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Millions of tourists and residents make the short drive from Portland to escape the city and enjoy the quiet forests, free flowing rivers and austere high mountain reaches of this sacred peak known to Native Americans as Wy'east. Visitors also come to witness history and trace the steps of the pioneers who crossed the mountain on the Oregon Trail.

Mount Hood is vitally important to the state as a draw for tourists and recreational users. It offers opportunities for solitude, hiking, camping and wildlife viewing. Recreation and tourism around Mt. Hood create jobs in local communities at shops, restaurants, outfitters and ski destinations like Timberline Lodge. Large revenues also are generated from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses.

But Mt. Hood is threatened by development and an aggressive logging operation. Developers have proposed construction of a massive destination resort on the Northeast side of the mountain, which is at present undeveloped and pristine. The scale of the proposed development is huge and would include construction of 450 houses and condos, additional ski slopes, an amphitheater, covered skating rink, golf course, shopping center and associated roads and parking.

There is also extensive commercial logging in the wild areas around Mt. Hood. The US Forest Service continues to plan timber sales in the biologically sensitive areas of old-growth forest. These money-losing timber operations threaten the water quality of streams and rivers flowing off the mountain, destroy habitat and endanger wildlife.

The wild areas around Mt. Hood need a protection plan that will safeguard Oregon's watersheds, wildlife and recreation areas before they are lost to these threats. As the nation celebrates the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial, we can commemorate this historic event by permanently protecting the precious wild lands around Mt. Hood and in the Columbia Gorge that marked the explorers' final leg to the Pacific Ocean.

To help honor the Lewis and Clark legacy by protecting Mt. Hood, please contact Ralph Bloemers at Ralph@crag.org or 503.525.2724.