March 11, 2010

Officials await gorge bill outcome

By Rodger Nichols
The Chronicle

    Officials on both sides of the Columbia River Gorge will be watching the news from Olympia carefully today.
    The Washington State Legislature is scheduled to adjourn by the end of the day. Until that happens, there’s a possibility the state Senate will take up a bill to dissolve the Columbia River Gorge Compact, which would do away with the Columbia River Gorge Commission.
    Engrossed Substitute House Bill (ESHB) 3132 surprised observers when it passed the state House by an overwhelming 92 to 6 vote last Thursday.
The bill went to the Senate Saturday, where it was assigned to the Ways and Means Committee. Though the deadline for action on new legislation has passed, there is an exception.
    “Technically, it’s still alive under the rules because it has both an up-front cost and promises long-term budget savings, and is therefore exempt from cutoffs because it might be necessary to implement the budget,” said Paul Queary, Seattle news editor for the Associated Press
    The bill directs the governor of Washington to consult with the governor of Oregon on dissolving the bi-state compact.
    If it’s determined that the compact cannot be legally dissolved, the bill then directs the Washington governor to renegotiate the compact’s terms with a goal of re-setting the National Scenic Area Management Plan to its status as of June 2007.
    “I have no idea why they chose that date,” said Nathan Baker, legal council for the Friends of the Columbia Gorge. “We are definitely opposed to this bill.”
    “That was clearly another sneaky back-door, underhanded, shameful attempt to get rid of the destination resort,” said Skamania County Commissioner Paul Pearce. “There’s literally no other reason to put 2007 in there except for the plan amendment for the Broughton destination resort.”
    That amendment was passed by the gorge commission in April 2008 after more than two years of contentious public hearings and debate. It’s the only amendment that has passed since June 2007. It would allow the owners of the derelict Broughton Lumber Company west of Bingen to redevelop the site into a destination resort. Skamania County officials see the $80-$90 million development as a potential economic engine providing jobs and revenue. Pearce has been one of its most ardent supporters.
    “You know, last year a bill was introduced [in the Washington legislature] to outlaw any destination resorts within the Columbia River Scenic Area,” Pearce said. “We went through a long legislative process and we’re in litigation in the Oregon courts over it. Holy smoke, how many bites at the apple do you get?”
    Whether rolling back the resort plan amendment was a key factor or not, the bill’s lopsided passage in the lower chamber caught everyone off guard.
    “Last Thursday in the morning there was a hold on the bill in the Rules Committee,” said Michael Lang of the Friends of the Gorge, who said he’d taken a day of fishing at the coast. When he returned, he discovered the bill had come out of committee and into a floor vote, which it passed.
    “I think many people who voted for that knew that it would go nowhere in the Senate,” Lang said. “They’re all under tremendous pressure to reduce the state’s operating budget and it’s easy for legislators outside of the region to vote to do away with a program that doesn’t immediately affect their district.”
    Paul Pearce had a slightly different explanation. “I think what happened in the house is that it was an easy vote to say, ‘Here’s this commission; it was created by the feds; it’s not funded by the feds; it should go away.’”
    Though the bill itself says its prime motivation for dissolving the gorge commission was financial, the effect is more symbolic than real. A legislative fiscal report estimated that it would save $300,000 in the current biennium, but that would be seriously offset by $183,162 in one-time closing expenses in 2010 and an estimated $106,651 in 2011.
    “The fact is, dissolving the compact and the gorge commission saves the state very little money,” said Michael Lang. “It’s really negligible in the grand scheme of things.”
“Let’s face it, the gorge commission budget for either state, though they’re strapped financially, is not a big player,” said Hood River County administrator David Meriwether. “They probably spend more on wallpaper for the cosmetology board offices than they do on the gorge commission.”
    There are still legal questions if the bill should pass. Michael Lang of the Friends cited a 1951 Supreme Court decision, West Virginia ex rel. Dyer v. Sims, in which the court ruled that interstate agreements cannot be nullified unilaterally.
    And there’s the ticklish prospect of Klickitat County, which has refused to pass land use ordinances complying with the National Scenic Area. As a result, land-use cases involving Klickitat County land inside the National Scenic Area are handled by the gorge commission directly.
    What would happen if the bill were to pass and the gorge commission were to vanish. We talked with several officials about the possibility.
    “Well, it’s the federal Scenic Area Act that would still exist,” said Klickitat County Planning Director Curt Dreyer. “That wouldn’t be rescinded. As far as who would administer it, I’m not sure. We’ve relied upon the gorge commission for the administration of a scenic area ordinance that they adopted for Klickitat County. I’m assuming that the Scenic Area Act might be administered by somebody, possibly the Forest Service.”
    Wasco County Planning Director Todd Cornet said without the gorge commission to insure consistency, counties would wander. “I think what you’d get is kind of a divergence of counties, starting to go their own ways and make their own interpretation,” he said.
    Hood River’s David Meriwether agreed.
    “I think to the extent there is consistency with regard to the administration of the management plan,” he said. “I think that would end, because it would be very hard to have some sort of overall coordinating function with the individual counties.”
    “What this tells us is that collectively the gorge commission, Friends of the Columbia Gorge and the counties have to do a better job on educating the legislature, particularly the house on the important role the gorge commission plays and why it’s important to fund it and keep it as a functioning agency,” said Michael Lang “
    “I’m looking forward to Friday morning and the bill not passing. But there may be a special session. These budget problems are not going to go away overnight. This thing could pop up again in a few months or next year.”