FEDERATION OF WESTERN OUTDOOR CLUBS

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SUPPORT FOR ENLARGING WILDERNESS PROTECTION AROUND MT. HOOD (OREGON)

    The founding group of the Federation, the Mazamas, was begun on the summit of Mt. Hood on July 19, 1894. Its mission is to provide a comprehensive climbing program, with allied activities that enhance and protect the participants and the environment. One of its stated goals is to encourage the preservation of forests and other features of mountain scenery, as far as possible, in their natural beauty.

    In 2004, Oregon's Senator Ron Wyden introduced S. 2723 (the Lewis and Clark Mt. Hood Wilderness Act) to expand protection of wild areas in the Mt. Hood National Forest. This bill died in committee during the 108th Congress.

    In July 2006, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bi-partisan bill, H.R. 5025 (the Mount Hood Stewardship Legacy Act), to designate 77,500 acres as wilderness and to add an additional 25 miles of Wild and Scenic River protection in the Mt. Hood National Forest.

    On September 1, 2006, Senators Smith and Wyden introduced a bill calling for 125,000 acres of wilderness and 79.8 miles of Wild and Scenic River protection in the Mt. Hood National Forest.

    The FWOC endorses increasing the amount of acreage permanently protected by wilderness status in the Mt. Hood National Forest and increasing the number of river miles designated as Wild and Scenic Rivers as described in legislation introduced in September 2006 by the Oregon congressional delegation. The language establishing these wilderness areas should be accordance with the provisions of The Wilderness Act of 1964.

[Contact: Joan Zuber, 44731 S. Elk Prairie Rd., Molalla, OR 97038]

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