Meet Your New Columbia River Gorge Commissioner: An Interview with Elaine Albrich

By Cole Goodwin

The Dalles, OR, 97058 August 4th, 2023– Wasco County has appointed Elaine Albrich to the Columbia River Gorge Commission. The commission is made up of three state appointed commissioners, six county appointed commissioners, and one U.S. Secretary of Agriculture appointed commissioner. Albrich is the newest member of the commission.

Meet Your Commissioner
An Interview with Elaine Albrich

Contributed photo.

Originally from Portland, this soon to be Dufur resident is a new resident of the Gorge but her passion for the outdoors and the land runs deep. Now, this land use attorney is hoping to bring her knowledge navigating and resolving complex land use issues to the Gorge Commission.

Tell us a little bit about yourself, what brings you to Dufur?

We wanted to be on the East side of the mountain and Wasco County and we found our spot.

I used to ride horses a lot. I loved riding horses! I grew up riding horses as a kid and I rode horses as an adult. It was one of those things where I loved going out to the horse barn– it was one of those things– like just checking out of your mind and just really focusing on what you’re doing and being present with your horse friend…and it was just a really nice feeling and escape.

And I have had less time now to do that sort of thing. I worked a lot the last ten years. But now, being outside and having projects on our property I feel some sense of that again and I really enjoy being in the sunshine and having you know, house projects and yard projects, and going to meet your friends and go out hiking and just having that sense of getting to just be. So I’m really enjoying just finding those outdoor hobbies again.

And I have a good group of friends and both my husband and I's families live here in Oregon in the Portland regional area so it is not too far from them and it’s great to be able to spend time with them. And I’m just looking forward to learning more about the community and becoming more engaged.

What do you bring to the commission?

I have a good amount of board experience and I understand how to work in a group decision making format. And as far as my professional background, I am a land use lawyer and I work at the intersection of law and policy, for my day job and I find it to be a really fun place to work. So, I bring a good familiarity with how the law works and the ins and outs of Federal, State, and Local statutes and I think that will help me to ask good questions. I also work a lot with the food, beverage and agriculture industry, in helping them with site development and permitting projects and operational compliance.

What motivates you to be on the commission?

I think it’s a great way to learn the ins and outs of the community we want to be based in. It’s about balancing the hard challenges we face with climate change and world economic issues, and wildfire. There’s a lot of really complicated challenges facing the gorge, so I think it’s a really good way for me to use my skills to give back to the community.

CCCNews: Do you like a challenge?

I do. I think it’s fun to try and problem solve and find good solutions. And I was on Sustainable Northwest’s board for the last 10 years and I’m rolling off the board this year, so I have a new capacity to take on a new volunteer opportunity and it seemed like a good fit.

What are the biggest challenges facing the commission right now and how do you plan to address those challenges?

I think we are at a place in time where things are becoming more and more divisive, so one of my goals would be to make sure that doesn’t become a mode of operation within the commission. We are facing more complex challenges in respect to climate change, housing, homelessness, and wildfire…there’s just a lot of big issues and I think it’s going to take everybody working together to face those challenges. And I think it’s got to be not just the commission tackling it, but also the commission leveraging its position to support other organizations at the local level who are working towards addressing those challenges also.

There was some controversy/concern over your appointment due to your previous work history as an attorney, can you speak to that?

I think most of that controversy was just concern from the Friends of Gorge about my previous land use work with the Port of The Dalles and we worked in coalition with the County and the City of The Dalles. I’ve been working in the renewable energy industry for almost 15 years helping clients build wind and solar battery storage projects across the Pacific Northwest. I am really committed to the green transition and decarbonizing the grid. That’s really important to me and I am lucky to be working in this field for so long. And part of my work with those clients is helping them advocate for certain legislative policy that helps further the transition to renewable energy.

Thanks for speaking with us today Elaine!