HR County holds special meeting Thursday: Commissioners look into amended order allowing some forestland rec use

To access the meeting, phone 408-418-9388 and use Event No: 968 679 780, or go to the county website, www.co.hood-river.or.us/Board of Commissioners.

The meeting comes at the urging of Commissioner Karen Joplin.

“I hope we can do this as soon as possible so we don’t have a user rush,” said Joplin, adding that continuing collaboration is essential between the HRATS user group and county staff. She urged county action to make the trails available as early as this weekend.

HRATS has already assisted with restriction signage, and has recommended the trails could be opened on one-way system, to reduce user contact.

“Non-essential travel is still in place, and this is not a time for social media about your rides,” Joplin said. “You need to be private and quiet about using the forests for your own use.”

Chairman Mike Oates said the county needs to let staff be directly involved in an amended closure, “and have a look at it and develop a proposal for how to do it.”

He specifically called for county administrator Jeff Hecksel to work with forest manager Doug Thiesies, public works director Mikal Diwan, Sheriff Matt English, as well as legal counsel Lisa Davies and the County Health Department “and come up with how we’re going to do that. They should have the right to talk because if we do it they’re going to have to implement it.

Commissioner Les Perskins said he has talked with Tim Mixon of HRATS about proposals they have made for opening,

“I do want to see us start opening up, but my big concern is making sure we don’t get an influx of people from the Willamette valley,” said Perkins, who along with other county officials met this week with Nate Stice from Gov. Kate Brown’s office “to help us with reiterating the importance of people staying in their own comunities.”

Perkins asked Davies, “How can we make sure residents only go into Hood River County forests? It’s tough to enforce, but we also need cooperation of HRRATs and others to forcefully explain to people from other areas that our areas are for people who live here?”

Davies cautioned against the county employing wording to prohibit non-county residents within the amended order.

“We have the tools to restore local access, under the state shelter in place order regarding non-essential travel,” Davies said. “Social and recreational gathering restrictions apply statewide to non-residents and local residents, Locals can access (the areas) without violating the order, and can adhere to distancing. I think you can adopt an amended order that’s pretty narrowly tailored without making any specifics with regard to qualifying on residency alone. I just don’t think you need to.”

Davies recommended phrasing the order to reference the state order “in terms of enforcement and address recreational assets with more guidance on restrictions, including closure of staging areas and requiring users to observe social distancing, and making sure there is signage reflecting that guidance, which HRATS did before the closure.”

Perkins said the county also needs to add signs prohibiting parking on lower Post Canyon, which has been an ongoing issue before and since the closure order.

“We need to do what we can to eliminate conflicts for users and between locals and visitors,” said Joplin, who lives near the base of Post Canyon trail system and has seen the problems herself. “I have received phone calls and pictures of people (illegally) parked, and there is a lot of frustration rising on that. We need a clarification on the public road order.” She noted that HRATS wants to have a role in signage.