Kate Brown
Brown, who served as governor of Oregon from 2015 to 2023, is president of Willamette Falls Trust. She previously served as Oregon secretary of state as well as a legislator in both the Oregon House and Oregon Senate.
As the former governor of Oregon, I’ve seen every corner of this beautiful state. It was only until recently, however, that I truly witnessed the magnificence of Willamette Falls, the second largest waterfall by volume in North America.
For more than 150 years this place, revered by Northwest tribes and steeped in history, has largely been inaccessible to the public. While tribal members have fished salmon and lamprey and gathered native plants and materials at the falls since time immemorial, most people have never had an opportunity to hear the powerful rush of the water, watch a heron hunt at mid-morning, or see and understand what Willamette Falls means to our collective past, present and future.
This is why, after taking more than a year off from three decades of public service, I am honored and humbled to have been selected as president of Willamette Falls Trust. I believe Willamette Falls should be known regionally, nationally and globally as the eighth wonder of Oregon, alongside the Columbia River Gorge, Crater Lake and Mt. Hood.
Willamette Falls deserves a bigger spotlight on its role in Oregon’s story. The falls represented the home of tribal villages and provided a space for numerous tribal ceremonies and trade. It is a monument to the final destination of pioneers who traveled the Oregon Trail. And it provided the location of the first long-distance transmission of electricity in the United States, turning on streetlights in Portland from the hydropower plant at the falls.
For well over a century, industrial activities have obscured Willamette Falls from view and access. While these industries benefited the region’s economy greatly, these activities created ecological impacts and displaced communities from a place of deep meaning. The Willamette Falls Inter-Tribal Public Access Project aims to heal some of these historical missteps. Located on the west side of the river, this Indigenous-led project envisions public pathways, viewing structures, spaces for interpretation, cultural events, community programming and other public amenities.
It’s an ambitious vision, but one that is achievable, through collaboration.
We’ve already seen the community come together for such an initiative. While governor, I advocated for the funding and development of the Rose Quarter Improvement Project, which begins to address the harm caused to the historic Albina community when Interstate 5 was constructed, consequently displacing Black families and disconnecting historic neighborhoods and communities.
Some said it was too late to remedy this harm. I disagreed.
My administration negotiated a compromise that met the needs of the Albina Vision Trust, members of the Black community, Metro, Multnomah County and the city of Portland. As a result, our congressional delegation delivered a $500 million federal investment for this project, the largest of its kind in the nation. Today, we are well on our way toward turning the vision into a reality that begins to restore justice for the Albina community, improves transit and substantially reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
Today, as president of Willamette Falls Trust, my team and I will focus on securing the private and public funding necessary to make the Willamette Falls Inter-Tribal Public Access Project a reality – a project in which we are all invested – and I will work to overcome the inevitable obstacles using the strong relationships I’ve developed throughout the local, state and federal levels.
Key to this project, and I believe key to Oregon’s long-term future, is the leadership and collaboration with the region’s tribes. Coordinated by the trust, the project is led by a team that includes Tribal Council Members and appointees from several sovereign nations, including the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs. Through this historic display of voluntary inter-tribal collaboration and community support, we can accomplish our goals.
Since my first legislative committee appointment to the Legislative Commission on Indian Services, I worked successfully with Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes to address the impacts of colonialism. Together, we passed legislation to ensure that curriculum in Oregon public schools reflects the comprehensive Native American experience in Oregon, funded a $19 million scholarship for Oregon’s tribal students to attend the post high school of their choice, created a Task Force on Oregon Tribal Cultural Items and included additional tribal members to boards and commissions and to our courts.
I stand ready to assist this collective work dedicated to healing these historical wrongs and forever securing this sacred place so that future generations can enjoy the stunning beauty of the Willamette Falls.