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.
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.
Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Photo from U.S. Forest Service.
A coalition of Oregon and Western environmental groups is suing to block the construction of a new road for OHVs in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Called the Riley Ranch Access Project, this new route would allow off road vehicles into an area of the dunes where they’ve never been allowed before.
“The Oregon Dunes already contain thousands of acres open to ORVs,” says Noah Greenwald, with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Creating a new road in the roadless area is not necessary or in the public interest.”
With summer over, now’s the time federal and state officials are taking a hard look at some controversial issues that affect a lot of people in the state.
On Tuesday, the Mt. Hood National Forest holds a public hearing on a plan that will dramatically cut back where off roading is allowed in the forest. The off roading community has a lot to lose here, but its members are motivated to speak out and they could dominate the discussion. Environmental groups are trying to get “quiet” users of the forest, such as hikers, backpackers and mountain bikers, to show up as well.
A concern enviros have about the plan is that one of the places set aside for off roading will be next to two wilderness areas. Mt. Hood officials also want to build 40 brand new miles of off road tracks on the north side of the mountain.
(For more information click on the Quiet Forest category for all our stories on this issue.)
Tuesday’s hearing starts at 6pm in Portland at the University Place Hotel & Conference Center, 310 SW Lincoln.
A second hearing takes place in Hood River on Wednesday at the Hood River Inn, 1108 East Marine Way. This also starts at 6pm.
The yurts at Beverly Beach State Park near Newport. Courtesy Oregon Parks and Recreation
Then on Thursday, Oregon Parks and Recreation begins a series of meetings around the state on a fee increase for state parks. They want to raise day use fees from $3 to $5, and annual passes from $25 to $30. Fees for camp sites would go up $4 per day, and fees for yurts and some cabins will rise $10 per night.
Parks and Rec says the increases will raise more than $4 million from January 2010 through June 2011.
Here’s a full schedule of the meetings. All start at 6pm and should conclude by 8:30pm.
Sept. 17: LaGrande
City Library, 2006 4th St, Colleen F. Johnson Community Room
Sept 18: Bend
Parks and Recreation District Meeting Room, 799 SW Columbia Street
Sept. 21: Champoeg State Heritage Area Visitor Center
8239 Champoeg Road NE, St. Paul
Sept. 22: Newport
Central Lincoln Public Utility, 2129 N Coast Hwy
Big changes are coming to the Mt. Hood National Forest. Soon, the days of wide open access for OHV riders will be gone. For others, expect more quiet time in the forest with fewer noisy disruptions from off road vehicles.
These changes are outlined in a new off road travel plan that was just released by forest officials. If it goes through, off roading will be banned in most of the Mt. Hood National Forest, except for six areas that are scattered around the mountain.
Here’s a quick look at what’s being proposed:
Right Now:
Under the new plan:
Courtesy NOAA
The history behind this goes back a little more than a decade. Starting in the late 1990′s, OHV use skyrocketed around the country. Forest officials became worried about the damage caused by off road vehicles that were getting bigger, faster and more powerful. In 2004, the U.S. Forest Service named unmanaged off roading as one of the four top threats to National Forests and Grasslands. The following year, it issued a new rule requiring all National Forests to draw up plans to control the use of OHVs. While recognizing off roading as a legitimate use of forests, federal officials said something had to be done to protect the natural resources.
The plan proposed for Mt. Hood calls for six OHV areas, some of which are controversial with environmental groups.
Bear Creek, on the north side of the mountain near Laurence Lake, calls for building 39 miles of new trails for off road motorcycles and brings off roading to an area where it hasn’t been before.
La Dee Flats, an area near Estacada, has seen heavy OHV use in the past. Environmentalists object that one of the trails goes right between two wilderness areas.
Gibson Prairie straddles the Hood River/Wasco County line northeast of Mt. Hood. The area is shared by horse riders, mountain bikers and off roaders. Forest officials expected the shared use to continue.
McCubbins Gulch near the intersection of Highways 26 and 216 is another area that already gets heavy OHV use.
Peavine, located in southern Clackamas County, is somewhat remote and accessible via forest service roads.
Rock Creek, in the eastern part of the forest, is controversial because it’s near a residential area. Some neighbors welcome the idea of having OHV access nearby while others worry about the noise and pollution.
To learn more, see the DEIS for the Mt. Hood Off-highway Vehicle Travel Management Plan. It lists four alternatives, ranging from doing nothing (very unlikely) to reducing to OHV travel to 3 areas with 96 miles of roads and trails. Mt. Hood officials are calling for Alternative 2 to be approved.
Today’s announcement kicks off a 60-day period of public comment. See the Mt. Hood travel management webpage for information on where to send letters or e-mail.
Forest officials have also scheduled two public hearings.
September 15
University Place Hotel & Conference Center
310 SW Lincoln
Portland
September 16
Hood River Inn
1108 East Marine Way
Hood River
Both meetings start at 6pm.
