Senate Transportation Committee earlier this month, Sen. Mae Yih, D-Albany, said she was glad to hear that the amendments were drafted with the approval of Gov. Kitzhaber. "We do not need another bill for him to veto," she said. "I want the record to show that she said it, not me," replied Sen. Bill Fisher, R-Roseburg, who lost to Kitzhaber in 1988 for the Senate seat he finally won in 1996. It may take until 2003 for the state to obtain federal approval to use the chemical and restock the lake, so the owners of Diamond Lake Resort asked for the bill to stay afloat economically. It tells the state Marine Board to clear the way for recreational boating by lifting the lake's speed limit from 10 mph to 45 mph between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. The only vote against it was cast by Sen. Lenn Hannon, R-Ashland, who did not explain his opposition publicly. But Fisher, the bill's floor manager in the Senate, is chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee. Fisher has refused to consider Hannon's bill to require equal treatment in health insurance policies for mental health, drug and alcohol treatment services. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA