We are looking for a new administrative assistant to replace the wonderful Kristyn Fix who is leaving us at the end of the year. The Administrative Assistant will work about 20 hours a month and have a diverse and interesting range of duties. Here is a complete JOB DESCRIPTION . Letters of interest and resumes should be sent to info@hrvrc.org.
Friday, November 6 from 5 to 8 pm Art Party for Climate Change Columbia Riverkeeper Office, 111 3rd Street, Hood River Let your creative juices flow this First Friday by dropping by the Columbia Riverkeeper office and decorating a tile for a state-wide art project to bring attention to the need to take real steps on climate change. People across the state will be creating tiles that will all come together for a giant Salmon on the Square on November 14 in Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland. We will have paint, colored paper, markers and beer to help you decorate your tile. Hosted by Oregon Climate, Hood River Valley Residents Committee, Columbia Riverkeeper, Gorge Ecology Center.
The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on proposed new rules to regulate where cellular phone towers can go and what they can look like in Hood River County. The hearing is on October 28 at 5:30 in the Board of Commissioners Meeting Room, 601 State Street. Here is a draft of the proposed code. The code puts the onus on the applicant to prove that new facilities are needed and makes it easy to locate facilities in locations with minimal impact (like co-locating additional arrays on an existing tower) but much, much harder to locate incompatible towers near residential areas. Until now, the county has not had specific code for towers, which has meant that towers have been proposed for inappropriate residential areas forcing neighbors to mobilize in expensive and emotional opposition efforts. The proposed code is the end result of a year-long citizen driven effort organized by HRVRC. Last year, HRVRC, together with…
Yesterday, the Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed the City of Hood River’s decision to deny Walmart a permit to expand their store by 30,000 square feet. This ruling may well be the end of a long and winding road that included two denials from the Hood River City Council and three trips to Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals. At the Court of Appeals, Hood River Valley Residents Committee and Hood River Citizens for a Local Economy joined the City of Hood River in defense of its decision to deny the expansion. Hood River resident Mary Ellen Barilotti also joined the suit filing a brief supporting the City’s decision. Current Hood River law prohibits expansion of the Walmart store but the Arkansas-based retailer had sought to circumvent this law by claiming a “vested right” based on their original 1991 land use permit. Vested rights provide protection for property owners whose…
For more than 100 years, people in Hood River have dreamed of acquiring Punchbowl Falls as a county park. Yesterday we got the good news that the Oregon Parks and Recreation Commission approved Hood River County's $470,000 acquisition grant request. Big thanks to everyone involved. The property should be transferred to the county by the end of the year. We'll be back in touch with updates on park development including requests for trail building volunteers. We want to thank all of you who answered our survey, came to public forums, site visits and the trash pick up day. Thank you for sharing your stories, professional knowledge and so patiently answering my questions. Tom Kloster and Trailkeepers of Oregon were unbelievably generous in assisting with trail design. Peter Marbach's stunning photos and Pierce Hodge's video of the property brought the experience of Punchbowl to the grant committee in a way that words could not. Extra special thanks to the members of the Park…
Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) has affirmed the City of Hood River’s decision to deny Walmart a permit to expand their existing store by 30,000 square feet. The Hood River Valley Residents Committee and Hood River Citizens for a Local Economy filed a joint brief with the City of Hood River in defense of the City’s denial. LUBA’s ruling may well be the final chapter in a saga that began back in 2011 and included two denials from the Hood River City Council and three trips to LUBA. In their ruling, LUBA upheld the City’s decision that its zoning ordinance imposed a 12-month expiration date on vested rights. Walmart, which has operated a 72,000-square-foot store in Hood River since 1991, had argued it had a “vested right” to expand the store based on its original 20-year old site plan which included an expansion area. Walmart’s land is zoned Light Industrial (LI)…
Way back in 2009, President Obama signed the Public Lands Omnibus Act which called for 770 acres at Cooper Spur, owned by Mt. Hood Meadows, to be traded for 120 acres at Government Camp owned by the US Forest Service. This Congressionally-mandated land trade put an end to years of fighting and litigation over the future of the north side of Mt. Hood. The trade had our wholehearted support as well as the support of Mt. Hood Meadows, Hood River County, conservation groups and recreational clubs. The Act required the Forest Service to complete the exchange in 16 months, but six years have passed and the trade is still nowhere near completion. The Forest Service has stalled and delayed, complained and explained, but made little progress. Read more. . .
Sense of Place Lecture: Oregon's Special History in Conserving its Environment, Michael McClosky March 4, Columbia Center for the Arts, 215 Cascade Ave., Hood River, OR. Doors open at 6:30 pm and lectures begin at 7:00 pm. Cost is $8 for general admission, $5 for GO! members. HRVRC is honored to sponsor this Gorge Owned lecture on the roots of Oregon’s conservation movement from one of its earliest activists. Born in Oregon, Michael McCloskey started his career as the Conservation Director for the Sierra Club, where he worked for 40 years both as the CEO and Chairman. In his book, In the Thick of It: My Life in the Sierra Club, McClosky traces Oregon’s conservation movement from the 1880s to 2013. Learn about the key players and the impacts their work had on making Oregon one of the country’s most innovative states for environmental conservation.
On February 23rd, our Executive Director, Heather Staten, was at City Council where she presented a short talk on Smart Growth and the future of Hood River. As Hood River grows, we face many challenges--how do we make sure Hood River gets better not just bigger? We propose some specific solutions with lots of pictures from around town.
Board of Commissioners Hear Punchbowl Park Plan March 19 at 5 pm The Board of Commissioners will be meeting on Thursday night to consider the Park Advisory Committee's concept plan for Punchbowl Falls as a County Park. Here is the Punchbowl Falls Concept Plan It is very important that the community attend this meeting to show their support for the project. Those of you who formerly used Copper Dam Road to access the Hood River know only too well that public river access through private property is a very precarious thing. Public ownership of Punchbbowl Falls as a County Park is the best way to preserve access in perpetuity. If you value the Punchbowl Falls property as a community asset, please come and let the commissioners know that they should protect and preserve it for future generations. If you can't make the meeting, send the Commissioners an email. Final Public Forum on…