A Win for Thrive in Circuit Court

Dear neighbors and stewards of the Hood River Valley,

Last Monday, April 3, Hood River Circuit Court Judge John A. Olson ruled in favor of Thrive’s challenge of a 2002 transfer of 640 acres of Hood River County public lands to Mount Hood Meadows in the Cooper Spur Area. The challenge will determine the fate of 1,200 acres on the north slope of Mt. Hood in the Parkdale area.

Hood River County had asked Thrive to stay this case in 2002 and enter into mediation with the County and Meadows. Mediation resulted in a deal signed by Thrive, Meadows, and the County, in which the parties agreed to the permanent protection of the North slope of Mt. Hood through a land trade. To guarantee the bargain, the parties agreed to keep pending litigation open so that either party could reactivate the litigation if the settlement’s goals were disregarded. Trust, but verify.

Two decades later, Meadows is opting out of the deal and simultaneously asking the Judge to dismiss our original challenge to the 2002 land trade. Fortunately, the Judge ruled in Thrive’s favor that our case was legitimate.

The Judge struck all of Meadows’ claims. “In my view, Thrive has the better argument,” he said.

Thrive has a long and proud record of protecting Hood River’s farmland, forest, and water supplies. We engage in dialogue, we try to solve problems, and we foster collaboration with local and state government.

In 2005, we swallowed hard, trusted Meadows, and made a deal that involved compromise. We committed thousands of hours to make that deal happen in good faith. We exhausted every possible option, but what Meadows chose to pursue unilaterally was not the deal that was struck.

This week’s ruling clears the decks for the original land trade case to be decided:

The Judge will now decide whether to undo the 2002 land trade where Hood River County paid over a million dollars to trade 640 acres of public lands in the Crystal Springs Watershed to Meadows while simultaneously, in a separate process, making those forest lands newly eligible for a massive 450-unit destination resort.

Twenty years is a long time. Memories fade. Energy can dwindle. So I recently pulled out our Summer 2001 Newsletter to remind us of what this case is all about: “A destination resort is sneaking into Hood River County, but you would have to be paying very close attention to be aware of it.” Back in 2001, local residents who attended the County Commission hearing were perplexed at the few days’ notice over this significant trade of land in our public drinking watershed and the lack of a clear public benefit to the transfer. Thrive’s 2001 newsletter stated: “[i]t is difficult to understand why the County would trade watershed land to a private party when that area provides water to about half its citizens.”

Through litigation, Thrive uncovered drawings, plans, and meetings between Meadows and former County officials to build over 450 condos and homes, a shopping mall, restaurants, and a golf course in the watershed. The discoveries we made in the litigation and a win in the Court of Appeals prompted Meadows to ask for mediation; through mediation, we made a deal whereby the parties paused all litigation while we pursued protections for the north side of Mount Hood.

For two decades, Thrive stood by its word. Now, protecting Mount Hood’s North Side means resuming our challenge of the 2002 land trade.

-Nico Salter, Executive Director, Thrive Hood River – released April 5, 2023