Oregon: Mt. Hood’s Tumala needs protection from OHVs
Acting on a legislative directive, the Clackamas County Commission
began the work of changing the names of “Squaw” mountain, meadows,
lakes and creek to “Tumala” in 2007, and the Oregon Geographic Names
Board completed the work in early 2008. Tumala is a Chinook word
meaning tomorrow, or afterlife, and is as good a name as you might
wish for in this lovely mountain blend of craggy peaks, big trees and
sunny meadows. But the work here has only begun. Tumala Mountain and
the surrounding country are rich with Native American and early
pioneer history, yet little has been done to simply preserve the
legacy, much less celebrate it. Native Americans hunted and foraged
along the high ridges of Tumala Mountain area for centuries, and
likely set fires to keep the huckleberry slopes productive.
In the
autumn of 1855, a 22-year old U.S. Army lieutenant named Henry Abbot
and his 18-year old Indian guide, Sam-ax-shat, led a survey party
across the Cascades. They followed the high divide between the Salmon
and Roaring rivers, and passed through the Tumala Lakes basin, a
protected refuge with water and grazing along the high ridge top.
Abbot’s journey lent his name to the early Forest Service road that
would later be built along this route, in the 1920s. A string of fire
lookouts, guard stations and a network of trails soon followed in this
corridor. The lookout on Tumala Mountain was rebuilt at least twice,
before it was finally removed in the 1960s, when the Forest Service
burned hundreds of old lookout structures that were no longer in use.
Today, the old road to the Tumala Mountain lookout site still exists,
but serves mainly to deliver motorcycles and OHVs to the fragile
mountain summit. The Abbot Road, itself, has become a sad, dangerous
shooting gallery overrun by OHVs and target hunters. Tumala Meadows
and Lakes are also within reach of the OHVs, despite efforts to keep
them out of this remarkable basin. So the name change is a starting
point, but the work here is unfinished. At Tumala Mountain, the
solution is simple: the area must be managed for activities that build
on the natural and cultural legacy, and help preserve the traces that
still remain. The first step in making this transition is to remove
the shooters and OHVers from the area. Until they are gone, hikers,
picnickers, cyclists and equestrians are unlikely to feel safe
visiting the area, and the area will continue to suffer the abuse that
is so evident today.
http://wyeastblog.wordpress.com/2009/01/02/unfinished-work-at-tumala/
— Posted to http://forestpolicyresearch.com via gmail to posterous and
also to forestpolicyresearch@yahoogroups.com
Posted via email from Deane’s posterous