Feb. 1--Portland entrepreneur Jim Kean says he wants to build a central Oregon resort that is greener and smarter than the garden-variety golf-based resorts dotting the area.

At first blush, it seems like just the kind of eco-friendly business that Gov. Ted Kulongoski dearly wants in order to make Oregon a world center of sustainability.

But the fine points of Kean's development plan have been lost in the extraordinary furor over his resort's location in the Metolius River basin -- a sparsely populated slice of central Oregon revered for its spring-fed waters and world-class fishing.

Opposition to Kean's Metolian and to a second, larger resort proposed for the basin is coming from environmentalists, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and also some influential state leaders -- including Democratic Sens. Betsy Johnson of Scappoose and Ginny Burdick of Portland.

Most recently, Kulongoski himself waded into the mire. The governor is pushing new rules or legislation that would block or severely limit development in the basin, overriding desires of Jefferson County and introducing a new regulatory category into state land-use law.

The controversy pushes many of the hot-button issues that divide Oregon: rural vs. urban, east side vs. west, private sector vs. public. It could further the festering belief in rural counties that they don't control their own destinies, that they're held to a planning process that the powerful don't hesitate to circumvent when convenient.

The political firestorm reached new heights in December, when Kulongoski proposed labeling the entire basin an "Area of Critical Concern," a never-before-used designation some have likened to the National Scenic Area restrictions in the Columbia River Gorge.

That proposal marked a dramatic about-face for Kulongoski. He opposed 2007 legislation that would have banned Kean's resort, calling on all parties to allow the "existing processes" of Oregon's land-use system to run their course.

Jefferson County in 2006 deemed the property appropriate for a resort. But Kean still needs to submit a detailed final plan and get the county's sign-off. Two years later, Kulongoski's concern for the integrity of the land-use process has waned, trumped by his determination to preserve the Metolius.

Kean's plight could widen the gulf between political leaders and some portion of the business class, which feels bureaucrats neither appreciate nor respect the risks they take and the upside they offer. Kean has spent $3.8 million on his plan, nearly a quarter of which he raised after Kulongoski intervened and saved the Metolian last session.

"I was dumbfounded," Kean said after he learned of the governor's turnabout. "I went out and raised another $1 million from investors after he stepped in in 2007, and now he could kill our plans."

The battle over the Metolius, a place seen by many as bearing near-mystical qualities, has drawn concern from all over the state. The stream that erupts suddenly from subterranean springs just north of Black Butte and flows 28 miles to Lake Billy Chinook in the north offers some of the best fishing and camping in the state.

The fight is also intensely personal.

Like countless other developers, Kean faces opposition from locals in a classic "not in my backyard" battle. But in this case, some of those NIMBYs happen to be power players in their own right in Salem.

Betsy Johnson has deep roots in the basin. She chokes up often when speaking of the river and her family's 130 acres at the headwaters.

Johnson lobbied hard for Senate Bill 30 in 2007, as did Burdick, whose family owns one of 108 Metolius riverfront cabins on land leased from the U.S. Forest Service.

Johnson says she is taking a back seat in the ongoing political battle. "Others are going to make the case," she said. "I want this to be about the water, about the animals, about the pristine nature of that basin.