News From Your Friends

What’s on our Radar – Week of September 8th, 2025

September 8, 2025 in General

Friends of Clark County’s annual fundraising dinner is THIS WEEKEND, Sunday, September 14th! Get your tickets and view our fabulous live and silent auction items here.

  • Last week:

    • There were no Clark County Council meetings last week.

    • There was a Planning Commission work session on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Transition Plan Update. You can watch it here or view the meeting notes from the League of Women Voters Observer Corps here.

    • There was a Development and Engineering Advisory Board (DEAB) meeting. The audio is available here.
  • This week:

    • On Wednesday, September 10th at 9am, there will be a work session on the 2025 Comprehensive Plan Update, including open house feedback on land use alternatives. Meeting materials here:
    • Friday, September 12th is the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Trust Lands Tour with the Clark County Council. The public is invited but must provide their own transportation. Anyone looking to join the tour should meet at the Chelatchie General Store (prior to 8:30am when they will depart). The tour agenda is as follows:

      • Landscape Overlook (approx. 30 min from general store, 30min at site)
      • Turnover Timber Sale (45min at site) (NOTE: this sale is already scheduled for auction despite the opposition of the Clark County Council and residents, with the Board of Natural Resources vote slated for October 7th).
      • Old Growth Stand (60min at site)
      • Polar Bear VDT (20min at site)
      • Finish at Chelatchie General Store at 12pm
    • TONIGHT at 4pm is a Railroad Advisory Board meeting. More information here.

    • Wednesday, September 10th at 4pm is a Parks Advisory Board meeting. More information here.
  • Other happenings:
    • Camp Bonneville: We received confirmation last week that the FBI has requested (and has been granted) private meetings with Clark County Councilmembers with the goal of undermining the finality of their vote against a contract for their continued misuse of Camp Bonneville. See last week’s Radar for more details.
    • The Clark County Council is seeking volunteers to fill two openings on the county’s Planning Commission.
      One position is for six years and expires Dec. 31, 2031, and one position is for a four-year term that ends Dec. 31, 2029. Both positions begin Jan. 1, 2026. The Planning Commission is a seven-member committee that makes recommendations to the council on land-use planning, zoning and development in unincorporated Clark County. The commission also makes recommendations on issues such as growth management, roads, public facilities, development regulations and applicable county ordinances. To apply, send a letter of interest and résumé to Jake Goodwin, Clark County Council Office, PO Box 5000, Vancouver, WA 98666-5000 or jake.goodwin@clark.wa.gov. The application deadline is 5 pm Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. Learn more about the Planning Commission on the county’s website at: https://clark.wa.gov/community-planning/planning-commission.
    • Climate Planning development: At a recent work session, the Clark County Council was asked for guidance on setting the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target for a draft of climate policy recommendations that will be presented to the public for feedback. They were presented three options:
      • Option 1: Default statewide target (most conservative option), net zero by 2050. Staff recommended this as a placeholder for the draft.
      • Option 2: Net zero by 2045. More ambitious.
      • Option 3: Net zero by 2040 (matching the City of Vancouver. Very ambitious. Staff noted that Option 3 can create more of a sense of urgency and provide more near term benefits, such as better air quality sooner.

        Councilors Little, Yung, and Belkot (Fuentes not present) directed staff to use Option 1 for the draft (Chair Marshall wanted Option 2, while no one supported the most ambitious Option 3); however, their reasoning made it clear that they were in support of this being the ultimate GHG reduction target—not just the target to be used for the draft. If you want to see the council choose a more ambitious GHG reduction goal for Clark County, you’ll need to make sure they hear from you! Easy contact form available here: https://clark.wa.gov/councilors/write-councilor We’ll keep you posted on what’s next for public participation in the climate planning process.

    • Legacy forests: While many recently celebrated a big announcement regarding forest preservation from Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove, experts/advocates have come out to call it a betrayal. According to the Washington Legacy Forest Defense Coalition, Upthegrove’s new forest policy “green lights logging of 29,000 acres of legacy forests.” You can read their statement here: https://wlfdc.org/so/52PZp7nmO?languageTag=en&cid=7e759528-86c1-4fb8-931f-3443127032c9

      We at FOCC have confirmed that Upthegrove’s current plan will ensure the death of Turnover, Dendrophobia, and potentially more of Clark County’s remaining legacy forest areas, despite clear, abundant opposition by our community and our own Clark County Council. We are following these developments and will keep you updated.

See you next week!
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