🧭 Gorge Commission Economic Vitality Committee Hears Skamania’s Case - 3/4/26

March 4, 2026 Columbia River Gorge Commission Economic Vitality Committee Summary

With thanks as always to the Documenters releasing notes under CC-by-4.0.

The Gorge Commission’s Economic Vitality Committee is one of the clearest places where the Scenic Area’s two-part mission comes into focus. The federal Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act does not only call for protecting Gorge resources. It also says the Gorge’s economy must be protected and supported, including by encouraging growth in existing urban areas and allowing economic development that remains consistent with resource protection. The Gorge Commission describes economic vitality as one of the Act’s two stated purposes and says it works with ports, urban areas, and economic districts to support that goal.

That tension, with conservation on one hand, community survival on the other, ran through the entire March 4th committee meeting, where Skamania County Commissioner Asa Leckie was invited to describe the county’s economic pressures. But before the committee could get very far procedurally, staff confirmed it did not have a quorum, meaning members could hear updates and discuss ideas, but could not vote or take formal action.

⚠️ No Quorum, No Votes

The most immediate takeaway was procedural:

• The committee was short one member and could not take formal action.
• The December 2025 meeting summary was postponed.
• The committee could still hear presentations, discuss possible next steps, and take public comment.

That mattered because two of the biggest topics on the agenda, Skamania County’s economic challenges and the committee’s next move on ADUs, ended as discussion only, not decisions. The posted agenda listed both items.

🏔 Skamania’s Case: Protection Has Costs, and the County Feels Them

Leckie used his presentation to argue that Skamania County is carrying unusually heavy structural burdens. He described:

• a long shift from a timber economy to tourism
• a drop in tax rolls and strain on county services and schools
• federal forest ownership and Scenic Area protections limiting developable land
• a county where very little land is actually available for growth.

The Documenters notes captured his argument in unusually stark terms: most of the county is tied up in national forest or Scenic Area regulation, leaving only a tiny fraction readily developable. Later Leckie repeated a similar point, saying 92% of Skamania County is controlled by the U.S. Forest Service “in some form or fashion,” and that the Forest Service has to be part of any real solution.

Leckie’s larger point was not simply that regulation is burdensome. It was that conservation comes with real local trade-offs for schools, search and rescue, emergency services, infrastructure, and the tax base, and those costs are not being shared fairly. He argued that if protecting land is a public good, local communities should not be left carrying so much of the financial burden alone.

🏛 What the Committee Said It Can and Can't Do

Committee chair Lach Litwer did not dispute the economic pressure Leckie described. But he drew a clear line around what this committee can actually do. His basic point was:

• many of the land constraints Leckie described come from federal law and federal agencies
• the Gorge Commission did not create those constraints
• the committee’s role may be less about rewriting policy and more about helping convene the right conversations and connect communities to existing tools.

That is one of the most important signals from this meeting. The Economic Vitality Committee increasingly seems to be defining itself not as another permitting body, but as a regional convener: a place where local officials can explain where the pressure points are, where partner agencies can compare notes, and where the Gorge Commission can try to be useful rather than simply restrictive. The committee appears to be positioning itself as a group that can help communities inside the National Scenic Area rather than reinforcing the perception that regulation is only a barrier.

💸 Loan Money May Not Be the Bottleneck

A notable turn in the conversation came when Litwer asked whether existing economic-development funding is actually reaching the places under the most strain.

Jessica Metta of the Mid-Columbia Economic Development District (MCEDD) said the issue is not necessarily that the region is running out of loan money. Instead:

• funding is generally available
• projects are often handled as applications come in
• the larger problem may be that not enough applicants are coming forward.

Litwer’s response was to suggest the committee could help with outreach: making sure business owners and communities know what programs already exist, and helping amplify the work being done by MCEDD and related investment boards. That lines up with the Gorge Commission’s own description of its economic-vitality work, including its role in certifying loans and grants under the Act.

🏘 Housing and Carson Sewer Kept Coming Up

For Skamania County, the conversation repeatedly came back to housing. Leckie said affordable housing is now one of the county’s biggest barriers. He described:

• average home prices in Skamania County above $530,000
• employers struggling to attract younger workers and families
• a workforce skewing older
• school enrollment pressure tied to the lack of younger households.

He also pointed to a very practical bottleneck: infrastructure. In communities like Carson, the lack of sewer service makes denser housing much harder to build, even in the limited places where development is possible.

That led to one of the clearest concrete offers in the meeting. Metta said that if Carson moves toward seeking funding for a sewer solution, a support letter from the Gorge Commission could be helpful. Litwer responded that he would support not just a letter, but even public testimony if needed.

That may sound small, but it is worth watching. It hints at a version of the Gorge Commission that uses its regional status to support projects that fit both sides of the Scenic Area Act: protecting resources while also making communities more livable.

🪠 Editor's Note: Sewer Challenges Outside Urban Exception Zones

Carson’s sewer issue is part of a larger Gorge-wide problem. Nearby unincorporated communities face many of the same wastewater constraints, and often even stricter Gorge Management Plan limits because they sit outside designated Urban Areas, where sewer expansion and upgrades face narrower pathways.

That means sewer is not just a growth debate. Upgrading aging systems can bring immediate public-health benefits for existing residents while also helping protect the scenic, natural, and water resources named in the National Scenic Area Act. Allowing updates to modern wastewater treatment options can reduce septic failures, contamination risks, and other forms of environmental damage. With the Gorge Management Plan set for a broader review in 2027, this looks like one area where code revisions can be considered to ensure these rules do not become a barrier to reducing pollution and protecting the landscape they were meant to conserve.

🏠 ADUs: No Decision Now, Likely Folded Into 2027

The committee also returned to accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in the National Scenic Area, but once again, the missing quorum meant no action.

Still, Litwer previewed where he thinks the committee is headed:

• he expects to recommend not pursuing a standalone plan amendment right now
• he noted that the full Management Plan is expected to reopen in 2027
• instead, he wants an outside working group to gather community expertise and examine the constraints before that broader review.

That is significant. It suggests the committee is leaning away from trying to fast-track an ADU change on its own timeline and toward making it part of the bigger 2027 Management Plan process instead.

💬 Public Comment Added Pushback

Public commenter Mary Repar argued that not all of Skamania’s current problems can be blamed on outside regulation. She pointed to earlier county spending decisions, long-running tax and housing issues, local choices around infrastructure, including Carson sewer. She also pushed back on Leckie’s comments about large fuel breaks, arguing there are better ways to pursue forest safety.

🔍 Why This Matters

This was a small committee meeting with no votes, but it still offered an important preview of a bigger Gorge debate.

The core question: what does it actually mean to “support the economy” of the Gorge while still protecting the Gorge itself? The text of the federal law says both goals matter. What this meeting showed is that this committee is as interested in the slow but often rewarding work of convening agencies, supporting infrastructure asks, helping communities find existing funding tools, and laying groundwork for the much larger Management Plan debates coming in 2027.

For all of our readers, that makes this committee worth watching even when it does not vote. It is becoming one of the places where local officials are trying to translate some of the region’s oldest contradictions into something more practical: housing, sewer, business support, and whether the costs of protecting the Gorge are being shared fairly.

⏭️ What Comes Next

A few things to watch from here:

• whether the committee can meet next time with a quorum
• whether the Gorge Commission follows through on more county-by-county economic presentations
• whether the Commission ends up supporting a future Carson sewer funding request
• whether ADU discussions formally shift into 2027 Management Plan prep
• whether the committee settles into a more regular schedule after members discussed trying the first Wednesday of the month.

📅 Join the Next Meeting

As of March 10, 2026, the Gorge Commission’s upcoming meetings page does not yet list a new Economic Vitality Committee date. The next posted full Commission meeting is:

March 2026 Monthly CRGC Meeting
Tuesday, March 10, 2026
8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Via Zoom
The Zoom registration link is in the agenda, and the Commission says general information for attending meetings is posted on its meetings page.

Public comment:
The Gorge Commission’s meetings page says attendees should use the agenda materials and registration instructions posted for each meeting, and that meeting changes are announced on the Commission website.