Remembering Kate McCarthy
Our community recently lost an inspirational and iconic leader when Kate McCarthy passed away on November 3, 2015. Kate was a founding member of the Hood River Valley Residents Committee and worked tirelessly for decades on conservation of Mt. Hood, the Columbia River Gorge, and the forests and farmland of the Hood River Valley.
A memorial service will be held for Kate on December 13 at 2 pm at the Hood River Inn, 1108 East Marina Drive, Hood River.
Kate’s obituary is here and condolences are being received online.
The Legacy of Kate McCarthy by Ron Cohen
Kate McCarthy, one of Hood River Valley Residents Committee’s founding board members passed away in November at age 98. She will be missed. I was lucky enough to have worked with Kate as past president and board member for over 30 years. I have many fond memories of her commitment and enthusiasm for fighting for the protection of our Valley’s farm and forest land. Her drive was daunting.
She was spurred into action in the 1970s when she got a knock on her door from a developer proposing a golf course on her farm south of Parkdale. They picked the wrong woman to tell they were going to build a major destination resort around her house. The proposal called for the upper valley, home to forests and fruit orchards, to be developed into a resort town of thousands of people. Kate and friends got together to fight the proposal and the Hood River Valley Residents Committee was born. Kate was a proponent of wise land use planning and a staunch supporter of maintaining valley orchards in the face of development. With others from the Hood River Valley, she worked hard for the passage of Oregon’s first statewide land use planning laws in 1973.
Kate was a tireless advocate for her favorite place, Mount Hood. Her advocacy on behalf of her mountain has become legendary. She chronicled decades of change with her camera. Kate would come to meetings and hearings prepared with about fifty or so photographs shedding light on what was threatened or what had disappeared. A frequent refrain was “you can never show enough ugly pictures.” It was impressive to see her in action with her photographs as ammunition to help plead her case for the protection of our special places. Kate was a founding member of Friends of Mount Hood and Cooper Spur Wild and Free Coalition and instrumental to the passage of two bills that brought Wilderness protection to thousands of acres of Mount Hood National Forest.
Early in the fight for Columbia Gorge protection she became a spokesperson for the passage of the National Scenic Area Act. In the 1970s, Governor Bob Straub appointed Kate to serve on the Gorge Commission. Speaking of that work Kate said, “When it comes to the Gorge, my enthusiasm knows no bounds. We have a treasure in our midst, almost beyond comprehension with such a variety of resources–visual, botanical, geological, historical. I know of no place where the change of climate and scenery is so dramatic as traveling from the rainforest of the western Gorge to the near desert conditions a few miles each way.”
Kate never broke faith with her beliefs and remained dedicated to something outside herself. Her passion for the natural world, her integrity, humility, artistry, and tenacity make her a role model and inspiration for all of us.