"If we do not fix our roads, we will have to drink our roads." Congressman Norm Dicks, D-Washington

In 2005, the US Forest Service finalized the Travel Planning Rule. The rule requires all national forests to designate those roads, trails, and areas that are open to motor vehicle use including Off-Highway Vehicles (OHVs). Mt. Hood National Forest was the first forest in the Pacific Northwest to begin Travel Planning. Most forests that have already begun Travel Planning are in the Southwest US and are focusing all of their energy on controlling devastating OHV use. In the Pacific Northwest OHVs are a big problem, but pale in comparison to the damage being done by a crumbling road network. What’s wrong with the road system? “I have known that roads can harm drinking water quality but I hadn’t seen it for myself. It was shocking to see roads sliding into creeks that end up in our tap water.” Jan Snyder, Mt. Hood hiker and Portland-area nurse		Mt. Hood Travel Plan Facts: Over 4,000 miles of logging roads crisscross Mt. Hood’s forests. The Forest Service itself has stated that nearly half of these roads are unnecessary. Nationally the Forest Service has an $8 billion backlog in road maintenance. In November of 2007 Portlanders had to drink from well water because of too much sediment in Bull Run. Forest roads threaten drinking water for residents of Clackamas, Oregon City, West Linn, Lake Oswego, Sandy, Hood River, The Dalles, Dufur, and others.

The Forest Service’s own 2003 Roads Analysis states that nearly half (49%) of the roads in Mt. Hood National Forest are unnecessary. There are over 4,000 miles of roads in the forest, most of which were built for the purpose of logging in our watersheds. Many of these roads are deteriorating, posing additional threats to fish, wildlife, and the drinking water of over a million Oregon residents. Time and time again the Forest Service has said that it has too many forest roads to maintain properly, and that the consequences are impacting drinking water and wildlife habitat. The Travel Plan is the perfect opportunity for the Forest Service to work with Mt. Hood communities and start to fix the roads problem. Mt. Hood Travel Plan must address roads The current Travel Plan proposal introduced by the Forest Service in May is to create six new Off-Highway Vehicle play areas around the mountain, totaling over 50,000 acres. This would render OHV use in all other areas of the forest illegal, an improvement over the current situation, in which OHV use is legal in all areas unless specifically prohibited. However, the current proposal falls short for three reasons:

A report by Utah State University commissioned by the Utah Division of Parks & Recreation to help “better plan OHV management strategies on Utah public lands” reveals that an inordinate number of riders prefer to ride “off established trails.” Of the ATV riders surveyed, 49.4% prefer to ride off established trails, while 39% did so on their most recent excursion. Of the dirt bike riders surveyed, 38.1% prefer to ride off established trails, while 50% rode off established trails on their most recent excursion.

The Forest Service is sacrificing far too much of the forest to an activity that is incompatible with other uses. Other recreationists, not to mention wildlife, don’t want to use areas surrounded by noisy OHVs. And since only about 1% of the demand on Mt. Hood is from OHV users, why are they getting 5% of the forest? Without law enforcement, the system won’t work. Mt. Hood has only five law enforcement officers for its 1.1 million acres. The Forest Service proposal ignores the fastest growing problem in the forest: thousands of miles of old logging roads are fragmenting wildlife habitat, eroding into streams, and need to be obliterated. At the same time, roads that lead to recreation destinations are being neglected.

Four ways the Forest Service can fix the road problem “Oregonians prize our clean drinking water, our salmon, and our outdoor lifestyle. The Travel Plan is an opportunity to improve all of these qualities by assessing the forest road infrastructure.” Alex P. Brown, Executive Director, Bark The Travel Plan must address forest-wide travel: The vast majority of Mt. Hood National Forest users are not off-roaders. In keeping with the intent and spirit of the national mandate to create Travel Plans for every National Forest, it is critical that the plan address the Mt. Hood road network. The Forest Service must put an end to new road building in Mt. Hood National Forest until a full analysis of the existing infrastructure is complete. The Forest Service must ensure that motor vehicle regulations are adequately enforced. The Forest Service must include non-motorized recreational users in the decision making process. Recent Travel Planning open houses in Sandy and Hood River were focused exclusively on the needs of OHV users, and the Forest Service has yet to announce plans for a Portland meeting. Join Bark in taking advantage of this historic opportunity to restore Mt. Hood National Forest! You can help Bark influence the Travel Plan by becoming one of the thousands of Oregonians calling on the Forest Service to do what should have been done years ago…a thorough assessment of roads and OHV routes surrounding Mt. Hood. Please write to Malcolm Hamilton, Mt. Hood Recreation Program Manager, and ask him to consider the "four ways the Forest Service can fix the road problem": Malcolm Hamilton Mt. Hood Recreation Program Manager Mt. Hood National Forest Headquarters 16400 Champion Way Sandy, OR 97055 Please also visit the Roadtruthing and Recreation pages, donate, volunteer, and sign up for Bark’s newsletter (left column). Check the “Latest News” column on the homepage for periodic updates. Additional Travel Plan information The Forest Service website on Travel Planning Mt. Hood National Forest website on new Off-Highway Vehicle areas Mt. Hood National Forest 2003 Roads Analysis (scroll down to “Forest wide roads analysis”) Travel Planning with a focus on off-road vehicle concerns More on roads and off-road vehicles generally Final Travel Planning Rule