By RAELYNN RICARTE
News staff writer
May 6, 2008

Mountain bikers are concerned that the latest master plan for Mount Hood could cut 123 miles from popular trail systems.

Hood River County officials want to ensure that the proposed expansion of Wilderness does not impede their ability to harvest timber or fight fires. They also believe federal approval should be given to move Highway 35 out of the existing flood zone if necessary.

Mt. Hood Meadows Oregon LLC and the Hood River Valley Residents Committee are seeking reassurance that a land trade won’t be stalled. The two parties worry that, without definitive language and a set timeline, the deal to preserve resource lands in the southern sector of the county could fall through.

At issue is the Oregon Treasures proposal recently introduced by U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Peter DeFazio, D-Ore. The Congressmen have not yet finalized a bill so local entities are registering their concerns in hopes of having them addressed in the legislation.

“We are certainly not opposed to the idea of the bill. But there are certain things we need to know are in there so that we can protect and manage the county’s assets. We also need to preserve our ability to make necessary infrastructure improvements,” said Dave Meriwether, county administration.

He said some of the 132,000 acres of added Wilderness in Oregon Treasures abuts the county’s Post Canyon lands. He said Wilderness protections restrict many human activities. So, the county would like language in the bill that allows it to fight fires on property along the shared border. The county also wants to continue existing harvest practices in those locations.

Jill Van Winkle from the International Mountain Biking Association believes natural resources can be protected without closing off trails near Boulder Lake, a popular area for biking. She said the pending House proposal restricts access to more than 20 additional miles of trails than a similar bill introduced last year by U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Gordon Smith, R-Ore.

The Lewis and Clark Mount Hood Wilderness Act, or SB647, seeks an additional 125,000 acres of Wilderness and closes off 100 more miles to cyclists. That bill has been held up from a full vote of the Senate by Tom Coburn, a Republican from Oklahoma who opposes any expansion of federal programs while there is a budget deficit.

Van Winkle, who resides in Hood River, said House Resolution 5025, a Mount Hood plan that was proposed in 2006 by Blumenauer and Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., was supported by bikers. She said trails important to recreationists were left outside of the 75,000 acres of added Wilderness. She said the Mount Hood Stewardship Legacy Act recognized that recreation provided a “dynamic social and economic component” for uses of the mountain that also needed consideration.

HR5025 closed off an additional 58 miles to bikes and other mechanized equipment, including chain saws for trail maintenance. Although the bill was approved by the House almost two years ago it was not brought forward in the Senate.

“It is very frustrating to see that each iteration of this legislation has gradually closed off more lands from mountain bike access. If more lands are designated Wilderness, and thus made off-limits to cyclists, an important constituency will be shut out. It does not need to be that way,” wrote Van Winkle in a recent statement to Blumenauer, DeFazio and Walden.

She said natural resources could be protected without prohibiting bike access. She said National Recreation Areas preserved sensitive habitat areas but also accommodated the building of sustainable trails.

Matthew Drake, chief executive officer of Meadows, and Mike McCarthy, president of the Hood River Valley Residents Committee, see difficulties ahead with their agreed-to land swap.

In 2005, the two entities emerged from mediation arranged by the county with a settlement agreement that ended more than two decades of divisiveness. The deal to protect the Crystal Springs Watershed while providing Meadows with development potential called for an exchange of private and public properties.

Under that agreement, Meadows would trade 120 acres of National Forest land near Government Camp, which is already largely populated, for 769 acres of forested property near Cooper Spur.

Both McCarthy and Drake believe that deal would have taken place in a timely manner under HB5025, which mandated its approval. However, they said the process is not as clearly defined in SB647, or Oregon Treasures. Therefore, they believe it is possible for opponents of the trade to drag out its fulfillment indefinitely. If the exchange falls through, Meadows will resume its plan to build on the Cooper Spur holdings and HRVRC will restart its fight against that plan.

“We’re in total agreement that we need to keep this trade on the tracks and moving forward,” said McCarthy.

“Our willingness to go through with this trade remains unchanged. We’re interested in having timelines in these bills (Oregon Treasures and SB647) for the land swap to occur,” said Drake.

Walden has been gathering input from his constituents before registering an opinion on the two latest Mount Hood plans. His spokesperson, Andrew Whelan, said the Congressman held numerous public meetings in the three years before HR5025 was crafted. And he now wants to gather as many comments as possible on the other pieces of legislation before they come under consideration by the House.