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Gorge Commission executive committee schedules briefings from Oregon and Washington on climate resilience
Summary
The executive committee set the May in‑person commission meeting to include a 35–40 minute briefing from the Oregon governor’s office and a brief from Washington climate staff to compare resilience priorities; staff said the Oregon orders act as a "north star," not a binding mandate on the commission.
The Columbia River Gorge Commission’s executive committee on May 12 confirmed that the commission will hear a 35–40 minute briefing from the Oregon governor’s office and a brief presentation from Washington climate staff when the full commission meets in person in May.
"As of 09:40 ... we will have Jeff Huntington, who's the natural resources, the senior policy adviser, to Governor Kotek and other staff who are working on the executive orders ... giving us about a 35 or 40 minute presentation with an opportunity for questions for the commissioners," Christina, the staff lead on the meeting, said.
Lisa, who staff said will represent Washington climate priorities, told commissioners the Washington plan is an implementation‑focused strategy rather than an executive order. "The purpose of the resilience EO, which is the 25 26, is really focused on kind of interagency coordination," Lisa said, describing the Oregon resilience EO as creating a shared vision and metrics for agencies to align around.
Commissioners pressed whether the Oregon executive orders require the commission to change policy or management. Christina and Lisa said the orders are intended as guidance. "It does not have funding attached with to this. It provides guidance for agencies to be able to be moving in the same direction, but it's not... a regulatory requirement per se to us as I understand it right now," Lisa said.
Staff told commissioners they have already briefed governor's staff on the commission’s existing climate change action plan and expect the presentations to identify areas where the commission is already aligned and where it might consider emphasizing different priorities during the next management plan review. The presentations will include time for commissioner questions and discussion.
The briefing scheduling and staff comments were framed as informational; commissioners did not take formal action at the executive committee meeting.
The full commission is scheduled to meet in person in May; staff said the governor’s presenters will be available to 'patch in' to other meetings if scheduling requires it.
