Alum lives a life of public service
“You can accomplish anything if you are willing to give the credit away!” This selfless philosophy from Jason Atkinson ’92, perfectly describes his combined three decades plus of public service in the Oregon legislature and private conservation efforts to restore the legendary Klamath River.
Born and raised in Sacramento, his family moved to Ashland when he was 13 as his father Perry, a radio broadcaster, had purchased a local radio station. After graduating Ashland High School, Jason chose Southern Oregon State College to further his education because of finances and the proximity of the campus. “I’ve always loved the potential of liberal arts schools where you can get a diverse education and the training to launch into the world. SOSC provided me that opportunity,” he said.
Once on campus, Atkinson pushed himself into the history and political science programs while at times, working four different jobs to pay his own way. He loved Richard Frey’s turn of the 20th century American history courses, particularly those the delved into the life and times of President Theodore Roosevelt. Jay Mullen’s former Central Intelligence Agency background in courses on Africa and the Middle East, captured his imagination so much so that he would later make multiple trips to work in the Middle East. He earned his bachelor’s degree in both history and political science June of 1992.
After graduation, Atkinson got into competitive bicycle racing in Europe and was a ski school instructor for alpine skiing at Mt. Bachelor. He had always wanted to teach at the collegiate level so he saved his money and was admitted to the Atkinson (no relation) Graduate School of Management at Willamette University in Salem. There, he would earn both a master’s in business administration and public administration, simultaneously in 1997.
In 1998, Atkinson started a consulting business and ran successfully for the Oregon House of Representatives and two years later the Oregon State Senate, where he would serve the state and his constituents for 14 years. As a Republican, he formed great bipartisan working relationships with Democrats like Peter Courtney, who had been teaching at Western Oregon University in Monmouth. In the legislature, both forged ahead and pushed through legislation of the “Entrepreneurial Model” which helped small regional state schools keep their own tuition dollars. “Peter and I still share a friendship and at the time, we both had a love for the small schools in the state. It was an honor to work with him on bipartisan legislation to help SOU, WOU, EOU and OIT. I always felt as a public servant and alum that it was my duty to help nurture the success of SOU,” he said. He also led legislation to establish the Crater Lake National Park Trust which was financed through Oregon license plate sales.
The Atkinson family has nearly a century of history angling on the Klamath River, which heads in the mountains of Oregon but flows for much of its length through California. Atkinson began working on Klamath River restoration during the Bill Clinton presidential administration and continued into the George W Bush administration. With the terrible droughts of 2001 and 2002 hampering irrigation and salmon and steelhead sustainability, and disrupting Klamath Basin and River economies, something had to be done. Amid the legislative letdown of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, both the Governors of Oregon, Ted Kulongoski (D) and California, Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), moved ahead to try to settle future disputes and help repair the river and local economies. “I took a sabbatical from public service and set out to make a documentary to help educate people about this complex water war that covers five tribal nations and two states. It took five years and a lot of demonizing of me including death threats, to produce A River Between Us, which debuted in 2014,” he said. The 90-minute film was shown at 20 film festivals and won multiple awards including the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, the Real West Film Festival and the Cinema Pacific Film Festival, among numerous others.
“We set out to show the human side of the problems in the basin by not taking sides. I believe we accomplished that. The film was used in key states on the east coast to help provide political cover for President Barack Obama to sign off on during the last six months of his presidency,” said Atkinson. So, the idea that began on a cocktail napkin in 2004, came to fruition and helped influence and educate a presidential administration about the forgotten human side of the water wars. “I followed my heart and did what I believed to be right on this issue. I believe it was all worth it. And now the dams are coming out in 2024 and we will be able to begin the healing and recovery process,” he added.
Of late, Jason has taught spey cast fly fishing and helped to start a non-profit called Pastors Monday, a non-denominational organization that helps pastors refresh and reenergize with a Monday off by fly fishing. With over 500 pastors participating, there are now chapters in Oregon, Texas, North Carolina, Colorado and Alaska.
So that selfless value of not taking credit to get things done for his fellow human beings, continues to drive Jason’s life to this day.
Learn more:
