Columbia Gorge Future Forum
Vital Signs Indicators Project
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Columbia Gorge Future Forum
Columbia Gorge Future Forum
Guiding growth for a vibrant, sustainable future
Mission Statement:
To guide future growth in the Columbia Gorge toward sustaining the region’s quality of life, environment and economic well-being.
The Columbia Gorge Future Forum is an effort to stimulate regional discussion about the future of the Gorge in 20 years. This Gorge collaboration reaches across tribal, city, county, and state borders in an effort to approach the future of this magnificent area in an integrated way.
ABOUT THE FUTURE FORUM
How It All Started:
The Future Forum kick-off conference was on October 29 at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center in The Dalles, Oregon. At this exciting and successful event, a keynote speaker and expert panelists sparked dialogue about how Gorge citizens and stakeholders envision the future of the Gorge. The presentations, written comments and small group discussion comments will be compiled into the larger Future Forum report, scheduled for completion in July 2008. At present, however, you can view the...
Top Ideas from October 29:
The written responses from the October 29 event have been analyzed and the five most common ideas for each question identified. Click here to view the pdf summarizing the top ideas. Or to get a better sense of the day, download the highlights video or view the full program video from a library or through purchase.
Highlights Video:
You can download the 15-minute highlights video from the Gorge Commission's ftp site! Once you click on this link, you will be prompted to enter a user name (gorgecommissionftp) and a password (gcftp). There will be two options for you to download: the ff_mov plays on Quicktime and the ff_wmv plays on Windows Media Player. These are large files so please be patient! Contact Jessica Metta if you have difficulties (contact info at bottom of this page).
Full Program Video:
A DVD is available that contains the highlights video as well as the video of the entire program on October 29th. Public copies have been placed at libraries throughout the Gorge, and the main branches of Vancouver and Portland. You can also purchase a copy for $5 - contact Jessica Metta if you're interested (contact info at bottom of this page).
Community Meetings and Web Survey:
The second phase of the process was a series of small community-based dialogues throughout the Gorge in an effort to have all Gorge stakeholders participate in the Future Forum. At these free events, community members had the opportunity to voice their own desires for the future of the Gorge. Community meetings lasted from February to April 2008 and were held in Stevenson, Corbett, Carson, North Bonneville, Mosier, Underwood, Dallesport, Hood River, White Salmon, Washougal, The Dalles and Cascade Locks.
All meetings followed the same basic agenda. Attendees were asked the same questions from the October 29 event: what do you value about the Gorge, what are you concerned that's changing and what do want for the future of the Gorge. The community meetings differed slightly from the October 29 event in that attendees were also encouraged to talk about their local community in addition to the entire Gorge and a fourth question was added to identify some local actions that might help make their visions a reality.
For those who couldn't attend a meeting, a web survey was launched in February 2008 asking the same three questions that were asked at the October 29th event and at all the community meetings. The survey was up through May 1, 2008.
Community Meeting Notes:
After each community meeting, the group discussion notes written on the easel pad were transcribed and posted here. This also includes a vote count when group polling occurs. Each community was added to this document as the meetings occurred. Click here to view the easel pad notes.
Current Work:
All of the information gathered from the community meetings, web survey and October 29 event is being analyzed to identify common themes. A final report summarizing the results of the Future Forum is scheduled for release in July 2008. This report will be available for use by Gorge governments, organizations, businesses and the public.
Get Involved:
Send your contact information to Jessica Metta to receive updates about the Future Forum and be notified when the final report is available. Please include email, mailing address, and phone number.
Photos taken at the October 29 event:
Thank you to our sponsors. Please take a moment to visit their websites:
Foundation
Platinum
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Friends
A big thank you to members of the Working Group, who are organizing this event:
Jill Arens, Brian Litt and Jessica Metta, Columbia River Gorge Commission
Peggy Bryan, Skamania County Economic Development Council
Michael Cannon, Klickitat County Economic Development
Laura Comini, The Dalles Chamber of Commerce
Lee Curtis, Mid-Columbia Economic Development District
Chuck Daughtry, Port of Cascade Locks
Bill Fashing, Hood River County Economic Development
Virginia Kelly and Diana Ross, US Forest Service
Andrea Klaas, Port of The Dalles
Dean Meyerson, volunteer
Casey Roeder, Skamania County Chamber of Commerce
Dan Spatz, Columbia Gorge Community College
Phyllis Thiemann, Cascade Locks Event Coordinator
Karen Witherspoon, Skamania County Planning & Community Development
For more information, contact Jessica Metta at 509-493-3323 ext. 228 or via email.
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