.....to preserve by all reasonable means the natural beauties of forest, stream and other features of mountain scenery....

CONSERVATION

Latest on

Adopt-a-Wilderness       Fee Demo Program

Links to local environmental organizations

Questions about Conservation?
Jorry Rolfe - 541-206-9501 - conservation@obsidians.org

Environmental Organizations in Eugene

Adopt-a-Wilderness

What is the Adopt-a-Wilderness program?
The Adopt-a-Wilderness program brings Oregonians closer to the land we love, and in so doing, builds local constituencies for protection of wilderness areas. As an integral piece to the 4.8 million acre Wilderness Proposal, Oregon Wild, this year-round program collects valuable "on the ground" data from volunteers to update roadless maps and provides the foundation for the proposal.

 Here’s how it works:
A wilderness adopter picks a favorite area that may need protection. If he / she doesn’t have a favorite area in mind, he / she will be given a list of nearby unprotected wilderness areas that need an adopter. Individuals and groups of all shapes and sizes can adopt areas. For example, in both Portland and Ashland, church groups have adopted their favorite areas.

Wilderness adopters learn map skills: how to read various maps and satellite photos of forests, and how to update and verify mapping data. Adopters will be given a packet containing maps and data about the area. Follow-up assistance is offered as needed. The boundary of the adopted wilderness area should be verified, noting existing logging roads around its perimeter and adding information about new roads and logged tracts that might not be on the maps.

The adopter also hikes through the area, taking pictures and recording information about the values of the place, the plants and wildlife, the scenery, the hiking trails, and other points of interest. Threats to the area from proposed logging, road building, mining, overgrazing or overuse by recreationists should be noted. The adopter may become local advocate for their area. This could include offering hikes, giving slide shows, setting up displays at local community events, and contacting local officials about the need to protect the area.

The information gathered by each wilderness adopter on his / her area will help form a citizen proposal for Wilderness protection throughout Oregon. ONRC may request adopters and Wilderness supporters from around the state to testify in Wilderness Hearings asking our Congressional Representatives to support the Oregon Citizens Wilderness Campaign.

In three years’ time, approximately 380 volunteers have adopted 340 roadless areas to serve as mappers, monitors, and publicists until the areas receive formal Wilderness protection from Congress. Add to that the individuals who have joined adopter teams and attended trainings, campouts & hikes, and there are over 1,000 people who have found a new appreciation for the special character of Oregon’s forested wild lands.

As the number of wilderness adopters continues to grow, so will the strength of the campaign to protect the remaining forested wild lands in Oregon.

For more information contact Erik Fernandez at ONRC at 503 283 6343 x202, or by e-mail at ef@onrc.org   

Alan Coons

Fee Demo Program

In 1998, the Willamette National Forest, along with several other forests, introduced a new revenue program set up as a Recreational Fee Demonstration Program (Fee Demo). The test program, originally set to end in 1999 has recently been extended for a third time by congressional action. The difficult issue of "pay to play" fees has sharply divided the outdoor recreation community and others.

To help you sort out the issue or to be better informed, we have provided some web links:

Recreation Fees on National Forests      PL 104-134     Oregonian Article 10/9/01

Mazama's Position on Fee Demo     Willamette Forest Fee Collections   

Or, just go to Google or any other search engine and do a search on Recreational Fee Demonstration Program and get more info than you can shake a stick at.