Bob Bailey
Bob Bailey’s name is synonymous with cherries. He recently retired after 55 years as manager, President, Chairman of his family’s 3000-acre Orchard View Farms—known nation-wide for their sweet cherries. Their care of the land earned the family the nation’s Steward of the Land Award from American Farmland Trust. Bob’s a graduate of Oregon State University and remains a loyal supporter, and a member of the OSU Foundation Board of Trustees.
He has served and continues to serve on many boards: Oregon State Board of Higher Education, Mid-Columbia Medical Center Board of Trustees, OHSU Trustee, the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Wasco County Historical Museum.
Bob and wife Barbara live in The Dalles, Oregon on a hillside overlooking acres of orchards.
Bowen Blair
Chair
Bowen is an attorney who helped pass the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act in 1986 as executive director of Friends of the Columbia Gorge. He then founded the Trust for Public Land’s Oregon office and, as senior vice-president, oversaw TPL’s land acquisitions nationally. Bowen started TPL’s Tribal & Native Lands Program, which acquired 200,000 acres of land for 70 tribes, and negotiated several tribal transactions including Hetes’wits Wetes (“Precious Land”)—10,000 acres near Hells Canyon that marked the Nez Perce Tribe’s first return to Oregon since the War of 1877—and a conservation easement over 4,000 acres of old growth forest for the Quinault Nation. Bowen chaired the Columbia Gorge Commission for two terms, and was recently appointed to the National Park System Advisory Board by the Secretary of the Interior. His book, A Force for Nature: Nancy Russell’s Fight to Save the Columbia Gorge, was published in 2022 by the Oregon State University Press.
Seth Bradley
Vice Chair
Seth moved to Hood River in 2007. He has worked in the Information Technology field since 1986 for a number of companies. Seth served in the past on: Home At Last Humane Society in The Dalles, and Mid-Columbia Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Hood River. He continues to be involved in animal rescue, and also volunteers with the FIRST Robotics Competition program, which teaches STEM and organizational skills to students. Seth is a supporter of environmental causes, including an interest in alternative energy. Seth has an electric vehicle and a solar array on his home. He has a lifelong love of the sciences, especially in the fields of biology, paleontology and astronomy. He and his wife enjoy traveling, especially in the Pacific Northwest. He holds an Associate degree in Electronics Engineering, and a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Information Technology.
Jeremy FiveCrows
I was born and raised on the Nez Perce Indian reservation. I grew up traveling throughout the Nez Perce homeland with my family on hunting, fishing, and berry-picking trips. These travels instilled in me a strong sense of place and a dedication to preserving the environment. This was only increased when I saw the dedication to cherishing and protecting the environment of the people of Norway when I lived there for two years. (I think I can safely say that I might be the only Nez Perce Indian who is fluent in Norwegian.)
I got a degree in Conservation Biology. I hoped to do my part in helping protect and restore the environment. I have worked at CRITFC for 24 years and love sharing the message that salmon and healthy ecosystems are important not only to the tribes, but to everyone who calls this place home.
Jurgen Hess
Treasurer/Secretary
Jurgen is a photojournalist with a specialty in wildfires and landscapes. He has given numerous presentations on wildfires, photography, and landscaping. He spent 34 years with the U.S. Forest Service, first as Landscape Architect for the Rogue River National Forest, and then as Planning Staff Officer for the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, where he received Al Gore’s Golden Hammer Award for innovative planning. He served on the Hood River City Planning Commission, the Cascade Forest Conservancy board, and the Friends of Mt. Adams board. His book, Landscaping with Native: Columbia Gorge, is in its fourth printing. One of his favorite winter activities is teaching students from Washington School for the Blind how to cross-country ski.
Brigette McConville
I grew up in Warm Springs, Oregon on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. My life has been full and exciting. Growing up, culture and tradition has been a way of life. I was eight when I was given the responsibility as a traditional gatherer for the Agency Longhouse in Warm Springs. Knowing I have had that responsibility for my people, the land and myself, I have taken it very serious throughout my life. I continue to take part in our traditional feasts each year with the salmon, roots and berries. After graduating with a degree in cultural anthropology, I worked for my tribal cultural resources program. My most recent job, I have had the opportunity to serve six years on our Tribal Council, three as vice-chair. As a traditional gatherer, I have seen much change in the environment and the change in our traditional foods and patterns. Bringing awareness to the environmental situations in our region will be exciting and heartfelt for all.
Buck Parker
Buck Parker graduated from Hood River High School in 1963, and he returned to the Gorge in 2014. In between, he spent 35 years working for the nonprofit environmental law group Earthjustice, where he served as executive director from 1997 through 2007. He has served on the boards of several other environmental groups, including the Wilderness Land Trust, Campaign for America’s Wilderness, Pacific Environment, Ecojustice Canada, the Circumpolar Conservation Union and the Asociacion Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente. Buck and his wife Fran also participate in a number of other civic organizations and activities in the Hood River area.
Mary Lou Soscia
Mary Lou worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for 38 years in Washington, D.C. and the Pacific Northwest. Protecting human health and ecosystem restoration in Indian Country throughout the United States and especially the Pacific Northwest was a foundation of her work. Mary Lou created and led the Columbia River Basin Restoration Program, which became a Clean Water Act amendment and received $79 million from Congress in 2021 to reduce toxins to protect human health and increase ecosystem resilience. She provided leadership for over 25 years on Columbia River water temperature issues. She’s worked for the states of Maryland, Wyoming and Oregon, and the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. In addition to Columbia Insight, she serves on the boards of WaterWatch of Oregon; Human Access Project; Community for Positive Aging; Neighbors for Clean Air; and Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership.
Tracey Tomashpol
Director of Marketing & Outreach
Tracey retired in 2018 after 33 years working for a large industrial supplies company headquartered in the Midwest. Her experiences there encompassed international business, online customer experience, employee training and development, and more. The Columbia River Gorge has been a magnet for Tracey since her first visit in 1991. She is an active volunteer and board member with the Hood River County Christmas Project, a volunteer for the FISH Food Bank, and a founding member of Protect Our Parks, a non-profit advocacy group for Hood River city parks. In her free time, she is also an avid reader, writer, hiker, and cook. Learning how to incorporate native plants into her yard also keeps her busy.
Shara Alexander
Shara is a third-generation Portlander with a masters degree in horticulture from Oregon State University, doing field work in vegetable crop production in Hermiston, Oregon. She’s lobbied the Oregon legislature to include five Portland Historic Conservation districts in a solar rights bill passed in 2009; helped establish the Albina and Green Table cooperative gardens in Northeast Portland and permaculture gardens with Portland Public Schools; worked with disabled adults at a nonprofit art and urban farming community; and helped reestablish native bunch grasses and wildflowers near Trout Lake, Washington. Her primary interest has been ways of helping people, plants and wild animals co-exist and thrive, and how to produce inexpensive, healthy food in an urban environment.
Contact us: PO Box 1021, Hood River, OR 97031
info@columbiainsight.org
