Mike McCarthy has been working to protect areas on Mount Hood and in the Hood River Valley for decades, but his family has been involved for generations. It all began when Mike's grandfather homesteaded in the area in the early 1900s. With this history, one can understand why Mike says, "It's a family goal and a personal goal to protect farm land and special natural areas around Mt. Hood."
"My grandfather settled in Hood River in 1910," says Mike. "He bought property in the upper valley, which my family still owns. He came West to seek his fortune, that's how it all started."
Mike grew up in Roseburg, in southern Oregon, and would come up to Hood River in the summer to spend time in the woods with his grandfather. "I grew up hiking Mount Hood and enjoying special places on the mountain and on my family's property. I treasure this land - the farmland and the mountain."
Mike and his wife, Susan, moved to Hood River in 1980 and bought an orchard. Today they have over 100 acres where they grow pears and hay, and raise cattle. Part of that land is forest, which they manage for timber, and as a natural area for the family to enjoy. "Just last week, 19 elk came through the forest and out onto our farm. A while back we saw three wild turkeys, and we occasionally see bear or cougar," says Mike.
Mike cares deeply about protecting special places - both farm and forest - for future generations. "We so quickly destroy farmland and special places in the forest without really thinking," says Mike. "I've always been in favor of more wilderness because of the permanent protection it gives."
Mike has been coming to Mount Hood for more than fifty years, and has seen the changes. "We've lost a tremendous number of acres of farmland to development. We've lost special places on Mount Hood. Places I hiked 50 years ago across meadows and streams no longer exist. It makes you think about what needs to happen."
Mike joined the effort to protect new wilderness in the Mount Hood National Forest when Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) proposed wilderness legislation for the mountain in 2004. However, he's been involved for years with the Hood River Valley Residents Committee, an organization of local residents which formed in 1977 to prevent destination ski resorts in the upper Hood River Valley.
Mike and the Hood River Valley Residents Committee successfully beat back attempts by the Mount Hood Meadows ski resort to develop a large-scale resort in the upper Hood River Valley in the mid-80s. But Mount Hood Meadows continued its attempts to develop a new resort on the north side of the mountain, eventually leading the company and the Residents Committee into a mediation process. The result was that the resort owners agreed to drop efforts to develop the north side of the mountain in exchange for a parcel of U.S. Forest Service land on the more developed south side of the mountain.
The Residents Committee and Mount Hood Meadows worked with local Representatives Walden (R-OR) and Blumenauer (D-OR) to move the agreement forward, with the congressmen holding a series of summits over the past two years to assess public sentiment and review all sides of the issue.
Today, the two congressmen are sponsors of the "Mount Hood Stewardship and Legacy Act of 2006," which they introduced in Congress at the end of March. The legislation formalizes the agreement between the Residents Committee and Mount Hood Meadows, and would designate more than 77,000 acres of wilderness on Mount Hood and in Oregon's scenic Columbia River Gorge.
With progress being made both on protecting wilderness and defending the Upper Hood River Valley from large scale development, Mike is "cautiously optimistic" about the future. "We hope the legislation moves forward, but there is lots of work to be done yet," he says.
Barbara Wilson, a volunteer with the Cooper Spur Wild and Free Coalition, a coalition of 30 groups, including the Residents Committee, working to protect the northeast side of Mount Hood, speaks highly of Mike's work, saying, "What strikes me about Mike is his determination. When all things seemed bleak he persevered and was not going to take ‘no' for an answer."
Mike's advice for others who care about protecting special place is simple: "The main thing is you just have to get out and do something. You just have to act. It always starts with a few people in a room talking, then gaining momentum gradually. And then you might find yourself in a room with 200-300 people there to support you. Mount Hood Meadows was trying to build a ski resort in an important watershed, and 300 folks filled a room at Hood River Middle School for a hearing on the issue."
This month, we are honored to recognize orchardist and advocate Mike McCarthy, his wife Susan, and the rest of the Hood River Residents Committee for their ongoing and important work to protect forest and farmland in the Hood River Valley.
For more information on the Mount Hood wilderness proposal, please visit http://www.oregonwild.org/mthood/.
