Conservation groups sue to block controversial land swap on Mount Hood

Conservation groups are suing the U.S. Forest Service to block a long-disputed land swap on Mount Hood, claiming the federal agency is giving the owner of Mt. Hood Meadows and Cooper Spur a sweetheart deal on buildable land in Government Camp without protecting the north side of the mountain from further development.

The dispute has been brewing for decades since Mt. Hood Meadows pursued attempts to build a destination resort on land it owns around the Cooper Spur ski area. In 2009, Congress mandated that the Forest Service go ahead with a swap to protect the area. But the deal has been repeatedly stymied by disputed appraisals, community and congressional concerns, new clarifying legislation, mediation and litigation.

Conservation groups say the original deal reached in mediation and the intent of enabling legislation passed by Congress was to provide a “clean sweep,” protecting the area around Cooper Spur from further development and directing all future building activity to Government Camp. That deal, they say, would have involved Meadows trading about 770 acres of its land at Cooper Spur for 110 acres of developable land at Government Camp owned by the federal government.

But under the deal the Forest Service signed in May, Meadows would trade 603 acres of land at Cooper Spur for 67 acres in Government Camp. It would retain about 160 acres in Cooper Spur, where conservation groups say the company could still pursue commercial development.

“Stated bluntly, the Forest Service has given a sweetheart deal to Meadows by valuing each potential developable large lot of 10,000 square [feet] in Government Camp at less than $20,000,” said a news release Thrive Hood River, a conservation group in the Hood River Valley that is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.

The groups maintain the latest round of appraisals are deeply flawed, that the Forest Service’s environmental analysis of the deal didn’t consider an adequate range of alternatives; and that the deal doesn’t comply with the legislation Congress passed in 2009.

The lawsuit, filed last month, in the U.S. District Court of Oregon, asks the court to vacate the deal and enjoin the Forest Service from implementing the land swap.

Heather Ibsen, a spokesperson for Mt. Hood National Forest, said she couldn’t comment on the litigation, but that Mt. Hood Meadows is still working to clear the title on some of the land before the deal can be implemented.

“The forest supervisor signed the agreement in May and we’re hopeful we can get it implemented after all these years,” she said.

Greg Leo, a spokesperson for Mt. Hood Meadows, declined to comment because of the pending litigation.

— Ted Sickinger; tsickinger@oregonian.com; 503-221—8505; @tedsickinger

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