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Appeal Tribune Wednesday, December 6, 2017 3B Backpackers might need to pack a permit Forest Service moves forward on plan to limit entry to 5 Oregon wilderness areas ZACH URNESS SALEM STATESMAN JOURNAL USA TODAY NETWORK The U.S. Forest Service is reassessing a plan that would limit the number of people allowed into five of Oregon’s most popular wilderness areas. The federal agency proposed rules in June that would require hikers and back- packers to purchase a permit before heading into 500,000 acres of backcoun- try between Mount Jefferson and Dia- mond Peak. But after getting more than 500 public comments — many of them critical of the plan’s scope — federal officials have developed alternative plans that are less restrictive. Instead of requiring a permit for all overnight and most day-hiking trips into Mount Jefferson, Mount Washington, Three Sisters, Waldo Lake and Diamond Peak wilderness areas, the new alterna- tives target primarily the busiest areas. “A lot of the questions and concerns we heard from the public was why we were making it so broad — why it needed to be wilderness-wide limited entry,” said Jean Nelson-Dean, public informa- tion officer with Deschutes National For- est. “A lot of the commenters thought it should be more targeted.” The permit system was proposed be- cause of explosive growth in the number of people hiking and backpacking in Cen- tral Cascade areas around the Three Sis- ters and Mount Jefferson. Unlike state or national parks, wilder- ness areas are often ill-equipped to han- dle masses of people, leading to damage in alpine environments. In response, Deschutes and Willam- ette national forests proposed a permit system that would only allow a certain number of people to enter from the ma- jority of trailheads into the five wilder- ness areas. The permits would cost between $6 and $12. Currently, only Obsidian Trail in the Three Sisters Wilderness and Pamelia Lake in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness require a permit to hike or backpack. The response to the original plan — a mostly wilderness-wide permit require- ment — prompted the agency to consider less restrictive options. The Forest Service will study five op- tions and bring them to the public in spring of 2018, and possibly make a deci- sion by summer of 2018. The goal is to have the permit system in place by sum- mer of 2019. The five options, from least to most restrictive, include: 1) Take no action, and require no new additional permit system 2) Permits required only for very high use areas, and only require over- night permits at high use sites in Three Sisters and Mount Jefferson wilderness areas. 3) Same as above, but also consider permit requirement at sites likely to be- come heavily-used in coming 2 to 5 Backpackers and hikers could be required to get a permit before entering five wilderness areas in Oregon, including the Mount Jefferson area. STATESMAN JOURNAL FILE years. 4) Permit required for all overnight trips and most day-hiking trips into all five wilderness areas. (This was the orig- inal proposal). 5) Permits required for every trip, whether day-use or overnight, into all five wilderness areas. The Forest Service will assess the im- pact of each alternative — considering everything from local economies to the wilderness areas environment — and present the findings to the public in spring of 2018. At that point, a second public com- ment period will take place. After that, the Forest Service will take the public comments and prepare a draft decision, then take comments again before a final decision is made around summer of 2018. At the same time, the agency will de- velop separate rules on the cost of per- mits and how the permits would be dis- tributed, along with considering a camp- fire ban for several elevations. “The earliest the entire system would go online — that people would need a per- mit — would be summer of 2019,” Nel- son-Dean said. No longer a wilderness experience? The 1964 Wilderness Act called wil- derness “an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man.” But on the Cascade Crest — between Mount Jefferson and Diamond Peak — finding solitude in wilderness areas has been increasingly difficult. The population boom in Bend and growth in the Willamette Valley have brought more people to the mountains each year, stressing the wilderness areas to the breaking point, officials said. Visitors to the Three Sisters Wilder- ness jumped to 132,118 last year, up from just 46,999 in 2011, according to data col- lected by the Forest Service. "I don't even consider it a wilderness experience," said Chris Sabo, trail crew supervisor for Deschutes National For- est in a 2013 interview. "It's almost more of an urban park. The use is very high, really beyond what this area can accom- modate." Closest to Salem, visitors to the Mount Jefferson Wilderness increased to 28,987 in 2016, up from 22,600 five years ago. Mount Washington was up 119 per- cent and Diamond Peak up 97 percent. Environmental damage All those extra people have had a pro- found impact on areas that are supposed to have little evidence of human influ- ence. In addition to simple issues such as crowded trailheads and limited camp- sites, wilderness rangers have found in- creased amounts of poop, garbage and resource damage. Wilderness rangers reported coming across unburied human feces more than 1,000 times. They reported hauling out more than 1,200 pounds of trash, accord- ing to documents. "It's disheartening to go up there and see some of the behavior," said Jon Erick- son, former wilderness ranger in the Three Sisters. "Every week we'd find people with illegal campfires, garbage left behind and unburied waste sitting right inside a camping spot. "Yes, people are actually pooping at their own campsite and leaving it there." Obsidian and Pamelia One of the reasons officials cited for using a limited entry system is the suc- cess at Obsidian Trail and Pamelia Lake. Both places were becoming crowded and struggling with overuse in the early 1990s, according to officials. In re- sponse, a limited entry system was in- stalled that allows 20 groups into Pame- lia per day, and 30 day hikers and 40 over- " "- # #& && '#,& /#+& "- #! JOBS.STATESMANJOURNAL.COM Visitors to Cascade Crest wilderness areas Data collected by voluntary wilder- ness permits filled out at trailheads Three Sisters u2016: 132,118 u2011: 46,999 Mount Jefferson u2016: 28,987 u2011: 22,600 Mount Washington u2016: 8,315 u2011: 3,793 Diamond Peak (eastside access only) u2016: 2,716 u2011: 1,378 Download the enhanced Explore Ore- gon app from Apple's App store or Google Play for detailed descriptions and direc- tions to outdoor adventures throughout the state. Send us your feedback! Zach Urness has been an outdoors writer, photographer and videographer in Oregon for nine years. He is the author of the book “Hiking Southern Oregon” and can be reached at zurness@States- manJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors. VLOYHUWRQDSSHDOFRP +&" & #& /#+& ".* , night visitors to Obsidian each day. The results have been positive, said Troy Hall, an Oregon State University professor who has tracked environmen- tal conditions at Obsidian. “I’ve actually been surprised,” Hall said. “It’s pretty similar now to what it was 20 years ago, and it’s even improved a little. Other places, like Green Lakes in the Three Sisters that don’t have limited en- try, have just gotten hammered.” Hall said limited entry hasn’t always been an easy sell to the public. In the late 1990s, Mount Hood National Forest tried implementing a limited entry system, she said. “It was pretty soundly rejected,” Hall said. “The public just wasn’t interested in taking that extra step.” +*#"' $*' '&,' '*+ **'!" #+&" %#!( ''' " $&"* "'/ *&#+ +"/ STATESMANJOURNAL.COM/HOMES TRUST THE HOMETOWN EXPERTS AT SILVERTON REALTY SERVING THE EAST VALLEY SINCE 1975 Kristen Barnes Broker 503.873.3545 ext. 326 Marcia Branstetter Broker, GRI 873-3545 ext. 318 Mary Cam Broker 503-873-3545 ext. 320 Micha Christman Offi ce Manager 503-873-1425 Becky Craig Broker 873-3545 ext. 313 Michael Schmidt Broker, GRI 873-3545 ext. 314 Meredith Wertz Broker, GRI 873-3545 ext. 324 Ryan Wertz Broker 873-3545 ext. 322 Chuck White Broker 873-3545 ext. 325 Christina Williamson Broker 873-3545 ext. 315 Mason Branstetter Principal Broker, GRI 873-3545 ext. 303 SILVERTON SILVERTON SILVERTON NEW-SILVERTON SILVERTON SILVERTON #A2439 READY FOR IMPROVEMENTS 3 BR, 2 BA 1388 SQFT CALL MEREDITH AT EXT. 324, RYAN AT EXT. 322 $198,900 (WVMLS#725193) #A2442 GREAT LOCATION 3 BR, 2 BA 1534 SQFT 3.200 CALL MEREDITH AT EXT. 324, RYAN AT EXT. 322 $298,600 (WVMLS#726272) #A2440 LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION 4 BR, 1.5 BA, 2247SQFT CALL MASON AT EXT. 303 $369,000 (WVMLS#725845) #A2445 HIGHLY DESIRABLE AREA 3 BR, 2 BA 1344 SQFT 2.59 ACRES CALL MEREDITH AT EXT. 324, RYAN AT EXT. 322 $299,900 (WVMLS#726458) #A2436 QUIET RETREAT 3 BR, 2.5 BA, 3273 SQFT CALL KIRSTEN AT EXT. 326 OR CHUCK AT EXT. 325 $549,900 (WVMLS#724403) #A2411 READY FOR DREAM HOME .34 ACRES CALL MEREDITH AT EXT. 324, RYAN AT EXT. 322 $79,900 (WVMLS#709283) SILVERTON SILVERTON NEW-SILVERTON KEIZER SILVERTON SILVERTON #A2443 LOTS OF CHARACTER 4 BR, 1.5 BA 1395 SQFT CALL MEREDITH AT EXT. 324, RYAN AT EXT. 322 $259,800 (WVMLS#726243) #A2416 LOTS OF POTENTIAL 5 BR, 6 BA, 6057 SQFT CALL MEREDITH AT EXT. 324, RYAN AT EXT. 322 $649,900 (WVMLS#721150) #A2446 GREAT FAMILY HOME 4 BR, 3 BA, 2780 SQFT CALL CHUCK AT EXT. 325 $459,900 (WVMLS#726473) #A2444 #A2422 CLASSIC SILVERTON HOME WONDERFULLY UPDATED 2 BR, 1 BA 1140 SQFT CALL MEREDITH 4 BR, 3.5 BA, 2733 SQFT CALL AT EXT. 324, RYAN AT EXT. 322 MEREDITH AT EXT. 324, RYAN AT $239,800 (WVMLS#726385) EXT. 322 $389,900 (WVMLS#722076) Brokers licensed in Oregon WWW.SILVERTONREALTY.COM | 303 OAK STREET | SILVERTON Call us today! 503.873.3545 | 1-800-863-3545 #A2429 BUILDABLE 2.85 ACRES 2.85 ACRES CALL MEREDITH AT EXT. 324, RYAN AT EXT. 322 $225,000 (WVMLS#724203) FOR RENT Call Micha at 503-873-1425 or see them on our website.