Category: Uncategorized

Dear Fellow Conservationists,

There’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing about to cut through our federal forests. It slipped silently through the U.S. House of Representatives, and is about to roll into the Senate.

The so-called “Fix Our Forests Act” (HB 471) is on the table, and its seemingly helpful name is a guise to pass legislation that prioritizes logging access over genuine forest conservation and would also remove judicial review of how forests are managed. This bill poses a significant threat to our ecosystems and the wildlife that depend on them.

While the bill has some positive notions included, it lacks any proposal for how they’ll be funded and function more as eco-bait than anything else. The other aspects of the bill that do have teeth to them are far more hair-raising:

• The bill includes no funding for federal land management agencies or communities most at risk.
• Rejects a permanent increase for federal firefighter pay.
• Slashes public participation and judicial review for a broad range of forest management projects. This judicial review is one of the only remaining safeguards that exists in our legal system.
• Enacts large-scale, industry-focused shortcuts of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
• Includes a reckless reduction of ESA protections, exempting the Forest Service from any requirement to consider new scientific discoveries, new species listings or new critical habitat designations once a forest plan has been approved – setting yet another dangerous precedent.
• It also does not address the main driver of catastrophic wildfires – climate change.

What to do:

Contact Your U.S. senators. It is essential to voice your opposition.
Tell others. This bill’s name makes it easy to fly under the radar; not a lot of people know this is happening.

Oregon Senators:

Ron Wyden
Phone: (202) 224-5244
Email: Contact Form

Jeff Merkley
Phone: (202) 224-3753
Email: Contact Form

Washington Senators:

Patty Murray
Phone: (202) 224-2621
Email: Contact Form

Maria Cantwell
Phone: (202) 224-3441
Email: Contact Form

Key Points to Convey:

When you reach out, consider emphasizing:

• The misleading nature of the bill’s title and the real implications it holds for logging companies to exploit our forests.
• The urgent need for policies that protect our natural resources and promote sustainable management practices.
• Your voice is crucial in this fight. Let’s work together to ensure that the health of our forests is prioritized over corporate interests.
• Thank you for standing up for our environment.

by Jacob Lippincott, Adventurous Young Mazamas

Oregon is typically not a state for fair weather hikers. In the summer expect to contend with heat, long dry spells, and skies filled with wild-fire smoke. In the winter, you’ll find cold temperatures, copious amounts of rain at lower elevations or many feet of snow at higher elevations. When the few nice weeks of fall give way to winter, people who want to continue enjoying one of our local trails often turn to snowshoes.

It is thought that snowshoes were first used around 4000 BC in Central Asia. People in snowy environments used them not for recreation at first, but for travelling and hunting. Snowshoes at this time did not look much like the ones we see today but were made from teardrop shaped planks of wood with a binding to attach to the foot. It wasn’t until they were brought to North America, by people crossing over the Bering Sea Land Bridge that they started to take on a more recognizable form. 

The Indigenous peoples of the Huron and Cree tribes are credited with modernizing snowshoes, replacing planks with webbing and a frame around the outside. As they were used more extensively, their form changed to meet the demands of conditions specific to that region. For example, snowshoes found in Alaska tended to be longer and skinnier, more suited for long trips in open country with deep snow. In contrast, the “bear paw” snowshoe, oval in shape with no tail, was great for navigating through dense woods and hilly areas. Today’s snowshoes resemble these older versions in shape and serve similar function, but are made with newer materials like aluminum and plastic, allowing them to be lighter and more durable.

For winter travel on trails and snowy plains, it is hard to beat snowshoes for their effectiveness and ease of use. While they may not provide the downhill speed of touring skis or the efficiency of cross-country skis, they require less training and less financial investment. If you can hike, you can snowshoe. That being said you will find that snowshoeing through deep snow is tiring, and usually slower than hiking.

Often, you find fewer people braving the elements so snowshoeing, even on a trail that is popular in the summer, can feel like you are deep in the backcountry. Just remember that snowshoeing or other forms of winter recreation come with their own set of challenges. Navigation can be harder, as even familiar trails can look vastly different under a few feet of snow and storms easily remove evidence of yesterday’s bootpack. Be prepared for cold temperatures in the morning and potential warming throughout the day, dress in layers. Finally, the sun goes down early in winter, start early and be back before dark. Now is not the season to stay overnight in the woods. 

I often say that I don’t like to snowshoe, that I would rather ski if I am spending time outside this time of year. But, writing this has made me reconsider that position. Yes, snowshoeing is often more tiring and slower than hiking and I want to get to the summit or back to the car to get warm. But when I remember to stop and marvel at the forest around me and soak in the quiet splendor, I am once again reminded how lucky I am to live in the Pacific Northwest. The dark green stands of evergreens, when covered with snow, are what comes to my mind when I think about the mountains here and trails become more beautiful during the winter. Moving through the woods in the cold, with tepid winter sun filtering through the trees and heavy snow-laden boughs gently swaying in the wind above provide for a wonderful, unique experience. Winter also provides a stillness to the outdoors that can be hard to find today. Honestly, I think about how lucky I am to live here almost every time I am outside in Oregon but it hits differently this time of year. And when on one of these magical winter hikes, thanks to snowshoes, I didn’t posthole every ten feet for the last five miles. 

If you would like to join the Mazamas for a snowshoe, keep an eye on the calendar this winter season. The Adventurous Young Mazamas is hosting our Winter Weekend the weekend of February 14–16. There will be snowshoeing events for everyone regardless of age or experience level, join us!

By next month’s end, the Mazama Lodge will finally have a new roof! Over the past year, we’ve stressed the importance of this step in caring for and maintaining the lodge, but there’s much more progress to report as we continue to prepare the facility for its much-anticipated re-opening.

Last March, the Board of Directors engaged consultant Chris Jaworski of Five Stakes to identify the steps required to open and operate the lodge as an overnight facility. The goal was, and remains, a phased reopening of the lodge—first to members and then to the general public—to transform the lodge into a revenue-positive asset that advances our mission, furthers brand recognition, and reflects our values.

Both a Mazama member and a board member, Chris’ familiarity with the organization provides him with critical insight into the successes and failures of past operating models, as well as our unique need to support our education programs through use of the lodge. Chris’ career in the hospitality industry means he also brings an acute understanding of the ins and outs of facility operations. Chris (who has, per board policy, disclosed a conflict of interest and does not vote on lodge-related matters) was hired specifically to:

1. Assess the lodge for health and safety compliance, and help us bring it up to code where needed
2. Develop and document standard operating and emergency management procedures
3. Identify and build relationships with potential vendors to support equipment, repairs, supplies, and food and beverage
4. Recommend a business model, including staffing operations and a reservation management platform

Inspired and excited by the prospect of what the lodge can ultimately be, it’s been an exercise in prioritization as we find solutions suited to our immediate needs and means as a non-profit. But with additional help from staff and volunteers, we’ve managed to make considerable progress in just five months. As we continue to chip away at both necessities and niceties, fire and kitchen safety now meet required standards, faucets, toilets, and pipes have been repaired throughout the building, procedure manuals have been created, preventative maintenance schedules have been established, and reliable phone and internet is on the way. As you may know, the lodge roof has been paid for thanks to members stepping up to make its fundraising campaign a success; the rest of the work has been supported by rental revenue earned over the summer from youth ski camps.

Key items we’re still working to resolve are the technical system for managing reservations and a staffing model that fulfills the need for both day-to-day management and big picture oversight. Cost efficiency is top-of-mind, though we recognize that a properly supported facility is a requirement of success.

Visually, the lodge still resembles itself with a few small exceptions. On the outside, the vent stack that protrudes from the west side of the roof has been rerouted and will be removed entirely with the new roof, as its position was contributing to the leaks. On the inside, staff is working to curate displays on the walls to tell the story of the lodge over the last 60 years. Additionally, membership has asked for a more flexible, user-friendly kitchen, as well as an environmentally sustainable carbon-neutral facility. Cautious to not get ahead of ourselves, we’re beginning to imagine what those larger upgrades might entail.

Again, first things first—we still have a few items to resolve before we can reopen to members. Once we’re up and running, we’ll be able to use real-time feedback to fine-tune our operations and generate the revenue we need to expand service. If you’d like to support the lodge, please consider attending our September 25 fundraiser, Steps Together, or making a charitable contribution in lieu of attendance. For the latest updates and announcements, keep your eyes on our eNews and the November/December Mazama Bulletin.

A native South Carolinian, Duncan lived in Maryland, Virginia and Rhode Island before moving to Oregon. His face is a familiar one at the Mazamas, and we’re fortunate that he is a devoted instructor. He’s a professor at Linfield College and volunteers much of his time teaching and overseeing first aid courses for the Mazamas. He also leads Basic Climbing Education Program teams, leads and assists on many climbs throughout the season and steps in as needed for other programs, like Families Mountaineering 101.

Name:  Duncan Hart

Pronouns:  he/him

Year Joined Mazamas: 2009

Present-day outdoor activities:  Alpine climbing, camping, cycling, gardening, hiking, kayaking, and sandbox play

What’s your earliest outdoor memory?: Riding on the handlebars of my brother’s bike before age 3 and yes, we did not wear helmets back in the day.

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization? My manager would drag himself into Monday morning meetings with a big smile where he would spend a few minutes sharing Mazamas weekend adventures stories. At the time, doing the kinds of activities that Mazamas do seemed unimaginable to me. One day he asked where I wanted to be in life, and my response was that I wanted to be in a pair of snowshoes on Mt Hood. The response was priceless, “Well that sounds kind of risky. You really should have some BCEP training before going into the mountains.”  

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? Be responsible not only for yourself but for others. Thirty years ago, we moved to the Pacific Northwest for the natural beauty and outdoor access. Today, we might be loving our mountains and outdoors a little too much. The inner drive to get that next great selfie is taking some people beyond their physical limits and into risky situations. The policy response is to place access restrictions on public lands. I feel that more people should be educated on the 10 essentials and that a smartphone is never an adequate substitute for planning and preparation. Having more people in the outdoors with Wilderness First Aid skills would also be a very good thing. 

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? Acts of human kindness. Each of us does simple things every day that can make life better for others. Sometimes it is reaching out to a teammate who was involved in a challenging situation with you. “Hey, how are you doing?”  A casual check-in like this can make a big difference in the first 10 minutes, later in the day, or even the next day after a tragedy or a near miss. Traumatic events affect each of us differently. Pay attention to the subtle details and listen. When we come together as Mazamas for an outdoor or educational experience, we often become a close-knit team. What we do as Mazamas is a dangerous sport, and bad things can and do happen. It is those formal and informal leaders within the teams who have the right sense of timing of when and how to do a check-in that inspire me.

What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why? The Society for Science & the Public is a nonprofit that publishes a monthly Science News magazine that seeks to promote the understanding and appreciation for science and the vital role it plays on people and the planet. The articles are synopses of peer-reviewed white papers published in the last two months. I am interested in following the environmental issues and where this scientific community is focusing. Everyone can make individual choices both big and small that can result in a positive impact on the environment. 

What’s on your adventure bucket list? My wish is to take all of my grandchildren up a glaciated peak. I pick up summit rocks as gifts and tell them that someday they will need to take them back (hopefully with me). Climate change is a reality. If we inspire our youth, someday they will tell their grandchildren stories of the time when there were glaciers on the mountains. Maybe one of those children will grow up with the answers on how to save our planet.