UPDATE (Oct. 3, 2008) - Congress has adjourned until after the elections. The Senate has stated it will come back for a lame-duck session Nov. 17th, but there are no guarantees. Mount Hood, Copper Salmon, Soda Mountain, Spring Basin and Badlands are on a very short list of bills that would be dealt with in the lame duck. Mount Hood proposal map(pdf), proposal outline.  Previous updates.

Mount Hood and the Columbia Gorge symbolize the natural beauty of Oregon, yet much of these amazing landscapes remain unprotected. The mountain's high-elevation snowfields have received Wilderness designation, but the more biologically diverse lower flanks and surrounding ridges remain unprotected. Through cutting-edge technology and the efforts of more than 500 volunteers, Oregon Wild has identified 261,000 acres of unprotected wild lands in the Mount Hood National Forest over the past decade and sought federal Wilderness designation to preserve them.

In February 2007, Oregon Senators Ron Wyden (D) and Gordon Smith (R) introduced legislation that would give wilderness protection to over 128,000 acres and designate 81 miles of rivers around Mount Hood and in the Columbia Gorge as Wild and Scenic Rivers.

This plan is a compromise between Wyden's earlier legislation to protect nearly 160,000 acres and the 77,000-acre plan that was passed last July by the US House of Representatives.

The compromise plan includes everything that would be protected under the House proposal and adds important areas such as the scenic canyons along White River, the biologically diverse forests of Fifteenmile Creek, the old-growth forest surrounding Memaloose Lake and the beautiful whitewater of the East Fork of the Hood River.

The Lewis and Clark Mount Hood Wilderness proposal is an important step toward preserving the scenic beauty, biodiversity, clean drinking water and unparalleled recreational opportunities for future generations of Oregonians.

Mount Hood Wilderness Fact Sheets and Maps:

• 2006 House Wilderness Proposal map
  

• Fifteenmile Creek Fact Sheet (pdf, 400Kb)
• Memaloose Lake Fact Sheet (pdf, 480Kb)
• Memaloose Lake Map (pdf, 70Kb)
• Salmon River Meadows Fact Sheet (pdf, 360Kb)
• Salmon River Meadows Map (pdf, 1.4Mb)
• Twin Lakes Fact Sheet (pdf, 90Kb)
• Twin Lakes Map (pdf, 150Kb)
• Wild and Scenic Rivers Fact Sheet (pdf, 90Kb)
• Endorsing Businesses
• Lewis and Clark Mount Hood Wilderness 2007 bill text (pdf, 150K)
• Map of the Mount Hood National Forest Roads
  

For more information contact:

5825 North Greeley, Portland OR 97217

P: 503.283.6343 ext. 202 F: 503.283.0756

_{Photo: Cooper Spur by John Waller. Map produced by Oregon Wild.}