By SUE RYAN
News staff writer
November 1, 2007

What should the Columbia River Gorge look like in the future?

Coming up with ideas to answer that question drove much of the conversations at the first-ever Future Forum on Monday. The Columbia River Gorge Commission spearheaded a multi-group effort to hold the event in The Dalles.

“Today was the most visible part of our work that will continue over the coming months. The sense of community, the engagement of participants and the stimulating ideas presented have made this an extraordinary and successful beginning of a regional dialogue,” said Jill Arens, the commission’s executive director.

The commission plans to carry that dialogue over into 2008 when multiple regional events will be held throughout the Gorge.

“So everyone has a chance to say what they want for the future of the Gorge,” said Jessica Metta, a commission planner who helped coordinate the event. “We had so many people who responded that wanted to participate in the discussion but just couldn’t make it here today.”

The regional dialogues in 2008 will focus on two topics “Values, Trends and Issues” and “Guiding Principles and Vision Ideas.” These will be patterned after the initial discussions held at the Future Forum.

The Congressional act that created the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area was passed in 1986, and the bi-state commission that oversees its regulation was created a year later.

The scenic area covers six counties in two states including: Wasco and Hood River counties in Oregon and Clark, Skamania and Klickitat in Washington.

The act was set up to address two purposes: preserving scenic, cultural and recreational resources of the Gorge while supporting its economy.

Just how communities should achieve those goals was part of what the final session of the day addressed.

Panelists shared their perspectives on change in the Gorge before the entire audience broke out into five small groups to talk further on the issues.

Mark Flaming, president of Frontier Ventures, said that there is a lack of compiled data that could help business entrepreneurs in planning future ventures. He said he found this out when he did research for the last year in the Gorge and discovered bits and pieces of information pertaining to business needs but no one central source.

He also serves on the Gorge Technical Alliance board. Flaming expressed frustration with a lack of consolidated data for making business decisions.

Others on the panel focused on climate concerns of managing needs including growth in the region as well as the “green” appeal of the Gorge.

“Get behind adventure positioning,” said Todd Davidson, the CEO of the Oregon Tourism Commission. “There is a niche out there called ‘voluntourism’ that I believe folks would travel here to participate in.”

He referred to people who travel now to South America to replant the rain forest and said the same concept could be applied to the Gorge.

“I believe people would be drawn here to do such things as rebuild salmon habitat,” Davidson said.

Moderator Steven Ames commented on issues involving affordable housing in the Gorge including the gap between median incomes and prices. He also commented on the unique context of the region.

“When I look at the Gorge, I see unbelievable potential,” he said.

But he also saw from a planning perspective how Gorge communities are laid out along extremely linear patterns, which could result in complete communities or fragmented, split communities in the future.

Panelist Tim Stearns, an energy specialist with the State of Washington, said he foresaw conflicts with issues of renewable energy and everyday needs but was also heartened by the commission’s recent work on measuring the Act’s effectiveness.

“The Indicators Project is terrific and indicators are important but also inventory your assets and understand them,” Stearns said.

He referred specifically to how the Gorge would deal with future pressures of both waste infrastructure and the conflict over clean energy.

“You can’t not disrupt things when creating energy — whether it’s a wind turbine or something else,” he said. “There is no such thing as a nirvana wind turbine.”

The 2008 dates for the regional discussions will be set after a video on Thursday’s event has been completed.