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Friends of Mount Hood
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Web pages:
Friends of Mount Hood
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Friends of Mount Hood phone: 541-352-6228 e-mail: mldaily@pdx.edu
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Cooper Spur IssuesMeadows purchases Cooper Spur Ski Area In the summer of 2001, Meadows North, LCC, an affiliate of Mt. Hood Meadows, purchased the lease for the 1400 acre Cooper Spur Ski Area. This small family oriented ski area is located on land in the Mt. Hood National Forest on the northeast slope of Mt. Hood. In addition, Meadows purchased the nearby Cooper Spur Inn and 155 acres of surrounding private land adjacent to the Mt. Hood National Forest. Land trade Furthermore, in March 2002, the Hood River County Commissioners formally approved a trade of forest lands between Meadows North and Hood River County. In the trade Meadows received about 620 acres of private land adjacent to the Cooper Spur Inn property, and thus enlarged it's ownership of private land near the Cooper Spur Ski Area to nearly 800 acres. The county received about 785 acres of forest land, and paid Meadows North over $1 million for the difference in value of the properties. In various meetings with local homeowner associations and outdoor groups before the approval of the land trade, the general manager of Meadows indicated that their future plans included developing a destination resort, as well as constructing new facilities, lifts, and ski runs at the Cooper Spur Ski Area. Friends of Mount Hood opposes a destination resort near Cooper Spur Friends of Mount Hood is opposed to any major development of private land near the Mt. Hood National Forest and to the expansion of the Cooper Spur Ski Area. We support the lawsuit brought by the Hood River Valley Residents Committee to challenge the land trade between Meadows North and Hood River County. One of the issues raised in the litigation is that the Hood River County Commission never made a finding that the land exchange between Hood River County and Meadows North was actually for equal value and in the public interest. In otherwords, the Commission did not take into consideration the possibility of a destination resort being developed on the county land traded to Meadows North as forest land. Additional information on the lawsuit can be found on the website of the lawfirm Cascade Resources Advocacy Group, www.crag.org.
In the photo by John Wood of the north side of the mountain, Cooper Spur and Eliot Glacier appear on the left side of the picture.
Friends of Mount Hood has joined a coalition of environmental and citizen groups that has been formed to coordinate efforts to oppose a destination resort on the northeast slopes of Mount Hood. For more information on the Cooper Spur Wild and Free Coaliton, visit the website www.cooperspur.org. Cooper Spur Ski Area Proposed timber sales We are also concerned about approved and proposed timber sales in the Mt. Hood National Forest on the northeast slope of the mountain. The Pollalie-Cooper and Clear timber sales are of special concern due to their proximity to the ski area and the nearby Historic District containing the Cloud Cap Inn. Bark, a member of the Coalition which monitors timber sales, has formally requested the Forest Service to withdraw the Pollalie-Cooper timber sale. Information on timber sales in the region can be obtained on the Bark website www.bark-out.org.
 The following links provide additional information on issues relevant to the northeast slope of Mt. Hood:
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Bordering the Mt. Hood Wilderness, the national forest lands on the northeast slope of Mt. Hood provide a pristine mountain environment for various alpine activites such as camping at Forest Service campgrounds, fishing in mountain streams, hiking the Timberline and Tilly Jane trails, snowshoeing, and Nordic and backcountry skiing. Neither a destination resort nor an enlarged ski area would be compatible with these historic outdoor recreational uses on the northeast slope. Furthermore, most of the private land now owned by Meadows North is within the watershed of the Crystal Springs Water District, a source of water for many residents of Hood River County. 
With the change in ownership of the Cooper Spur Ski Area, Friends of Mount Hood is closely monitoring proposals submitted to the Forest Service by the new management for expansion projects at the ski area. During the summer of 2002 the existing t-bar lift was replaced by a double chairlift and recontouring of the slope near the lodge took place for realignment of a rope tow for a tubing area. This picture taken by Jim Denton shows the disturbance of the ground during the winter of 2003 around the tubing area.