Respect Mt. Adams' tribal lands
To the Editor:
The Yakama Nation has considered Mt. Adams sacred from time immemorial. The Nation manages those lands to protect, preserve and enhance natural resources. When President Nixon returned the land in 1972, the Yakama Nation closed the Mt. Adams area to all winter use including snowmobiling, skiing and snowshoeing; it has been closed in winter ever since.
The Yakama Nation has a new brochure developed to let people know that snowmobiling is prohibited in the area. Yet snowmobiling takes place in the area known to Mt. Adams Recreation Area, or Tract D. Last winter season someone even posted a video on YouTube, of illegal snowmobiling there. Based on conversations and observations by our members and the forest service, snowmobilers who use the area are from local, regional and metropolitan areas.
Human winter use, especially snowmobiling on Mt. Adams' Yakama lands, impacts and jeopardizes sensitive species such as mountain goats, white-tailed ptarmigan and wolverine, a very secretive animal. Snowmobiling also causes ruts on snowfields and glaciers that widen and deepen in summer, accelerating snow meltdown and scarring pristine landscapes. Tribal people feel snowmobiling shows disrespect to their religious and cultural beliefs. It violates Yakama Tribal codes and rules.
The first step in correcting this problem is providing information to the public and recreational users such as snowmobilers and skiers. Local and regional volunteers are currently assisting the Yakama Nation with an information campaign to get the word out that snowmobiling is illegal on any Yakama lands. Anyone snowmobiling, snowshoeing or skiing in the area should respect the rules and stay off Yakama Nation lands. There are adjacent Gifford Pinchot National Forest lands to the west of the Yakama lands available for snowmobiling, skiing and snowshoeing.
Gerald Hess
White Salmon
|
