Columbia River Gorge Commission communications committee moves to craft strategic plan focused on residents and tribal partnerships

The Columbia River Gorge Commission's communications committee agreed on a plan to develop and start implementing a strategic communications plan that emphasizes outreach to Gorge residents and explicit engagement with treaty tribes, staff and commissioners said.

"The communications committee's primary work will be to develop a strategic communications plan for the agency," Christina, a staff member leading the session, told the committee as she shared a consolidated draft of the committee purpose and tasks.

Committee members debated wording and priority. One commissioner urged removing the word "stakeholders" in favor of "treaty tribes" followed by "partners," and multiple members recommended listing "residents" or "community" ahead of generic "interested parties" to signal the commission's focus on two-way dialogue with people who live in the Gorge.

"When we don't speak for ourselves, we allow other people to speak for us," a commissioner said, arguing the commission needs a clearer public voice after outside groups have dominated search results and public perception.

Members recommended that the communications document be state‑agnostic and refer to the commission directly rather than to a single governor's office. Commissioners also pressed for outcome-focused language: rather than only creating a document, the committee should "develop and implement" tactics and include key performance indicators to measure progress and review results periodically.

Staff warned of constrained capacity: Christina said agency staffing is roughly 25% below normal, and commissioners noted that any implementation plan must be realistic about available staff time and resources. Still, several commissioners said modest, recurring staff effort plus streamlined tools could sustain basic social‑media and website activity once a plan and a small set of KPIs are in place.

Committee members asked staff to fold website copy edits and a draft press release into the committee's workstream. Staff said they will integrate straightforward edits, flag larger or contested items for committee review, and return a consolidated draft for endorsement at the full commission meeting in May.

The committee scheduled monthly follow-ups and asked members to submit website comments by the posted deadline so staff can assemble the next version of copy and navigation changes for internal review.