Bark holds the line to protect Mt. Hood

First, Oregonians who love the area and use the McIntyre Ridge and Douglas Trails provided the Forest Service with multiple cost-effective ideas on how to improve trail access while decommissioning unnecessary roads and addressing safety concerns. These ideas were not included in the agency’s decision.

Secondly, on April 5 the Forest Service released its environmental assessment and final decision for the Zigzag Ranger District with no public comment period. Normally after releasing the details of a proposal in an environmental assessment (EA) there is a 30-day comment period, which provides the public an opportunity to provide constructive feedback to the Forest Service. Not this time.

And finally, multiple roads that currently facilitate illegal activities like dumping, vandalism, and off-roading, were not identified for immediate decommissioning because the roads lead to potential timber sales. Sadly, the timber program staff in the Forest Service asserted their influence and the result is that the Sandy River watershed, including the city of Sandy’s drinking water, will remain at risk from road-related impacts.

Background

Mt. Hood National Forest contains a crumbling 4,000-mile road system. Since its founding, Bark has advocated for road decommissioning because many of these old timber roads serve no function except to infringe on wildlife habitat and to harm water quality. 

For the past three years Bark has advocated for the Legacy Roads and Trails Initiative, which provides Forests across the nation with the funding necessary to begin to tackle their overgrown road systems. Mt. Hood National Forest has received ample funding from this initiative and developed an ambitious plan to start decommissioning some of Mt. Hood’s unnecessary roads.

Unfortunately, the Forest Service began to fall back into old patterns and put timber program interests above the health of the Sandy River watershed and Oregonians who recreate in the area.

The Zigzag decommissioning plan is important and needs to move ahead. However, it is equally important that future road decommissioning plans in Mt. Hood National Forest are done right. Without a comment period on the EA, the only way Bark could provide feedback was to appeal the project on May 20th. So that is what it did.

After many hours in meetings, both on the phone and in person with Forest Service staff, Bark signed off on an appeal resolution document that, while not perfect, is a big step in the right direction. We agreed on a couple of site specific changes to the decision that will improve the health of the Sandy River watershed and benefit hikers.[1]

Perhaps more importantly, Bark’s appeal set the stage for an ongoing discussion. Bark is now firmly established as a key stakeholder in this process, and the Forest Service has agreed to participate in good faith negotiations on the key issues such as public participation and “right-sizing” the road system to fit the agency’s limited budget.

Stay tuned this summer as the Forest Service is set to announce its next restoration project including road decommissioning in the highly unstable Collawash River watershed.