Groups gather to discuss Mount Hood recreation and ecology

This year, Mount Hood will have its own vision, bringing together government agencies and other organizations for the Mount Hood Solutions Summit on Friday, Sept. 26, at the Mazamas Lodge, 30500 West Leg Road in Government Camp. The new summit will tackle how the Mount Hood National Forest fits into the larger trends with public lands and create a vision for quiet recreation, which includes non-motorized recreation such as fishing and biking, and ecosystem health in the forest.

“It became pretty evident that there needed to be a larger dialogue … and we need to bring all the stakeholder groups to the table,” said Deb Wechselblatt, Campaign Manager for Bark, a grassroots forest conservation group that is organizing the summit. “All the groups attending have a strong interest in protecting Mt. Hood; that’s sort of what binds us together.”

The summit will feature panel discussions on existing quiet recreation planning, followed by an afternoon session to prioritize different issues and how to communicate them to the public.

“I think it’s a great opportunity to bring (together) a whole lot of different people who are involved at Mount Hood and talk about solutions,” said Tom Wolf, Executive Director of the Oregon Council Trout Unlimited.

Numerous groups and organizations are expected to attend, including representatives from the Mount Hood National Forest, the U.S. Forest Service, Clackamas County Tourism and Development, Friends of Mount Hood and American Whitewater.

“I think that one of the values of having this kind of summit is to demonstrate to the public, agencies, and elected officials the wide breadth of support for maintaining traditional recreation in the Mount Hood National Forest. So many divergent groups will come together to discuss the ways they value Mount Hood,” said Randy Rasmussen, Recreation Policy Specialist for the American Hiking Society. “We want to create a vision for the future of this world class resource.”

Rasmussen noted that Mount Hood has been impacted by encroaching development, off road vehicles and other factors, which have threatened quiet recreation and the ecosystem, including clean water and rare plant communities.

“We’re losing the natural peace and quiet that make Mount Hood so special,” said Rasmussen. “It’s incremental; it’s one of those things that over several years have grown.”

The public is also invited to attend the summit, which takes place from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission requires a $15 registration fee, but scholarship options are available. For more information and to view a full agenda, please visit www.solutionssumit.org.

By Garth Guibord, The Sandy Post