Congress approves Cloud Cap
repairs, Bonneville cleanup
By SUE RYAN
News staff writer
January 8, 2008
Efforts to restore the weatherworn façade of
Cloud Cap Inn on Mount Hood will get some help through funds
secured in Congress last month as will two other federal
projects in the Columbia River Gorge.
The 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Bill (HR
2764) was passed in December. It includes $14 million for
operation and maintenance of the Bonneville Lock and Dam near
Cascade Locks, $984,000 for land acquisition in the Columbia
River Gorge National Scenic Area and $295,320 to finish the
restoration of the Cloud Cap Inn.
“This is good news; we’re excited,” said Mike
Dryden, the U.S. Forest Service archaeologist for the Barlow and
Hood River ranger districts.
Dryden said the inn has been undergoing
restoration for a number of years through a combination of
federal and local funds and grants. The appropriations money
pays for the next steps in that process.
He said that includes repairing or replacing
flooring in the east wing and a tongue-and-groove ceiling.
“We also want to restore some of the walls to
their original configuration, which used to be four rooms on
each side and now is three,” Dryden said.
The lodge was built in 1889 by C.E.S. Wood
and William Ladd of Portland. The U.S. Forest Service purchased
the building in 1940 and in 1952 entered into an agreement with
the Hood River Crag Rats search and rescue climbing group.
In exchange for a special use permit, the
group maintains the building including helping with the labor
and raising money for the building’s restoration. Nine years ago
the group formed a finance committee to help locate funding to
pay for repairs. Committee chairman and Crag Rat member Bill
Pattison said this appropriation will bring the group much
closer to its goal.
“The big thing is, we could say this takes us
very close to the culmination of all these years of work for
total restoration of the building,” Pattison said.
The second appropriation of close to $1
million will continue to help the U.S. Forest Service with its
acquisition of land in Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area. U.S.
Forest Service Natural Resource Specialist Pam Campbell said the
funding helps the forest service continue its mission to
consolidate lands within the Gorge to preserve its scenic value.
This appropriation will be used toward three
separate parcels the agency is working on obtaining: a 4.19-acre
parcel at Cape Horn in Washington, 62 acres at Dodson and
Warrendale that abuts Frontage Road and a 23-acre parcel west of
The Dalles.
The Cape Horn parcel is currently owned by a
land trust set up through the Friends of the Columbia Gorge and
the other two parcels are in private ownership.
The third and largest appropriation for $14
million pays for the operation and maintenance of the Bonneville
Lock and Dam near Cascade Locks. This includes the navigation
lock, fish passage and recreation facilities.
In addition, funding is included for repairs
at the spillway, improvements to various infrastructure and
continued cleanup of the contamination at Bradford Island.
The U.S. Army Corps operates the facility.
The island is east of the dam in the Columbia River and was used
formerly for a variety of purposes including an old pistol range
and landfill.
The cleanup has included several focuses. One
was an in-river cleanup of contaminated sediment this past fall
and the other is a broader investigation of five upland sites.
A two-year study is underway to evaluate the extent of the
remaining contamination on the island and in the river.
