By Benjamin Simpson
The Mountain Times
Note: This article originally appeared in the August 2019 issue of The Mountain Times and has been updated.
For 25 years, the Wilderness Ambassadors, part of the Trailkeepers of Oregon Trail Ambassador Program, have helped educate the public on “leave no trace” principles and protected wilderness areas around Mount Hood.
On July 20, 2019, as the country celebrated the 50-year anniversary of the first human landing on the moon, Wilderness Ambassador Mike Mathews spent the day beyond the wilderness boundary of the Paradise Park that begins at Timberline Lodge. Mathews’ mission was to monitor trail usage and instruct visitors of policies that embody the “leave no trace” ethos of the 1964 Wilderness Act, enacted five years before man’s first steps on the lunar surface.
“Wilderness value is determined by people enjoying and using it,” said Mathews.
Mathews greeted visitors from foreign states and countries as he continued his then 18th year of service as an interpretative agent in the wilderness areas of Mount Hood. The volunteer-based Wilderness Ambassador program, formerly known as the Wilderness Stewards Program, was established in 1999 as a key component of the Wilderness Protection Plan, first implemented to address an increase in recreational usage of lands protected by the 1964 Wilderness Act and to preserve wilderness values in the Mount Hood, Salmon-Huckleberry, Hatfield and Badger wildernesses.
The Ambassador program’s roots stem from environmental impact surveys conducted by the U.S Forest Service that suggested recreational access in these areas needed to be limited to a fee-based permit system or monitored and instructed by a volunteer-based ambassador program to avoid further degradation of existing wilderness areas. The program keeps access to the wilderness areas open to the public without the need for permit-based access.
“We’re all visitors,” Mathews said about his mission to inform hikers of low-impact recreational practices in wilderness zones.
Ambassadors patrol the trail systems and campsites and educate guests of environmentally beneficial practices to implement while in wilderness areas. Topics include garbage, human and animal waste disposal, fire prevention and additional “rampant wear” caused by traffic outside of designated camp and trail sites.
The Ambassadors monitor trail usage to ensure that visitors complete day-use permits for the wilderness areas. Additionally, Mathews noted that 90 percent of the fees from the Northwest Forest Pass returns to the district in which the pass was issued. These fees are assigned to provide resources, from trail and campsite maintenance and public restrooms to trail systems according to usage patterns monitored by the permits.
“We’ve got to keep the trails happy,” Mathews stated. “It’s citizenship.”
The Ambassadors greet 6,000 people annually and hike a combined 2,000 miles of trail as a group each year. Ambassadors also check for campfires left smoldering overnight to prevent forest fires, provide first aid for hikers suffering from heatstroke, hypothermia and injuries, and act as liaisons with the forest service and other authorities in the event of illegal acts in the public wilderness. The main goal of the program is to educate the public of potential environmental impact, in addition to restoring damaged wilderness areas.
“We’re here to tell people how special these places are and how careful we have to be,” said Wilderness Ambassador Janet Tschanz, who has been involved with the program since its inception.
Tschanz noted that over her 20 years with the program, she believes the Ambassadors have made an impact preventing camping close to rivers and lakes in the wilderness.
“When hikers camp too close they damage the water,” Tschanz said, citing Burnt and Mirror Lake as sites impacted by recreational use.
Both Ambassadors noted that continued public involvement and enthusiasm for the Wilderness Ambassador program is integral for future sustainable public recreation in the Mount Hood wilderness areas.
“Without [the ambassador program], life on the mountain would be much different,” Tschanz said. “We’d probably have to buy permits to access the wilderness.”
The 25 years of volunteer effort has allowed the forest service to keep recreational access to wilderness areas around the mountain open to the public.
“We could always use more people,” Mathews said. “The more people volunteering the better.”
Training is required to participate as a Wilderness Ambassador. All volunteers must undergo job hazard analysis, safety training, radio use training and instruction on managing public encounters. First aid training is also offered to participants.
For more information about the program, including an application for participation, visit online at https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/mthood/workingtogether/volunteering or https://www.wildstews.org/ (website currently under construction). The public is invited to email questions and applications to: norynerobinson@gmail.com. The Mount Hood Wilderness
Ambassadors can be followed on Instagram at @mthoodwildernessstewards.