Mount Hood Wilderness action alert

Oregon mountain bikers need to take action and ensure important trails around Mount Hood are protected with bicycle-friendly designations. Representative Earl Blumenauer has proposed a comprehensive plan for Mount Hood, one part of which would close the beloved Boulder Lake area to bicycling. This important detail is a key divergence from the proposed Lewis and Clark Mount Hood Wilderness Act, which the mountain biking community supports. Go to: IMBA’s June 07 Press Release

In total, the new proposal would close 123 miles of singletrack to bicycling. The lands around these trails deserve special protection and mountain bikers want to help Mr. Blumenauer craft a final plan that preserves the land and our quiet use. This is a great opportunity for Mr. Blumenauer to exemplify the Oregon tradition of innovative and creative solutions to difficult public lands and public policy issues.

Bicyclists value primitive areas like Boulder Lake for the same reasons as hikers, equestrians, backcountry skiers and other quiet users. We seek the solitude, challenge, clean air, clean water and healthy forests that bring us closer to nature. Because our activity is a quiet, low-impact, human-powered use compatible with wild settings, we are asking Mr. Blumenauer to provide lasting protection for Boulder Lake that allows bicycling to continue.

Take action Write or call Mr. Blumenauer and tell him you strongly endorse a National Recreation Area designation that protects the entire Boulder Lake and Twin Lakes areas and allows bicycling to continue. IMBA link: https://secure2.convio.net/imba/site/Advocacy?pagename=….. or go to Congressman Earl Blumenauer’s webpage directly to send the Congressman an e-mail regarding the Mount Hood wilderness: http://blumenauer.house.gov/

If you do not live in Mr. Blumenauer’s district, the online comment form may not work. If this happens, please call either his Portland office at 503-231-2300 or Washington, DC at 202-225-4811. Be sure to ask for the staff person who handles environmental affairs, tell them you support bicycle-friendly protection for Boulder Lake and Twin Lakes, and include in your request that you travel to, or would like to travel to, Mount Hood for the great mountain bicycling. Please forward this alert to all mountain bikers, bike shops and industry employees you know.

Additional Information

A National Recreation Area protects against resource extraction, road construction and development. It allows quiet uses like bicycling and, like Wilderness, it requires an act of congress to change.

Important trails at Boulder Lake include:
463- Boulder Lake
464- Crane Prairie
478- Crane Creek

We also ask that critical trail connections in Bonney Butte and Twin Lakes areas already protected by Wild and Scenic River and National Recreation Area designations remain open to bikes. Important trails in these areas include:
471- Bonney Butte
482- Palmeteer
482A- Devil’s Half Acre

Local mountain bicyclists were actively involved (see: http://imba.com/resources/land_protection/oregon/index.html) in creating a previous bicycle-friendly Mount Hood Wilderness proposal in the U.S. House of Representatives. This new plan would mirror many aspects of that bill, but the closure at Boulder Lake simply goes too far. This special area should be protected from resource extraction, road construction and development. It does not need to be protected from bicycling.

Learn more (go to: http://imba.com/resources/land_protection/oregon/index.html) about IMBA and the Oregon Mountain Biking Association’s (ORMBA) work to protect Mount Hood’s best lands and singletrack.

The Mount Hood Stewardship and Legacy Act (H.R. 5025), sponsored by
Congressmen Greg Walden (R-OR) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) has passed unanimously through the House Resources Committee, a significant step towards congressional approval. This bill marks a major victory in mountain bikers’ desire for land protection and trails and recreation.

For the past three years, Congressmen Walden and Blumenauer have collaborated with the Oregon Mountain Bike Alliance (ORMBA),
International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) and numerous other stakeholders on an innovative Wilderness bill. The result is truly progressive legislation supported by a diverse audience and reverent of the Oregon mountain bike community.

IMBA and ORMBA thank the bill’s sponsors for their support and specific pro-bicycle provisions. “We couldn’t be more pleased that Chairman Walden and Congressman Blumenauer not only support protecting Mount Hood, but also understand the desire of the Oregon mountain bike community to have continued access to trails we have ridden for years,” says IMBA Government Affairs Director Jenn Dice.

Doug Van Zandt of the Columbia Area Mountain Bike Advocates adds, “We appreciate the congressmen inviting mountain bikers to the table and being part of the team to protect Mount Hood. Mountain bikers care deeply about protecting Mount Hood while allowing existing recreational use to
continue.”

Included in the House bill is an approximately $800,000 annual infusion for trails and recreation in the Mount Hood area, terms to convert old roads to singletrack, boundary adjustments to allow bicycle use adjacent to Wilderness and a mountain bike representative on the Mount Hood National Forest Recreational Advisory Council. The bill also references the importance of recreation to the local economy.

“The mountain bike community was pleased the congressmen left out important trail systems from Wilderness boundaries - which would have banned our existing use,” IMBA Oregon Representative DeJohn says. Many important places such as Larch Mountain, Fifteenmile Creek, Dog River Trail, Shellrock, Hellroaring, Bonney Butte, Mount Defiance were not included in the bill and cyclists will be able to continue to ride these places.

“We believe you can protect the land and allow for continued bicycle access. We hope to work with the congressmen in the future on protecting even more land around Mount Hood through a different congressional designation than Wilderness,” DeJohn adds.

A Senate version of the bill is expected to be released shortly. One improvement IMBA and ORMBA are asking from the Senate version is
continued access for all recreational users to the 28-mile Roaring River trail system. IMBA will continue to provide information as this bill passes through Congress.

Read IMBA’s congressional testimony on the Mount Hood Stewardship and Legacy Act.
www.imba.com