The Columbia River Gorge Commission oversees policy for the Gorge. A proposal from a Washington representative would eliminate funding for the commission and put more land use decisions on the shoulders of individual counties within the National Scenic Area.
The Columbia River Gorge Commission oversees policy for the Gorge. A proposal from a Washington representative would eliminate funding for the commission and put more land use decisions on the shoulders of individual counties within the National Scenic Area.
THE GORGE — For nearly 40 years, the Columbia River Gorge Commission (CRGC) has been protecting the Gorge by establishing policies and programs to enhance the visual, natural, cultural and recreational resources in the country’s largest National Scenic Area (NSA) while also supporting economic development compatible with resource protection.
The group was formed in 1987 through an interstate compact — known as the Columbia River Gorge Compact — between Oregon and Washington. CRGC Executive Director Krystyna Wolniakowski said that the compact, a binding contract between the two states, aims to provide “funding necessary to effectuate the commission.”
The agreement requires both states to fund the agency equally, but on March 27, Washington State Rep. Travis Couture (R-Allyn) introduced an amendment that would eliminate Washington’s share of the funding — approximately $2 million. CRGC receives about $1 million per year from each state, and as Washington faces a $13 billion deficit, legislators are considering tax increases and budget cuts to address the shortfall.
“To fail to provide this funding would thus violate state law,” Wolniakowski said in an email to Columbia Gorge News.
According to Wolniakowski, the proposal to eliminate funding was unexpected and would have detrimental effects not just on the commission, but the Gorge as well. If agency is eliminated, land use decisions that are administered by individual counties would not have any oversight for consistency with the NSA Gorge Management Plan, and Wolniakowski said that five of the six counties — Hood River, Wasco, Skamania, Clark and Multnomah — within the NSA have already adopted policies and guidelines to guide those decisions. Klickitat County is the only county who has not yet to adopt the NSA land use ordinance, so the commission administers all the land use permitting in the county.
“The National Scenic Area Act is a binding federal law even without the Commission, leaving counties with no regional body to hear appeals of land use decisions,” she said.
Wolniakowski sent a personal letter to Rep. Couture and has requested a meeting, but as of Friday, had not been able to reach him.
“We have had no direct contact, even though several attempts have been made,” Wolniakowski said. “It’s unfortunate that Rep. Couture hasn’t taken the time to get his facts right on how important the Gorge Commission is to our entire region. I hope to speak with him soon.”
She is planning a trip to Olympia this week to contact legislators on behalf of the Commission. Wolniakowski will know the fate of the agency’s budget when the current legislative session in Washington ends on April 27.
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