FEDERATION OF WESTERN OUTDOOR CLUBS

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EXPANSION OF WILDERNESS AREAS AROUND MT. HOOD

Legislation has been proposed by Senator Ron Wyden that would designate 177,801 acres of the Mt. Hood National Forest as wilderness.  The legislation has been coined the Lewis and Clark-Mt. Hood Wilderness Act of 2004 in commemoration of the journey of Lewis and Clark, who traveled the Columbia River Gorge in the fall of 1805 on their way to the Pacific Ocean.

It should be noted that in 1965, Congress removed 1,380 acres of Mt. Hood wilderness, one of the first designated in the United States, for a Mt. Hood ski resort.

The bill would also make additions to the Wild and Scenic Rivers system, including 14.9 miles of the East Fork of the Hood River, 4.7 miles of the Middle Fork of the Hood River, 9 miles of the Zigzag River, and 8.3 miles of Eagle Creek.

The Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs strongly supports additional wilderness designations for lands adjacent to the Badger Creek Wilderness, Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness, Mt. Hood Wilderness and Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness as proposed by Senator Wyden, provided such legislation does not include special provisions or exceptions which weaken the protections contained in the Wilderness Act of 1964.  It also supports his proposals to make additions to the Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

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