Mt. Hood

Proposed Solution

 

I.          Introduction

 

            The Hood River Valley Residents Committee, Hood River County, and the Mt. Hood Meadows entities and principals of those entities have reached an agreement that seeks to settle a long-standing dispute on the fate of the north side of Mt. Hood.  This paper seeks to introduce key decision makers to key parts of the parties’ proposed resolution and plan.

 

            In the spring of 2004, the parties entered into a voluntary collaborative dispute resolution process.  The parties had already been discussing settlement, and at the suggestion of the Hood River County Board of Commissioners the parties agreed to engage a professional mediator to assist them. So far, the process has resulted in an agreement in principle which the parties believe is in the public interest and consistent with community values. The parties have finalized the details of their agreement in a written settlement agreement.

 

            The parties seek assistance from Oregon’s congressional delegation and conservation groups in order to implement this plan.

 

II.        Discussion

 

            The North side of Mt. Hood provides a unique natural, historic and backcountry recreational legacy for all Oregonians.  The north side of Mt. Hood provides this unique backcountry legacy through well over 16 historic elements of the Cloud Cap Tilly Jane Historic Recreation Area.  The Tilly Jane Ski Trail was recently nominated for the national register of historic places and expanded the Cloud Cap Tilly Jane Historic District.  The Cooper Spur Warming Hut is slated to be renovated in the near future.  The small family oriented ski area (one of the oldest ski areas in the country at 75 years) provides an inexpensive opportunity for Oregonians to learn to ski and enjoy winter recreation. 

 

            The South side of Mt. Hood is home to the community of Government Camp. In 2000, Clackamas County amended its comprehensive land use plan and adjusted zones for development in government camp.  Certain zones overlap Federal land in anticipation that someday a public/private land exchange would be consummated and the lands in government camp would then fit into the community under the zoning prescriptions.

 

On the north side, this plan emphasizes the predominantly natural non-commercial recreational and backcountry opportunities that exist on the north side of Mt. Hood, the community’s desire for watershed and wildlife corridor protection, while also seeking a way to preserve the appropriately modest scale of existing development in its current form for future generations on the north side. On the south side, the plan also helps implement the vision for Government Camp as reflected in its community plan.

 

            The plan, if implemented, is that Mt. Hood Meadows and its related entities and principles would permanently divest themselves of all the properties they own and operate on the North side of Mt. Hood (approximately 775 acres of private land, the Inn at Cooper Spur, and the 1,400 acres ski area permit and facilities) in exchange for certain public land of equal value in Government Camp which has been zoned for residential development (the property on the South Side consist of two parcels one 80 acres and another 40 acres.  The proposal is that Mt. Hood Meadows would receive property equal in value to its north side holding, i.e. +/- 120 acres pursuant to Forest Service approved professional appraisals. 

 

Generally speaking this agreement preserves the existing natural setting of the North side of Mt. Hood for future generations, while permitting the Government Camp Community Plan to be implemented in a manner envisioned by Government Camp and consistent with County and State land use laws.  The plan for the north side of Mt. Hood, should it be implemented, preserves the Crystal Springs watershed, Cloud Cap, Cooper Spur, Tilly Jane Creek and Polallie Canyon areas of the North side, and the historic community ski area.  The plan is to leave the existing facilities on the North side of Mt. Hood at their current size and footprint, by protecting all adjacent forestlands within and without the Crystal Springs Zone of Contribution from development and further ski expansion.  The plan for the south side is to implement a development consistent with the Government Camp Community Plan.

 

The preferred vehicle for implementing this plan is a land exchange assisted by federal legislation because of the certainty that the exchange provides.  The parties are willing to explore the possibility of an administrative exchange.  In either case, the parties require specific land allocation changes to the lands on the north side of Mt. Hood.  As described in the document, these lands are either currently owned by the public and managed by the Forest or proposed to be owned by the Forest Service and currently owned by Mt. Hood Meadows.

 

III.       Current Situation & Proposed Solution

 

            The proposed solution seeks to achieve the following:

 

            A.        Cooper Spur Ski Area (CSSA) – Approximately 1400 acre permit area, with approximately 50 acres developed. 

                       

                        Current designation:       A-11 recreation.

 

                        Proposed designation: The CSSA permit area would be reduced down to its current foot print except for the possibility that 10 to 20 acres directly to the east and north of the lower northern section of the ski hill may be used for a new tubing hill (not all the way up to the ridge above Polallie Canyon).  The lands formerly in the CSSA permit area would be federally designated as Wilderness.  These lands have been included in the current Lewis & Clark Wilderness proposal.  The buildings and improvements at CSSA would be owned by the Forest Service.  The Forest Service would lease the facilities to another entity (e.g. Hood River County Parks & Recreation or another non-profit organization).  Neither Meadows nor any of its affiliates would operate the entity.

 

            B.         Cloud Cap Tilly Jane Special Interest Area (CPTJ SIA).  The SIA contains over a thousand acres of land that is surrounded by Wilderness on two sides.  The SIA covers all of the elements of the Historic District except for the Cooper Spur Warming Hut and the Tilly Jane Ski Trail.

 

                        Current designation:  A-4 Special Interest Area.

 

                        Proposed designation:  Congressionally designated Wilderness.  Cloud Cap Road cherry-stemmed as in the current Wilderness proposal (shown on the ZOC map). The groups who operate or own the historic structures in the SIA would be able to continue to do so.

 

            C.         Crystal Springs Zone of Contribution. The ZOC is currently a mixture of public and private land 6.9 square miles in size.

 

                        Current designation:  Private ownership, A-11 Recreation, A-4 Special Interest Area, B-2 Viewshed.

 

                        Proposed designation: – Wilderness designation for the roadless areas that are public land.  Legislation would protect the watershed permanently as a watershed protection area similar to what has been done in the Bull Run for all of the other public land that is not eligible for Wilderness protection.

 

            D.        Inn at Cooper Spur & Dillard Property - approximately 157 acres

                       

                        Current zoning:  Approximately 2.8 acres commercial and 155 acres of Goal 4 forestland.

 

                        Proposed designation: Watershed protective designation via legislation except that the 3 acres of Inn at Cooper may be A-4 Special Interest Area.  The Inn would stay its current size and be operated by a lessee --- a non-profit or other appropriate venture, based on input and approval from the members of the Cooper Spur Wild & Free Coalition.  The Inn may be converted into a historic site operated for the benefit of the public similar to the manner in which the Timberline Lodge is operated.  The proposed solution intends to limit the footprint of the facility permanently. 

 

            E.         Government Camp – 2 parcels - one 40 acres, one 80 acres.

 

                        Current zoning: Low Density Residential

 

                        Proposal: Mt. Hood Meadows would receive some or all of this land in exchange for all of Meadows holdings on the north side of Mt. Hood.  The parties will order appraisals with sufficient support from the Oregon Congressional Delegation to assist the implementation of this plan.  The self-contained appraisal report would meet all federal standards and would determine the value of the subject properties and ensure an equal value exchange. 

 

            F.         Polallie Cooper Timber Sales (Clan, Kilt and Tartan) – the Polallie Cooper timber sales propose to harvest timber in the Crystal Springs watershed ZOC and the land in and around the Dillard property. 

                       

                        Current proposal: The Forest Service’s project emphasized the need to manage a “wildland urban interface” around adjacent private lands in a manner that local residents, community groups and conservation organizations determined was out of scale with the condition on the ground.  The Forest Service recently cancelled this project and withdrew the proposal                       

                        Proposed: The project, as previously proposed by the Forest Service, is not responsive to the plan for the North side as described above.  HRC and Meadows have agreed to support the appropriate restoration of this area and vision that the members of the Cooper Spur Wild & Free Coalition share with the Hood River Valley Residents Committee for the North side of Mt. Hood.