Having fought the plant for years, environmentalists expressed surprise that the state has greenlighted a major new greenhouse gas polluter.
For the first time, the management plan requires a climate action strategy to continue to protect the region and adapt to changing climate.
Powerful political and economic forces are at odds over how resources, communities and growth in the Gorge should be managed.
Significant logistical challenges were posed for the U.S. Forest Service when it recently reopened the attraction for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A unanimous vote by the Columbia River Gorge Commission marks the first major change to urban boundary policy in more than three decades.
The project aims to restore 965 acres of floodplain habitat in the Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
KOIN-TV's Ken Boddie interviews Conservation Director Michael Lang (includes video).
When it was time to restore the historic Columbia River Gorge Highway, now part of a popular hiking and biking route, much of the work was done with Land and Water Conservation funds.