**Exhibit
      31.1**




**CERTIFICATION
      OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER**




I,
      Richard J. Fitzpatrick, certify that:




1.
      I have
      reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Cowlitz Bancorporation;




2.
      Based
      on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue statement
      of
      a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the
      statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements
      were
      made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this quarterly
      report;




3.
      Based
      on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information
      included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all material respects
      the
      financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant
      as
      of, and for, the periods presented in this quarterly report;




4.
      The
      registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible for establishing
      and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange
      Act
      Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting
      (as
      defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and
      have:




a)
      designed such disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that material
      information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries,
      is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the
      period in which this quarterly report is being prepared;




b)
      designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal
      control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to
      provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting
      and the preparation of financial statements for external reporting purposes
      in
      accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;




c)
      evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and
      procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness
      of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered
      by this report based on such evaluation; and




d)
      disclosed in this quarterly report any change in the registrant’s internal
      control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most
      recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s first fiscal quarter in the case of this
      quarterly report) that has materially affected, or is likely to materially
      affect the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting;




5.
      The
      registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based on our most
      recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the
      registrant's auditors and the audit committee of registrant's board of directors
      (or persons performing the equivalent functions):




a)
      all
      significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal controls over
      financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the
      registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
      information; and




b)
      any
      fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees
      who
      have a significant role in the registrant's internal control over financial
      reporting.




Date:
      November 14, 2008




/s/
                Richard J. FitzpatrickRichard
                J. Fitzpatrick, Chief Executive OfficerCowlitz
                Bancorporation