In a letter to the Columbia River Gorge Commission , I urged commissioners to approve the 250-unit Broughton Landing project near Stevenson. The project would be located on the old Broughton lumber mill site which is a stone's throw away from the Skamania Lodge just east of Bonneville Dam on State Route 14. Broughton Landing could bring up to 60 permanent jobs and a couple million dollars in local tax revenues each year. That's important for rural counties like Skamania where the unemployment rate hovers around 9%. Along with construction jobs, the project would bring in an estimated $50 million in tourism revenue to Skamania County and $64 million to Hood River County (Oregon) each year.
Prior to coming to AWB 22 years ago, I was Washington public affairs manager for Crown Zellerbach, a major forest products company which owned forestlands in the Gorge. Part of my job was to work on the policies which would govern the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. When Crown traded its forestlands to the state and federal governments, we wanted to encourage economic development that would create replacement jobs as well as enhance the beauty and natural character of the Gorge. The Broughton Landing removes the old Broughton lumber mill, which has become an eyesore, and replaces it with a destination resort.
Jason Sparado, president of SDS Lumber, is the project manager for Broughton Landing. The size of the project was cut from 550 units to 250 units. Sparado and his group need the flexibility to construct the resort and make other improvements to enhance the scenic area itself. If should be approved. E-mail the Commission at comments@gorgecommission.org.
