Ordinances

New land uses within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area are reviewed for consistency with land use rules, called “ordinances.” These ordinances implement the Management Plan for the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. For Klickitat County, the Gorge Commission staff administers the National Scenic Area Ordinance, Commission Rule 350-82. The USDA Forest Service administers land use standards in the Management Plan without a land use ordinance for federal projects on federal lands. View the National Scenic Area Land Use Ordinance for Klickitat County

The National Scenic Area Act requires each of the six Gorge counties—Multnomah, Hood River, and Wasco counties in Oregon, and Clark, Skamania, and Klickitat counties in Washington—to adopt land use ordinances that are consistent with the Management Plan. The Gorge Commission must review those ordinances and amendments to those ordinances for consistency with the Management Plan. If a county does not have a National Scenic Area land use ordinance, the Gorge Commission must adopt and administer one for National Scenic Area lands in that county. The Secretary of Agriculture must concur with the Gorge Commission’s consistency determination for county land use ordinances relating to the special management area portions of an ordinance. Five of the Gorge counties have adopted a National Scenic Area land use ordinance:

• Clark County WA Code Ch. 40.240
• Skamania County WA Code Tit. 22
• Multnomah County OR Code Ch. 38
• Hood River County OR Zoning Ordinance, Art. 75
• Wasco County OR NSA Land Use & Dev. Ordinance