Major Expansion of the Mount Hood National Recreation Area Proposed

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greenjello85
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Re: Major Expansion of the Mount Hood National Recreation Area Proposed

Post by greenjello85 » December 13th, 2021, 4:24 pm

Looks like a lot of good ideas! Bummer to see the salmon butte trailhead move even further down the road. That's already quite the trek for most folks.

greenjello85
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Joined: July 31st, 2014, 1:31 pm

Re: Major Expansion of the Mount Hood National Recreation Area Proposed

Post by greenjello85 » December 13th, 2021, 4:26 pm

BigBear wrote:
December 12th, 2021, 3:25 pm
The colorful map might have been interesting if it had a legend. I don't know if I had a poor internet connection that kept me from identifying how the colored sections of the map related to the proposal's goals.
There's a legend at the bottom. Took quite a while to load.

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BigBear
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Re: Major Expansion of the Mount Hood National Recreation Area Proposed

Post by BigBear » December 13th, 2021, 5:23 pm

Thank you regarding the slow load. It loaded quicker today.

It is nice to see more forest designated for recreation and a few islands for wilderness. However, it was surprising to see that neither Fivemile Creek and Boulder Creek, designated as wild & scenic, have their surrounding land not designated as recreational or wilderness, which means the land is still eligible for logging (just as the east side of Fivemile Butte has been thinned).

Having the wisdom to never have destroyed my knees on Mt. Defiance, I'm not certain if the new wilderness island includes the existing cell tower. (My great admiration to anyone who has managed the 5,000 foot descent of Defiance and still has two good legs to stand on...even more for those with bionic knees who have survived multiple descents of that grade).

I am not morally opposed to logging, but I am opposed to the exporting of logs. We should be making finished products with out raw materials. I also believe that MHNF needs to be recognized as Portland's playground and not a harvesting mechanism. If you disagree with the playground concept, perhaps you could take one for the team and keep your boots in the closet. With all of the people populating this part of the country, a big playground is needed in which to recreate. The population needs to decrease, or the playground needs to increase. We just can't stack the forest on top of itself to provide a 3-dimentional map (ref. to Star Trek 3D chess).

I wonder if a formula of "x square feet per person" is something that can be done, but we may be too late for that. So, I am pleased to see more territory being designated as recreational.

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Chip Down
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Re: Major Expansion of the Mount Hood National Recreation Area Proposed

Post by Chip Down » December 15th, 2021, 5:54 pm

BigBear wrote:
December 13th, 2021, 5:23 pm
Having the wisdom to never have destroyed my knees on Mt. Defiance, I'm not certain if the new wilderness island includes the existing cell tower. (My great admiration to anyone who has managed the 5,000 foot descent of Defiance and still has two good legs to stand on...even more for those with bionic knees who have survived multiple descents of that grade).
The trick is to hike Defiance in the snowy season. A cushy step followed by six inch slide, a cushy step followed by six inch slide, over and over.

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drm
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Re: Major Expansion of the Mount Hood National Recreation Area Proposed

Post by drm » January 20th, 2022, 10:29 am


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