Friends of the Columbia Gorge focuses on litigation and administrative proceedings that will help protect the sensitive and unique resources of the Columbia River Gorge and establish positive precedent for future decisionmaking. Friends' legal work emphasizes the protection of scenic, natural, cultural, and recreational resources and the enforcement of scenic area land use rules.

Management Plan

1. Friends et al. v. Columbia River Gorge Commission (Oregon Supreme Court)

Friends and several other conservation groups, businesses, and Gorge landowners appealed the Gorge Commission's adoption of the revised Management Plan for the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. The revised Management Plan violates the Scenic Area Act by failing to protect and enhance scenic, natural, cultural, agricultural, forest, and open space resources.

Status:  Oral argument is scheduled for October.
Counsel: Gary Kahn, Mary Kyle McCurdy (1000 Friends of Oregon)

2. Friends et al. v. Secretary of Agriculture et al. (Federal District Court of Oregon)

Related to the active appeal in the Oregon Supreme Court, Friends and several other parties have challenged the Secretary of Agriculture's concurrence on the revised Management Plan.

Status: Oral argument is scheduled for late September.
Counsel: Gary Kahn, Mary Kyle McCurdy (1000 Friends of Oregon)

3. Friends et al. v. Columbia River Gorge Commission (Oregon Supreme Court)

Friends and several Corbett landowners appealed the Gorge Commission's adoption of an amendment to the Management Plan allowing new commercial uses on historic properties. The plan amendment fails to protect scenic, natural, cultural, and recreational resources and violates the Scenic Area Act's zoning requirements.  

Status:  Oral argument is scheduled for October.
Counsel: Gary Kahn

4. Friends et al. v. Columbia River Gorge Commission (Oregon Supreme Court)

Friends and several Corbett landowners appealed the Gorge Commission's unlawful rejection of Multnomah County's decision to limit new commercial uses to properties actually listed on the National Register of Historic Places and to not allow such uses on properties that are merely "eligible" for listing.

Status:  Oral argument is scheduled for October.
Counsel: Gary Kahn

5. Friends et al. v. Columbia River Gorge Commission (Oregon Court of Appeals)

Friends and several other conservation groups, businesses, and Gorge landowners appealed the Columbia River Gorge Commission's adoption of an amendment to the Management Plan allowing destination resorts outside Gorge urban areas and with unlimited numbers of residential units.

Status:  Appeal was filed in mid-September; record is being prepared.
Counsel: Gary Kahn

Natural Resources

1. Condit Hydroelectric Project (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission)

In December 1992, Friends and other groups, led by American Rivers, intervened in a FERC proceeding involving relicensing of PacifiCorp's hydroelectric dam on the White Salmon River. In September 1999, numerous parties (PacifiCorp, fourteen environmental groups, the Yakama Indian Nation, and state and federal agencies) reached a settlement agreement that requires removal of the dam. If FERC approves this agreement, removal will commence in October 2009.

Status: Permitting phase
Counsel: Brett Swift (American Rivers), Nathan Baker (Friends)

2. Condit Hydroelectric Project Fish Ladder Hearing (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and U.S. Department of Interior)

In 2005, PacifiCorp requested a trial-type hearing to challenge the agencies' conclusions that a fish ladder would be required at Condit Dam in the event that FERC does not approve dam removal. Friends and three other conservation groups intervened.

Status: This proceeding is stayed until after FERC decides whether to officially approve dam removal.
Counsel: Bart Brush

3. Friends and In Defense of Animals v. Elicker, et al. (Federal District Court of Oregon)

Friends and In Defense of Animals have challenged a decision by the U.S. Forest Service, Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to introduce Rocky Mountain goats to federal lands in the Columbia River Gorge without first reviewing the project under the Scenic Area Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and Mt. Hood Forest Plan. The agencies failed to evaluate the potential impacts to natural and recreational resources, failed to consider alternatives, and failed to demonstrate that mountain goats are native to the introduction area.

Status: Court has issued its opinion in favor of plaintiffs; final judgment has not yet been entered
Counsel: Gary Kahn

4. Friends and In Defense of Animals v. Hood River County (Columbia River Gorge Commission)

Friends and In Defense of Animals have challenged a decision by the Hood River County Planning Director. The Planning Director erroneously concluded that the introduction of Rocky Mountain goats to Special Management Area lands in the National Scenic Area is a use allowed outright (i.e., without review).

Status: Appeal is temporarily stayed by order of the Chair of the Gorge Commission
Counsel: Gary Kahn

5. Sierra Club et al. v. Portland General Electric

Friends and several other conservation groups are taking action to remedy PGE's violations of the Clean Air Act and other environmental protection laws. PGE's coal-fired power plant at Boardman, Oregon is violating the opacity requirements of the federal New Source Performance Standards, Oregon's State Implementation Plan, and the power plant's Title V permit. In addition, PGE violated applicable law by constructing, modifying, and operating the plant without complying with the Prevention of Significant Deterioration requirements and other laws.

Status: 60-Day Notice of Intent to Sue has been filed; parties are conducting settlement discussions
Counsel: Allison LaPlante, Aubrey Baldwin, George Hays

Land Use and Zoning

1. Reynier v. Skamania County (Skamania County Superior Court)

Friends intervened on behalf of Skamania County in an appeal by a landowner of a county decision that approved a proposed dwelling and denied a second proposed dwelling. The subject property consists of one legal lot that is eligible for only one dwelling.

Status:  Briefing ongoing
Counsel: Gary Kahn

2. Reynier v. Skamania County (Skamania County Superior Court)

Friends and adjacent neigbors intervened on behalf of Skamania County in an appeal of a county decision denying a third dwelling on a parcel eligible for only one new single-family dwelling.

Status: Briefing ongoing
Counsel: Gary Kahn

3. Friends v. Forest Service (Federal District Court of Oregon)

Friends filed an action for a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief challenging the Forest Service's decision to grant an easement to a logging company for use of a road in Skamania County so that it may be used to access private land for logging. The Forest Service failed to determine whether granting the easement was consistent with the requirements of the Gorge Management Plan and the National Environmental Policy Act.

Status: The court has issued an opinion in favor of Friends; costs and attorney fees not yet recovered.
Counsel: Gary Kahn, Erin Madden

4. Darcy v. Multnomah County (Oregon Court of Appeals)

Friends intervened on behalf of Multnomah County in an appeal of a county decision determining that several buildings and uses are not legally existing. The landowners failed to establish that the buildings and uses were lawfully established and have been continuously operated.

Status: The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed the Gorge Commission's decision without a written opinion.
Counsel: Nathan Baker, Gary Kahn

5. Skamania County Zoning Amendments (Skamania County Hearing Examiner)

Friends and Save Our Scenic Area (SOSA) appealed Skamania County's decision not to prepare an environmental impact statement for a proposal to allow large-scale energy development and other uses throught most of the county.

Status: The appellants have filed a motion asking the Hearing Officer to reconsider her decision to dismiss the appeals.
Counsel: Rick Poulin (Friends), Gary Kahn (Friends), Rick Aramburu (SOSA)
 

Last updated September 15, 2008 by Nathan Baker.