Join Gorge Owned for a panel discussion that peels back the layers of time at the former Nichols Boat Basin site and explores the dynamic history of the Columbia River waterfront—and how the past informs the future.
Shifting Sand: A Journey Through Time at the Columbia’s Nichols Boat Basin
With Lorri Epstein, Carina Miller and Arthur Babitz (organized by Columbia Riverkeeper)
Once towering with cottonwood trees and cut with braided channels, history has shaped and re-shaped the Hood River’s confluence with the Columbia. Our dynamic waterfront has been inundated by rising waters behind Bonneville Dam, altered with fill, and transformed by industrial activity. Today the waterfront and Nichols Boat Basin offer new opportunities for habitat restoration, education, and community.
Join Gorge Owned for a panel discussion that peels back the layers of time at the former Nichols Boat Basin site and explores the dynamic history of the Columbia River waterfront—and how the past informs the future, March 20, 7 p.m. at the Columbia Center for the Arts. Carina Miller, a dynamic speaker and Tribal Council Member from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, will share stories about how Native Americans used the confluence of the Columbia and Hood rivers for fishing and hunting grounds—and how tribal members continue to exercise treaty rights in the area today.
Former Hood River mayor and amateur historian Arthur Babitz will offer a birds-eye view of the changing waterfront and anecdotes from the lives of people that shaped waterfront’s history. And Columbia Riverkeeper’s Water Quality Director, Lorri Epstein, will present Riverkeeper’s ambitious plans to turn Nichols—a former industrial site—into an outdoor classroom and community-led habitat restoration site. You’ll walk away seeing the Columbia in a whole new light.
- What: Gorge Owned Sense of Place Lecture Series, "Shifting Sand: A Journey Through Time at the Columbia’s Nichols Boat Basin."
- Who: Panelists include Lorri Epstein, Carina Miller, and Arthur Babitz.
- When: Wednesday, March 20, 2019, doors at 6:30 p.m., event at 7 p.m.
- Where: Columbia Center for the Arts, 215 Cascade Avenue, Hood River Oregon.
- Tickets: Cost $5-$10 suggested donation, purchase online.
Bios:
Lorri Epstein coordinates Columbia Riverkeeper’s Nichols Natural Area and volunteer Water Quality Monitoring programs. She has a B.A. in Environmental Studies from UNC-Chapel Hill and an M.S. in Biology from the University of Montana. Her graduate research focused on juvenile salmon on a remote river on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.
Carina Miller is an elected member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Tribal Council. She holds a degree in Ethnic Studies from the University of Oregon and has worked in mainstream media, Warm Spring Tribe’s Children’s Protective Services, and at Head Start.
Arthur Babitz is an electrical engineer, a former mayor of Hood River, and an amateur historian. He is currently helping the History Museum of Hood River County digitize and organize its collection of photographic images. He is also author of the popular photoblog HistoricHoodRiver.com.
Our vision for the Nichols Natural Area: engage, educate, and inspire the diverse communities of the Columbia River Gorge to turn a former industrial site into vibrant riverfront habitat.
