Tag Archives: Hells Canyon

environmental news

Time for Hells Canyon National Park? Yes!

OK, Mr. President, this plea is for you, because I happen to believe you have the authority to act on this request from one or more of your constituents.

Would you please make the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area a national park? As you would say yourself: C’mon, man … you can do this!

Those of us with Pacific Northwest ties — such as yours truly — understand what a gorgeous stretch of river real estate along the Oregon-Idaho border we’re talking about.

Idaho has zero national parks designated within its state, although a tiny sliver of Yellowstone National Park along the Idaho-Wyoming border sits in Idaho. Oregon has just one, Crater Lake, which is a beaut to be sure.

Hells Canyon would add an impressive array of spectacular river gorge scenery to the national park roster as well.

Hells Canyon, as you know, Mr. President, is deeper than the Grand Canyon. The Snake River runs through the bottom of the canyon more than 7,000 from the rim. The Snake is a spectacular river system that flows into the Columbia River not far from Walla Walla, Wash.

I know you are aware of Hells Canyon, Mr. President. I appreciate the national recreation area designation for Hells Canyon, but to be called a “national park” gives the region some welcome ummpphh. 

There you have it, Mr. President. I know you’re busy, running for re-election and tending to national security issues. Give this at least some measured thought. Take a look at the place and you’ll see for yourself that it needs national park recognition.

environmental news

Hells Canyon: a national treasure that needs added status

VALE, Ore. — I didn’t snap the picture attached to this blog post, but it illustrates a point I want to make with this brief message.

The picture is of Hells Canyon. The Snake River running along the floor of this chasm separates Oregon from Idaho.

The canyon is part of what’s called the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. Now, I grew up in Portland, about 330 miles west of this region, but I long have lamented that this magnificent piece of God’s good Earth isn’t a national park. Yes, I have wanted that designation since I was a kid skipping rocks across puddles in Portland.

Oregon has a single national park. Crater Lake is a beaut. It fills a caldera left by the explosion about 10,000 years ago of Mount Mazama. It’s the deepest lake in the country. It is as blue as blue gets.

Hells Canyon, though, sits on the edge of a region known as the “Oregon Alps,” also known formally as the Wallowa Mountains. I want the federal government to designate this region as a national park.

Yes, it’s not a simple task. There exists a certain amount of politics involved.

Let’s face a brutal fact as well. There ain’t gonna be a national park named anywhere in this country as long as Donald J. Trump serves as president. Trump seems to hate public land that has been set aside for recreational purposes. He has issued executive orders removing that land from public care, allowing private interests to harvest its mineral wealth.

Hey, there’s a certain irony in this discussion. Hells Canyon happens to be situated in the heart of Trump Country. The eastern region of Oregon and all of Idaho is quite friendly to this president.

I have no proof of this, though, but my strong hunch is that many residents of the northeast corner of Oregon and neighboring Idaho would welcome a national park designation for Hells Canyon with open arms.

Vale is just spittin’ distance from the Snake River just a bit south of the southern reaches of Hells Canyon. Being here simply reminds me of what I have wished for since I was a whippersnapper.