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HRVRC in the News
HRVHS students get real-life lesson about land use planning
Hood River News
[November 27th, 2008]
Planting seeds for the future
HRVHS students get real-life lesson about land use planning
By ADAM LAPIERRE
News staff writer
There was something in the air, and wasn’t love.
It was a pungent smell, and it puckered the eyes of the Hood River Valley High School students as they toured the Hood River wastewater treatment plant last week.
With large safety glasses, pants wet at the ankles from walking around in the rain and faces like they were sucking on lemons, the students learned about the facility that processes the city’s dirty water.
The group of students was Kristen Uhler’s health class, and the stop at the wastewater treatment plant was one of several around town in an all-day field trip to expose students to the concepts of land use planning around the Hood River Valley.
Later that day the group boarded a school bus and headed up the valley to learn about the opposite end of water resource planning; the Crystal Springs Watershed.
In all, about 100 juniors and seniors from HRVHS took part in the special land-use educational field trip, which was done as part of Uhler’s environmental health unit. With the help of the Hood River Valley Residents Committee and several public and private entities, the students were able to get out of the classrooms and into the field to learn about land use issues happening in their own community.
“Land use can be an awfully boring subject to read about,” said Jonathan Graca, HRVRC executive director. “I think this field trip was an exciting learning experience that will encourage kids to think about how land use has shaped our valley, and get them thinking and talking about their visions for the future of our valley.”
During the field trip, the students visited with the Hood River Planning Department as they toured the urban growth boundary to learn how zoning works, why UGBs were put in place and how Hood River might grow in the future.
The students then toured the water treatment plant, where they learned about the City of Hood River’s water system and how wastewater is treated before it is released into the Columbia River.
After lunch at the Mount Hood Town Hall, the class continued up the valley with a tour of the Hood River watershed and of Crystal Springs, where they met with hydrologist Ed Salminen and County Commissioner Les Perkins to learn about the valley’s watershed and zone of contribution issues.
“The goal was to get kids thinking more about what is going on in their back yards,” Graca said. “I think that for many of the students the subject matter was new and difficult to get a grasp on, but as Kristen Uhler said, we are planting seeds … We are trying to get the kids to think about how they can be part of solutions for the future of the valley.”
The field trip, which Uhler and Graca hope to organize again next term, was made possible with the help and cooperation of several groups and individuals, including the Gray Family Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, Hood River Valley High School, the City of Hood River Planning Department and Public Works and the employees at the water treatment plant, Kevin Liburdy, Bruce Howard, Ed Salminen, Isa Taylor and Dave Bick.