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Gorge commissioners debate climate-driven fire risks and the management plan's role in recovery
Summary
At an Economic Vitality Committee meeting, commissioners discussed wildfire recovery, whether the management plan should be revised to treat climate-driven fire regimes as a central organizing issue, and disagreements about human causes including claims that recent fires may have been started by railroad activity.
Chair Loch Litworth convened the Columbia River Gorge Commission's Economic Vitality Committee and opened a discussion about the committee's role in wildfire recovery and in shaping future amendments to the management plan.
Commissioner Robert Liberty said the region faces a changed fire regime and urged the committee to treat climate-driven catastrophes as a major organizing concept for future updates to the management plan. "I think it's a bigger issue, which is the fire regime has changed due to climate change," Liberty said, arguing that past practices are no longer sufficient and that rebuilding the same way risks repeated losses.
Vice Chair Brennan Bissell pushed back on treating climate change as the sole driver, saying several recent major fires "were caused by the railroad, not by climate change" and warning against oversimplified conclusions. Chair Litworth cautioned that investigations into specific causes were ongoing and said commissioners should avoid assigning blame until findings are confirmed: "I don't know that there has been a finding yet to find out whether the railroad was the cause of the Rowena fire or the Berdauan fire," he said.
Commissioner Alex Johnson framed the discussion around resiliency and the committee's mandate, saying the Economic Vitality Committee should prepare the region economically as well as environmentally. "We have basically a mandate, not just to protect, but to enhance economic and environmental, and cultural, as well as scenic" vitality, Johnson said, urging planning for long-term resilience.
Staff member Christina asked commissioners to read the economic development chapter of the management plan before taking on any amendments; she said the chapter, adopted in 2020, "is not static" and may need updates to reflect new threats and policy priorities. The committee did not vote on changes but agreed to treat resilience and wildfire recovery as themes to inform future work and to gather additional expertise as needed.
The committee agreed to continue the conversation at later meetings, with staff and commissioners collecting background material to inform any formal amendment process.
