Oregon Public Broadcasting

About 150 representatives from across Oregon met in Cascade Locks Thursday for the first-ever Oregon Rural Congress.

The summit gave rural Oregonians a chance to air their frustrations with current state policy they say favors Portland and Oregon's other urban hubs. Central Oregon correspondent Ethan Lindsey reports from Cascade Locks.

A gray, stormy day kept conference-goers from networking  outside.

But that didn't keep attendees from brainstorming inside. One-by-one, speakers stood and pitched a series of legal and regulatory changes to rebalance state priorities.

Organizers will print up a list of ideas for legislation -- and that will be submitted to state and federal lawmakers.

Republican Ted Ferrioli is a state senator from John Day.

Ted Ferrioli: “This Congress will be successful if we are able to boil down our solutions to a very specific solutions - and communicate those to the entire population of the legislature.”

Many specific problems  and solutions were discussed from state mandidated bike paths to greater broadband access.

Plus, broader issues like the loss of federal timber payments to counties and the one-size-fits all nature of the state's land use policies.