Palomar LNG Pipeline
Although the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) battles have been mostly fought out on the coast of Oregon, we have seen the issue come to roost in Mt.Hood National Forest. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is currently going through NEPA process to allow Palomar Gas Transmission (PGT), a company who transports natural gas, to place a pipeline from the Columbia River where the LNG Terminals are proposed down through Molalla and across the national forest to meet up in Madras with existing pipeline. More... Mt. Hood Off-Highway Vehicle Plan
After almost two years of preparation, the Forest Service released the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Plan on August 28, 2009. The comment period has closed, but additional groundtruthing in the 8 proposed OHV areas is always welcome. More... Gordon Creek
The Gordon Creek Timber Sale is proposed in public forests administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This project proposes to log over the intake for the Corbett Water District. The Corbett Water District, as well as the Portland Water District has come out against this project.According to the maps (see below) it will log a mix of young and old-growth forest. As well, there are eight miles of new roads proposed. More... Annie's Cabin, Missouri Ridge and 2006 Thinning Projects
The Salem District of the Bureau of Land Management released the Decision Rationale for the Annie's Cabin thinning project and Bark submitted a lawsuit in September 2007. The project has been decreased due to red tree vole presence. On recent groundtruthing trips, Barkers have discovered Oregon Slender Salamander. The Environmental Assessment claimed they were not present, however this species has special management requirements. The project falls partially within the Molalla River Recreation Corridor. The following four project areas will affect 6 watersheds (in parentheses) Annie's Cabin (Upper Molalla River watershed), Missouri Ridge (Rock Creek and Pudding River watersheds), Snakehouse (Little and Middle North Santiam), and Round Mountain (Crabtree Creek and Hamilton Creek). A total of 566 acres will be thinned, including 85 acres of Riparian Reserves. Road construction would include the following a mile of new road construction up to 20 miles of road would be renovated and 0.6 miles of road would be improved. Upper Willamette River (UWR) Chinook salmon, UWR steelhead trout (both threatened species) inhabit areas just downstream, but the BLM has found that the logging "May affect, is Not Likely to Adversely Affect" the populations. 246 acres of dispersal habitat for the Northern spotted owl (threatened) will also be logged. More... Cloak
This sale is a combination of two different logging projects, the Oak Grove thin (mainly located on the Oak Grove fork of the Clackamas) and the Upper Clackamas thin. More... Polallie-Cooper
5/12/05 We were delighted to learn that the Forest Service has withdrawn the Polallie-Cooper Sales. So this logging project is now canceled! This is a huge victory for Mt. Hood, for those who rely on the Crystal Springs Watershed for drinking water, and all those who enjoy this wild area near Cooper Spur. More...