Chapter History

Mt Adams Chapter

 

In 1995 there were several families in the Columbia River Gorge area who were independent members of BCHW.  Some of them were Gene and Connie Baugher, Mary and Jerry Dean, Tuck Sperry, Chris and Harry Miller, Mike Foss, George “Mac” McDonald, Jerry & Becky Smith, Al Warner, and Bonnie and Dave Welch.

 

Dave, Mike Foss, and Al Warner had had several separate conversations with Ken Wilcox, then President and Founder of BCHW about forming a chapter in the local area.  While everyone involved thought it was a great idea, nothing was done.

 

At the BCHW Rendezvous in the spring of 1995 Dave talked at length with Al Pitts who was the BCHW Expansion Chair.  Al followed up by sending Dave a packet explaining the steps to take to form a chapter.  Several phone calls were made in the following months between Al and Dave.  Dave contacted as many of the independent members in the local area as he could, most thought it a good idea to try to form chapter.  Notices were placed in each of the three weekly Washington newspapers in the area. The notice announced that an informational meeting would be held at Henkle Middle School in White Salmon. 

 

The meeting was held the evening of November 30, 1995.  Al Pitts showed a short video on the purpose and goals of BCHW. Approximately 50 people were in attendance.  One thing Al told us at that meeting was that the USFS had taken some drastic budget hits and were looking for more volunteer help.  He added that in some areas the USFS provided the equipment while BCHW did the work.  It was obvious that a unified voice on trail related issues was needed in this area.

 

A vote was taken that night to form a chapter.  The name Mt. Adams was chosen for the chapter.  Twenty-nine members were signed up that night, many of them from Hood River, Oregon.   Al Pitts provided a set of by-laws that were adopted and officers were elected.

 

Among our annual volunteer projects is the log-out of the Pacific Crest Trail between Indian Heaven Wilderness and the Mt. Adams Wilderness, a distance of seventeen miles.  This stretch crosses five USFS roads in those seventeen miles. 

 

The chapter built new stalls at the Buck Creek Trailhead near Nestor Peak for the Department of Natural Resources in 1998.  We annually pack fish into the high lakes in Indian Heaven Wilderness for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

 

In the spring of 1997 dialogue was started with the USFS about the need for a new horse camping facility to be located in the southeast portion of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, northeast of the town of Trout Lake.  Guidelines were presented and the search for a suitable site began. Work began on the camp in 2001, continued in 2002 and was completed in 2003 and dedicated in May 2004.  The Forest Service has credited the chapter with 675 volunteer hours for the horse camp; this doesn’t include 157 hours of drive time for the 4,578 miles driven for that project alone.  The dollar value of our contribution to the camp is $12,760.

 

The camp has 12 campsites, each with a table, a fire ring, and highline for 4 horses.  There are many miles of new trails from the camp, including 10 loop rides from 4 to 24 miles in length.  More trails are planned.

 

Since our first work project in the spring of 1996 through 2005 the Mt. Adams Chapter of BCHW has volunteered 7,893 hours of work time for the USFS, DNR and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Washington State Parks.  Included in those hours are many hours of attending meetings with the agencies and doing the business of the chapter such as recording volunteer time.  In addition to the hours of work time we drove 47,974 miles to get them done.  

 

Our membership has grown from the original 29 members who signed up at he first meeting to 124 members in 2005.   Most of our members are from Columbia Gorge area of Stevenson, White Salmon, Trout Lake, Glenwood, Klickitat, Lyle, and Goldendale, Washington, and The Dalles and Hood River, Oregon. We also have members from Chehalis, Satsop, and Shelton, Washington and Sherwood, Oregon.

 

Updated for web-site:

1/30/06