In Our View: Protect The Gorge

There is nothing new about the notion of scenic areas being “loved to death.”

In 1956, Conrad Wirth, director of the National Park Service, told President Eisenhower and members of his Cabinet: “The problem of today is simply that the parks are being loved to death. They are neither equipped nor staffed to protect their irreplaceable resources, nor to take care of their increasing millions of visitors.” Wirth proposed Mission 66 — a 10-year spending program that renovated infrastructure surrounding the parks and prepared those parks to accommodate ever-increasing attendance.

The mission was essential to creating a sustainable national parks program that now is more than a century old and is counted as one of the United States’ greatest success stories. America’s national parks have preserved some of the world’s most stunning landscapes while making the purple mountain majesties accessible to the masses.

All of this is pertinent as increasing numbers of visitors crowd the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. As a recent article by Columbian reporter Dameon Pesanti detailed: “The specter of well-meaning but destructive hordes overwhelming recreation sites and detracting from each other’s outdoor experience is a hot topic among land managers.” Kevin Gorman, executive director of the conservation group Friends of the Columbia Gorge, said, “Last summer, I felt like there was a tipping point where some places were most definitely getting loved to death.”

The Gorge scenic area, which encompasses 292,500 acres along 80 miles of the Columbia River on both the Washington and Oregon sides, is managed by the U.S. Forest Service and the Columbia River Gorge Commission. It is a remarkable treasure unique to this portion of the globe and features a diverse ecology. It is a wonder to be embraced, but increasing crowds threaten increasing degradation in the region’s most popular areas.

Estimates are that Multnomah Falls, a 620-foot waterfall that is within a one-hour drive for the Portland area’s 2.4 million residents and is the most prominent landmark within the Gorge, draws more than 2 million visitors a year. Other popular areas have experienced an increase in visitors that threatens environmental harm. “Congestion issues during the high season and over-visitation to the same iconic attractions is leaving negative impacts on the area,” reads a report from tourism agency Travel Oregon.

In many ways, the fate of the Gorge reflects the tragedy of the commons. To use one example befitting the economic theory that dates back to 1833, if one person walks through a stream that feeds into salmon habitat in the Gorge, it is likely that no harm will occur. But if 100 or 1,000 people do the same, the cumulative effect can be disastrous. The same can be said for taking a shortcut off an established trail or picking a flower or leaving behind a piece of trash. Eventually, the area becomes diminished by its popularity.

Such are the issues facing those who manage the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Many plans are being considered, but it is notable that — unlike national parks — it is does not cost anything to visit the area. For the most popular sites, particularly Multnomah Falls, a nominal user fee might be a reasonable solution to help keep crowds manageable and provide revenue for resource protection.

Most important, visitors should strive to leave no trace of their stop in the Gorge, lest they run the risk of loving the area to death.