For nearly two decades, our emphasis has been on safeguarding the natural environment at Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Area, which operates on national forest land under a special use permit. This area contains the Hood River Meadows and Stringer Meadows wetlands, numerous fragile alpine meadows, clear flowing streams that feed into the East Fork of Hood River, and high alpine stands of mountain hemlock and slow growing white bark pine. Over the years Friends of Mount Hood has opposed various plans for major resort development at Meadows Ski Area, and recently we have fought a proposal for a destination resort near the Cooper Spur Ski Area on the northeast slope of the mountain.

For additional information on Friends of Mount Hood, please visit the following web pages:

• Summary of Litigation on Master Plan for Meadows
• Cooper Spur area
• Snowmaking
  
• Newsletters
  
• Photos taken by Kate McCarthy

Donations to Friends of Mount Hood support our ongoing effort to protect the environment on the mountain.

On March 25, 2009, Congress passed the Omnibus Public Land Management Act. This monumental legislation was a compilation of various conservation bills affecting areas throughout the United States. The legislation included the Lewis and Clark Mount Hood Wilderness Act that designates wilderness protection to more than 127,000 new acres in the Mt. Hood National Forest. Also, an additional 80 miles of free flowing stretches of nine rivers near Mt. Hood have been classified as wild and scenic.

Information and maps of the new wilderness additions around Mt. Hood can be found at the website of the enviromental organization Oregon Wild or the website of Senator Ron Wyden.