A view of Mt. Hood from Timothy Lake. Photo by K. Carpenter/U.S.G.S.

Off roaders are going to start seeing a lot of “closed” signs in the Mt. Hood National Forest.

A new Forest Service plan dramatically cuts back where off road vehicles are allowed. Environmental groups couldn’t be much happier.

Just how much of a reduction are we talking about? Currently, off road vehicles are allowed on more 2,300 miles of roads and trails. Under the new rule, they’re allowed on 146 miles in four distinct areas around the forest.

Here’s another big change. The current rules allow off roaders into areas where they are no roads or trails. It’s officially called “cross country” travel. Right now 395,000 acres are open to cross country travel. Under the new plan, it’s zero.

Bark, the environmental watchdog group for the Mt. Hood National Forest calls the new travel plan, “A huge victory.” The group is especially pleased because the travel plan moves off roading away from Wilderness Areas.

From the environmental point of view, here’s the problem. Off roading is a lot more popular than it was 20 years ago. More users mean more stress on the system. Plus, the vehicles are bigger and more powerful. They can do a lot more damage to environmentally sensitive areas. In 2004, the U.S. Forest Service named unregulated off roading as one of the four top threats to National Forests and Grasslands.

They are also conflicts with other users of the forests. When hikers and off roaders share trails, it can be a safety problem. That’s a big reason why Mt. Hood officials say they’re closing off so much of the forest. Besides, if you’re going on a hike to get away from it all, who wants to hear a noisy OHV?

Off roaders will be understandably upset by the new travel plan. They’re losing a huge chunk of the forest. But compared to what’s happening elsewhere in Oregon, Mt. Hood is the exception. All of the national forests have issued new travel plans, or are working on them. Most of them provide lots of miles for off roaders to roam.

Just across the river in Clark County, Washington DNR is planning a major expansion of the the off road trail system in the Yacolt Burn State Forest.

For more information:

Mt. Hood National Forest Travel Management Plan

Earlier Stories:

New Hiking, Off-Road Trails Coming To Clark County

Mt Hood: Putting The Brakes On OHVs In The Forest

Quiet Forests: It’s Decision Time On Mt. Hood

The new plans covers about 40,000 acres, nearly all of them in Clark County.

The details include:

• Adding 78-miles of new trails. The hiking system will expand from 35 to 55 miles, and the official motorized system will grow from 14 to 73 miles.
• Removing about 170-miles of unauthorized off-road trails.
• Creating two zones in the forest. One for “quiet” users like hikers, and the other for the noisier off-roaders. DNR says this will reduce conflicts between the two user groups and improve safety. It’s used a similar approach at other forests in Washington and likes the results. In Oregon, the Mt. Hood National Forest is also working on a plan to separate quiet and motorized users.
• Improving some of the current campsites and trailheads and building new ones.

DNR estimates that two million people live within 45-minutes of the Yacolt Burn State Forest, and says it needed a better plan to handle the growing use of the area.

By the way, the Yacolt Burn is named for a huge wildfire that swept through the area in September, 1902. In just 36-hours, more than 238,000 acres went up in flames and 38-people in Clark, Skamania and Cowlitz counties were killed. Another fire in 1929 torched an additional 153,000 acres.

For More Information:

Yacolt Burn State Forest Recreation Plan

While that may not sound like a lot, Metro says it’s enough to close a one-mile gap in the paved trail near NE 185th Avenue along the Portland-Gresham border. Metro staff negotiated easements with four property owners this summer. But it’ll be at least three years before crews begin paving these missing links.

Eventually, Metro will build a 20-mile paved, walking and biking trail from the St. Johns neighborhood in North Portland to Troutdale. As I can personally attest, parts of the trail offer some great views of the river and Mt. Hood.

The money for the project is coming from a $227 million bond measure that was approved by metro area voters in 2006.

Cottonwood Canyon State Park, which opens in 2013, will be paid for by lottery funds. Photo from Oregon Parks and Recreation.

Coming to you in November, a ballot measure that will protect a major source of money for Oregon state parks, river restoration and wildlife habitat.

Known as the Water, Parks and Wildlife measure, it was certified today for the ballot by the Secretary of State’s office.

The measure is a constitutional amendment that guarantees 15% of lottery revenues will go state parks, programs to improve water quality and restore wildlife areas. These programs are already getting that money. But the funding expires in 2014. This measure makes it permanent.

The lottery funds have made a huge difference, especially for the state parks. A decade ago, the state parks were in so much financial trouble that dozens of them were getting ready to be closed. Not only did the lottery money turn things around, but since then state has been opening new parks every year since 2005. The best known are Stub Stewart near Vernonia, and Cottonwood Canyon in North Central Oregon that opens in 2013.

When a similar measure went on the ballot in 1998, it had overwhelming support from voters. Things might be tougher this time. Some legislators and union leaders don’t like the idea of tying up so much lottery money at a time when the state is hard up for cash.

Still waiting for the measure to be assigned a number.

Related Stories:

200,000 Strong: Park Supporters Turn In Names For Ballot Measure

Coming Soon: What Could Be Oregon’s Biggest State Park

This Fall, Will Oregon Support Water, Parks and Wildlife?

The goal? Creating new opportunities for recreation.

A new management plan proposed by Washington DNR calls for a major expansion of hiking and off-road trails. This includes:

• Building 20-miles of new hiking trails, bringing the total to 55-miles.
• Increasing the miles of motorized trails by 500%, from 14-miles to 73-miles.
• Separating quiet users from off-roaders by giving them different zones in the forest. The goal is to reduce conflicts between these two groups. DNR says it’s also safer when hikers and off-roaders don’t share trails.
• Improving current campsites and trailheads and building new ones.

DNR says two million people live within 45-minutes of the Yacolt Burn State Forest. The western side, where all these new trails will be built, gets about 50,000 visitors annually.

All that attention has created some problems. DNR says it’s dealing with more vandalism, arson, abandoned vehicles and garbage dumping.

Another issue – some 170-miles of unofficial off-road trails that run through ecologically sensitive areas and across streams. Not only do they damage the environment, DNR says many of them are unsafe for riders. The new plan calls for decommissioning nearly all of them.

DNR is holding a public meeting on the plan in Vancouver on Thursday, June 3, starting at 6:30pm. The location is the Clark County Regional Wastewater Building at 8000 NE 52nd Ct, in Vancouver. Written and e-mail comments are being taken until June 1.

The Yacolt Burn State Forest covers about 90,000 acres in Clark and Skamania counties in Washington. This plan affects about 40-000 acres, nearly all of which are in Clark County.

For more information:

Washington DNR: Western Yacolt Burn Forest Recreation Plan

Photo from Friends Of Mt. Emily.

An icon of Northeast Oregon has a date with the logger, unless a lot of money can be raised quickly.

What’s at risk is 500 acres of the Mt. Emily Recreation Area near La Grande. A timber company is getting ready to cut down most of the big trees in the Trails Unit, a section that’s hugely popular with hikers, bikers and horseback riders.

Local efforts to save the trees are falling behind and falling short. So the group Friends of Mt. Emily is appealing statewide for help.

Here’s the threat. Forest Capital Partners owns most of the timber rights in the Mt. Emily Recreation Area even though the land is owned by Union County. The company wants to begin logging the 500 acre trails unit on July 1st.

Here’s the rescue plan. If Union County can raise $600,000 by the end of May, it can buy the trees and would operate the area under a sustainable forestry plan.

Sue Miller of the Friends group says with two weeks to go, they still need $500,000. “This is a one time opportunity for our generation to leave a legacy of sustainable forestry” she says. “We urgently need all donations, large and small.”

Complicating things – this is an all or nothing proposition. Raising some of the money won’t save some of the trees. The timber company wants all of the cash up front before calling off the harvest.

If you want to help out, check out the donation page on the Friends of Mt. Emily website. There are two ways to donate, either through the county or the Blue Mountains Conservancy. Either way, the contributions are tax deductible.

The Film Club at Eastern Oregon University has produced a short video about efforts to save the trees.

Video: MERA Trails Unit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcZXpjl-yOo

The John Day River through Cottonwood Canyon. Photo from Oregon State Parks.

Oregon Parks and Recreation is getting ready to go public with what it calls, “the most important state park in a generation.”

And if that wasn’t enough, the agency is hoping to add “biggest state park” to that title.

Opening in 2013, Cottonwood Canyon State Park will be located on 8,000 acres along the lower John Day River in north-central Oregon.

It includes some of the most stunning scenery in the state, with rugged cliffs hugging the longest free flowing river in Oregon. It’s also home to one of the state’s largest herds of bighorn sheep.

Park officials hope to double the size of Cottonwood Canyon by purchasing another 8,000 acres of grazing rights on surrounding property. That would open up those lands as additional recreation areas and make this Oregon’s biggest state park.

While 2013 may seem like a ways off, the planning work begins in a couple of weeks. In late April, the Parks and Recreation Department holds a series of public meetings to get input on how to manage this new state park.

“At the public meetings, OPRD staff will introduce the property’s natural, cultural, historic and scenic values; discuss ways to protect its wild setting and natural resources, and open a dialogue on its potential for recreation, interpretive and educational uses. More meetings will be scheduled through spring 2011 leading to the development of a draft master plan for managing the park. A final draft of the plan will then be submitted to the Oregon State Parks and Recreation Commission.”

-Oregon Parks and Recreation Department

Photo from Oregon State Parks

So far, the department has spent about $2.3 million to purchase some 2,400 acres. It plans to buy another 5,600 acres that have been preserved by the Western Rivers Conservancy before the park opens. The money is coming from a special Lottery fund that was set aside for state parks back in 1998. That funding expires in a few years. Parks supporters and other groups want to make it permanent through a ballot measure that voters will be asked to approve in November.

See earlier story: This Fall, Will Oregon Support Water, Parks and Wildlife?

Here’s the schedule for the public meetings – all of them run from 6:00pm to 8:00pm

Monday, April 26
Sherman County Fairgrounds, 4-H Pavilion, Moro

Tuesday, April 27
Memorial Hall, 128 S. Main St., Condon (Next to City Hall)

Thursday, April 29
Tryon Creek State Park Nature Center, 11321 SW Terwilliger Blvd., Portland

For more information:
Oregon State Parks: Cottonwood Canyon Blog

A view of the Calapooya Mountains in the Umpqua National Forest. Photo from U.S. Forest Service.

If you’re not happy with what’s going on in our National Forests, then this is the year to do something about it.

The Obama Administration is working on a new planning rule that will guide the future of all 155 National Forests and Grasslands across the country. What’s at stake? Big issues such as logging, mining, old growth, stream and river quality, wildlife and recreation.

On Tuesday, the Forest Service holds a series of public meetings in Portland to hear from Oregonians.

The Forest Service hasn’t had much luck with planning rules lately. Versions written in 2000, 2002 were dropped, 2005 and 2008 updates were blocked by courts. The result? National Forests are still working under the 1982 rule – written almost three decades ago. An update is long overdue.

Bark, the watchdog group for the Mt. Hood National Forest, recently sent a message to members urging them to attend Tuesday’s public meetings. It’s asking members to show up and support clean water, protecting wildlife habitat and quiet recreation over timber harvests and other corporate uses of the forest. Bark says dealing with climate change should become a priority for the Forest Service. A recent study by the Wilderness Society found that National Forests in Western Oregon are the best in the nation for carbon storage.

The Wilderness Society has its own list of priorities for the a new forest planning rule. They include:

• Using sound science to guide forest planning decisions
• Protect habitat for fish and wildlife
• Address climate change by preserving large areas of old growth forest for carbon storage
• Preserve water and watersheds for safe drinking water
• Protect America’s outdoor legacy by making sure recreational uses of the forests are sustainable
• Protect more areas as Wilderness

This month, the Forest Service is holding a series of public meetings called roundtables. Here’s what you need to know about Tuesday’s event in Portland.

• Where: In the Multnomah Room of the Doubletree Hotel near Lloyd Center, 1000 NE Multnomah Street, Portland.
• When: There will be three discussion sessions, starting at 9:00am, 1:00pm and 6:00pm. There will also be two open houses from Noon to 1:00pm and 5:00pm to 6:00pm.

The Forest Service is asking you to e-mail ForestServiceMtg@LSAResults.com if want to attend, and to include your name, address and any affiliation if you have one. But this is not mandatory.

For more information:

Bark: Forest Service Planning Rule

Wilderness Society: Our Forests Our Future

U.S. Forest Service: Forest Planning Rule

U.S. Forest Service: Planning Rule Blog

Natural Oregon: They’re Not Forests, Think Of Them As Lungs For The Earth

A view of Mt. Hood from Lolo Pass Road. Photo by Dennis Newman.

The Mt. Hood National Forest is giving itself more time to make a huge decision that will affect just about everyone who uses the forest.

It’s going to spend the spring and summer doing additional environmental studies before making a final ruling on where to allow off road vehicles.

That ruling was expected by today, but now it’s being put off until August.

Mt. Hood officials say they want the extra time to study what are called “survey and management” species. These are animals and plants that require old growth forests to survive. But they’re so rare, or so isolated, they’re especially vulnerable to activities that disturb their habitat.

Federal officials, timber and conservation groups have been fighting for years over how to apply survey and management rules. During the Bush years, the feds tried to eliminate them. But recently a federal judge told the federal officials they had to follow the rules. That decision is what led to today’s announcement.

Of all the National Forests in Oregon, Mt. Hood is by far doing the most to limit off road travel. The preliminary plan calls for creating a handful of places where off road vehicles are allowed – effectively separating them from “quiet users” such as hikers, campers and hunters.

Right Now:

• Off roading is allowed on about 2500 miles of roads and trails.
• Off roaders can drive off trails, officially known as cross country travel, on about 395,000 acres of the forest.

Under the preliminary plan:

• Off roading is allowed in six areas with about 221 miles of roads and trails.
• Cross country travel is banned.

Related Stories:

Mt Hood: Putting The Brakes On OHVs In The Forest
Quiet Forests: It’s Decision Time On Mt. Hood

The Yurt campground at Fort Stevens State Park. Courtesy Oregon Parks and Recreation.

With the summer camping season just a few months away, it’s hard to imagine worse timing.

But Oregon State Parks says starting Thursday, you won’t be able to make camping and day-use reservations for two weeks. Not online, not over the phone.

Reservations Northwest, the company that handles park reservations is switching to new technology. The system it’s using now dates back to 1996.

The Parks and Recreation Department says it will take about two weeks to transfer data from the old system to the new one, test everything and train staff.

If you’ve already made reservations, they’ll still be honored.

During these two weeks, you can still camp in state parks,” says Reservations Northwest Operations Manager Marilyn Borgelt. “Most of them are open and have plenty of first-come, first-served sites available. The only things you can’t do are make or change reservations, or check campsite availability in advance.”

And it’s still possible to cancel reservations during the two-week down time. Call Reservations Northwest at 1-800-452-5687..

The system is expected to be back online on April 15.