Rivers, Lakes & Aquifers – Friends of Clark County in SW Washington

February 9, 2026

URGENT: Help Protect Clark County Resource Lands from Irresponsible Railroad Expansion

in Comprehensive Plan & Growth Management Act, Farmland & Forests, Mining, Railroad, Rivers, Lakes & Aquifers

Support SB 5820 Dear Friends and Neighbors, More good news for Clark County: SB 5820, introduced by Senator Adrian Cortes (D-18th District), is a bill that fixes a serious problem created by SB 5517 in 2017 related to irresponsible railroad expansion. SB 5517 carved out a special exception that allowed industrial development on resource lands […]

December 11, 2025

The Ups and Downs of Dealing with Commissioner Upthegrove, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Board of Natural Resources: Legacy Forest Update

in Climate Change, Farmland & Forests, Rivers, Lakes & Aquifers, Wildlife Habitats

For more background on this issue, you can review our last legacy forest update or previous articles on the Dabbler. Big sigh, deep breath…Friends, we faced our last yearly Board of Natural Resources (BNR) meeting this December 2, 2025. FOCC has written and submitted three pages of comments, which you can see here. Accompanying our […]

December 9, 2025

Camp Bonneville Update

in Accountability, Climate Change, Comprehensive Plan & Growth Management Act, Rivers, Lakes & Aquifers

For background on developments and issues regarding Clark County’s nearly 4,000-acre conservation property, view our last Camp Bonneville Breakdown for the newsletter here. The Clark County Council’s Initial Vote Against the FBI Contract On Tuesday, August 19th, after sustained advocacy from the community over many years to protect the public safety, health, and interest, the […]

November 10, 2025

Camp Bonneville Periodic Review Comment Period and Open House

in Parks, Trails, & Open Spaces, Rivers, Lakes & Aquifers

The public comment period for Camp Bonneville cleanup is underway! “The Department of Ecology invites you to review and comment on the draft First Periodic Review and associated documents for the US Army Camp Bonneville Cleanup Site located at 23201 NE Pluss Road, Vancouver, Clark County. The document calls for amending cleanup action plans, where […]

June 23, 2025

READ FOCC’s Letter to the Clark County Council Re: Turnover Timber Sale and DNR-managed Clark County Trust Lands

in Climate Change, Farmland & Forests, Rivers, Lakes & Aquifers, Wildlife Habitats

RE: Turnover Timber Sale and DNR-managed Clark County Public Lands Dear Clark County Council, My name is Mary Goody and I am a board member of Friends of Clark County, a non-profit environmental advocacy organization that has been working collaboratively with Clark County since 1996 to protect our quality of life and economic viability for […]

May 12, 2025

Victory in Sight on the Chelatchie Bluff Surface Mining Overlay (SMO)!

in Climate Change, Farmland & Forests, Mining, Rivers, Lakes & Aquifers

The Clark County Council recently gave unanimous direction to move forward with repealing the Chelatchie Bluff surface mining overlay (SMO) over environmentally sensitive forest land in response to the Washington Court of Appeals ruling in FOCC’s favor on the matter, which would bring the county back into compliance with state law. To learn more about […]

March 4, 2025

The Ongoing Saga of the Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad (PVJR)

in Climate Change, Farmland & Forests, Mining, Rivers, Lakes & Aquifers

As always, we are closely following the long and winding story of the PVJR and all of its tendrils. Here are the updates as well as actions our members can take this month on this issue. We appreciate all of you who have already written letters, made calls, and donated! 1) Last month, the Environmental […]

March 4, 2025

Camp Bonneville Breakdown

in Climate Change, Farmland & Forests, Parks, Trails, & Open Spaces, Rivers, Lakes & Aquifers

One year ago, Friends of Clark County published a newsletter article detailing community concerns surrounding the cleanup process of Camp Bonneville, a 3,840-acre County-owned property located in the foothills of the Cascade Range about 7 miles north of the Columbia River in East County that was used as a military training camp for 85 years. […]

March 4, 2025

Fighting for the Destiny of the Dabbler

in Climate Change, Farmland & Forests, Parks, Trails, & Open Spaces, Rivers, Lakes & Aquifers, Wildlife Habitats

Photos courtesy of Joshua Wright of Legacy Forest Defense Coalition If you’re a regular FOCC supporter and/or you attended our recent forum on forests, chances are you know all about the Dabbler legacy forest timber sale. But, for those of you who don’t know, here is the long and short of it: For months, FOCC […]

February 10, 2025

ACTION NEEDED by February 14th: Write the EPA Urging REAL Accountability for the Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad/Eric Temple

in Accountability, Mining, Railroad, Rivers, Lakes & Aquifers

Hey Friends, Friends of Clark County and allies have learned about a proposed settlement between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad (PVJR)/Eric Temple regarding its unlawful destruction of the Curtin Creek and Chelatchie Prairie areas of Clark County. Outrageously, the settlement only proposes a $65,000 penalty on this multimillionaire, which […]