Yeah, I frequent that website often, as well as the Gifford Pinchot NF website. The areas I was thinking that should be converted to wilderness is actually included in the Roadless Area plan, which, I believe, does not allow logging too. I've also wondered why some areas are restricted to only Yakima members. There is one large lake the size of Takhlakh Lake on the NE side of Adams, apparently named Mt Adams Lake. I am really curious as to what It looks like. I bet it could afford some really nice reflections of the NE side of the mountain as well.Gray Jay wrote:If you are interested in advocacy for Mount Adams, you should check out Friends of Mount Adams. http://mtadamsfriends.org/
There are reasons for the Mount Adams Wilderness boundaries as they are. The Yakama Nation claimed the east side of Mount Adams to its summit in the Treaty of 1855 but the original treaty map was misplaced for decades. By the time the treaty map was found in 1930, 21,000 acres were part of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The Forest Service built the campgrounds and trails we enjoy in the Bird Creek Meadows area today. After more than 100 years of dispute, President Nixon signed an executive order in 1972 returning the 21,000 acres to the Yakama Nation. In exchange, the Yakamas pledged to continue to manage the area for recreation and to allow access to non-Yakama members. This is unique because the remainder of the Yakama Nation lands are closed to entry by non-Yakamas.
The Washington Trails Association has partnered with the Yakama Nation to provide trail maintenance through an annual "Volunteer Vacation" at the Yakama Nation Mount Adams Recreation Area. Several trails, most notably the Island Springs Trail, have been abandoned by the Yakama Nation because it does not have the resources to maintain them. Hopefully, there will be enough volunteer interest to get the Island Springs Trail re-opened in the future.
The Aiken Lava Bed was purposefully left out of the Mount Adams Wilderness boundary because of its long popularity with snowmobilers. Other areas were left out of the 1984 Washington Wilderness Act because they "had trees," in the words of former Senator Slade Gorton. The conservative members of the Washington Congressional delegation resisted including any lands with commercial timber on them.
The Friends of Mount Adams can fill you in on livestock grazing and snowmobile trespass issues on the mountain.
Do you think that if the Yakimas received a large grant of money in order to better maintain and develop the Mt. Adams Recreation Area, including building new trails and developing, perhaps even paving the road to Bird Creek Meadows and Bench Lake, would they do it? In other words, would the Yakimas support the area's future development?