Proposed bills in both the Washington and Oregon legislatures this year could put a new spotlight on the relatively low-profile Columbia River Gorge Commission.
Oregon state Rep. John Huffman, R-The Dalles, has introduced a bill that would create a bistate task force to review the Gorge commission, the National Scenic Area Act that created it, and the role the two states play in supporting its mission. The bill would only take effect if Washington lawmakers adopt their own version of the proposal. Planning to introduce a similar bill in Olympia is Rep. Liz Pike, R-Camas, whose district includes the western edge of the Gorge scenic area.
Many Oregon lawmakers are simply unaware of what the Gorge commission does or why it was created, Huffman said. He hopes a two-state task force will help change that.
“Every session, I have to go to Salem and educate folks in the governor’s office, my legislative leadership and my other colleagues,” Huffman said. “Every other year, I’m going in and advocating for funding for the commission — adequate funding, which we never seem to get.”
But if it’s hard for the Gorge commission to get noticed in Salem, it’s even harder in Olympia. The tiny agency’s funding comes equally from both states, and is determined by whichever state grants a lower amount. Often, that’s Washington. Eroding support has hobbled the Gorge commission’s budget in recent years, and the agency now functions on a staff of just six people.
The Gorge commission oversees land-use and policy in the six Gorge counties. Its duties include protecting natural resources and fostering economic development in the region. But many basic tasks have been left undone as the agency struggles to keep up, amid some internal turmoil among the commission’s staff and appointed leaders.
“I guess I’m just trying to shine a light … and try to create a permanent long-term platform for the success of the scenic area,” Huffman said.
Separate funding bill
Pike hasn’t yet introduced the Washington version of Huffman’s task force bill. But that’s not the only proposal she has in mind for the Gorge commission. Pike this week introduced another bill that would give the agency a temporary funding boost to speed up a permit review process that has frustrated many rural landowners in Klickitat County.
House Bill 1453 would give the agency a one-time allocation of $250,000 to hire two extra planners during the 2015-17 biennium, Pike said. It would also allow the Gorge commission to plan for new economic opportunities, she said, including a growing unmanned aerial vehicle, or drone, industry in the region.
Because Klickitat County never signed on to the federal scenic area act after it was created in 1986, all of the county’s non-urban development applications must go straight to the Gorge commission for review. Staff haven’t kept up in recent years, creating a backlog of dozens of unapproved applications. Even the simplest permits — for a patio or a shed, for example — can take more than a year to get through the queue.
The Klickitat County situation is “problem number one,” Pike said. The bill would require the Gorge commission to eliminate that permit backlog by July 2017. It would also require the agency to submit updates on its progress every six months.
Though HB 1453 is a spending bill, “I feel like I’m protecting the taxpayers’ interests with these very strict reporting requirements,” Pike said.
Among the bill’s co-sponsors are state Reps. Brandon Vick, R-Felida, and Sharon Wylie, D-Vancouver.
Pike’s bill would provide a financial boost separate from the state’s regular budget allocation to the Gorge commission. That remains a question mark.
In Oregon, Gov. John Kitzhaber has recommended nearly doubling his state’s contribution to the Gorge commission in 2015-17. But Washington Gov. Jay Inslee recommended mostly flat funding for the agency in his proposed budget. The decision will ultimately be left up to both state legislatures.
The Gorge commission now operates on less than $900,000 per year.
