Skull Hollow update - action needed

[Ian Caldwell]

 

Issue:

Skull Hollow Campground near Smith Rock State Park in Central Oregon will be closing for several months over the winter of 2010-2011. In 2009 the United States Forest Service (USFS) started charging fees and in 2010 turned the site over to a private concessionaire. The USFS only required the concessionaire to keep the site open from April 1 to October 31.

 

Skull Hollow is a popular camping site for climbers because of its remoteness, and access to USFS land, trails, and open space. Also, fires and car camping are permitted at Skull Hollow (unlike other local camping options), and the campground receives little snow fall so it can be used all winter.

 

On October 31 the concessionaire closed Skull Hollow Campground intending to keep it closed for 5 months through April 1. The first weekend November 6-7, 2010 the site was closed, many people just camped outside the campground. Multiple phone calls and emails to the Forest Service promoted them to ask the concessionaire to keep the site open longer. They have agreed to keep it open through November and reopen it March 1. This still leaves 3 months of the site being closed. Although winter is cold, a forecast of a sunny weekend can fill the campground.

 

Additionally, the USFS is getting ready to sign a 5 year agreement which still allows 5 months of closure time.

 

What Can You Do:

 

The USFS staff says that if they hear from enough people they might change the closure period. We need your help. Please email and phone USFS staff and let them know that you want the site left open during the winter. We need people from all over the US, Canada, Europe or anywhere else to write or call in. It can be a simple email saying where you live, you want to camp at Skull Hollow between Nov 1 – April 1.

 

You can expand the scope of your email by adding:

• Concern of resource damages from dispersed camping (Skull Hollow was constructed because of past problems from dispersed camping)

• how nice of a site it is,

• your positive past experiences that you have had at Skull Hollow CG,

• that you spend money in Central Oregon,

• the importance of camping opportunities near popular climbing areas,

• how well climbers take care of climbing areas and campsites

• the need for a site where you can have fires and car/van/rv camping,

• your vehicle is not capable of traveling further up the un-maintained rutted road to look for a camping spot (there are not many of them),

 

Please email or call:

Kent Koller: 541 416-6482. kkoeller@fs.fed.us

Cathy Lund 541 416-6650 clund@fs.fed.us

 

PLEASE TAKE TIME TO CONTACT THE USFS. EFFORTS SO FAR HAVE BEEN WORKING BUT THEY NEED TO HEAR FROM MORE PEOPLE.

 

*****************************

 

More Detailed information:

The USFS is allowing a private concessionaire to close Skull Hollow Campground near Smith Rock Oregon for 5 months each winter. Skull Hollow is popular with climbers. Over the years they created a gravel loop road, installed 2 vault toilets, picnic tables and fire pits. In 2009 they started charging fees. Many people choose to camp at Skull Hollow because you can sleep in your vehicle (trucks, vans, RVs, etc.) and you can have campfire, both you cannot do at Smith Rock due to small area and many neighbors. Smith Rock is a year round climbing area.

 

Last year they started charging fees. Now the USFS has a private concessionaire, who had a one year agreement to take care of the site. The USFS wrote in the contract that the concessionaire only had to keep the site open from April 1 to October 31, but can keep it open longer if they desire. The concessionaire is a large company in Utah who has many campgrounds throughout the Northwest, they pay a camp host a small amount of money to take care of the site. Additionally, the USFS holds the concessionaire responsible for damages to the site, even during the off season so it creates a financial risk to keep the site open without a host. The USFS is in the process of reassigning the agreement to the same company for a 5 year period of time under the same conditions. There was ZERO public input or consultation about the 5 month closure with local climbers or the Smith Rock Group (who have historically help fund the pumping of the toilets and cleanup of the site)

 

History of the site:

I started camping here in 1991. At that time it was a wide spot along a gravel road. Over the years more people learned about the site and it became the place to camp. I remember one year when a horse event was held in the middle of the summer. There were hundreds of horse trailers and campers out there, which really impacted the site. Much of the vegetation was knocked down and after that the campsites just spread all over the area. During the 1990’s the owner of Redpoint Climbers Supply was paying to keep portable toilets at the site. I believe around 1996 the USFS installed 2 vault toilets, laid down a gravel loop road, and fenced the area to keep cattle out. But at the same time they also banned all camping along the road, from the paved road for about one mile. From that point on, there are very few campsites, unless you drive several more miles up the road. The Smith Rock Group, who hold annual volunteer work days at Smith Rock started to pay one half of the cost of pumping the toilets and would send volunteers out each year to clean up the area and help to install fire grates. Over the years the USFS continued to add fire grates and picnic tables. Around 2007 or 2008 the economy really started to crash in Central Oregon. Skull Hollow was getting overrun with homeless. There were reports of domestic disputes, heavy drug use and late night fights. It was common to drive out there as see multiple homeless camps with ratty old trailers and garbage and junk all around the campsite. The USFS already had a 14 day stay limit at the site but it was rarely enforced. In 2009 the USFS passed a fee to help maintain the site and to help prevent the homeless from living there. Many people were opposed to the fee, citing that the people would be dispersed to other areas and that the USFS already had a mechanism to deal with the homeless, the 14 day stay limit. The USFS tried to run the campground for a year without a host. Someone stole the fee station. The USFS decided they “needed more help” with the site and decided to turn the site over to a private concessionaire. Now the site is slated to be closed for 5 months of the year. This site truly sees year round use. USFS staff would typically patrol during the day and would not see campers. Especially in the winter months people would spend the day recreating, go eat dinner in town and head out the Skull Hollow later in the evening. November and February are fairly busy. March is one of the busiest months of the year with good weather and 3 weeks of Spring Break with the Oregon, Washington and California school systems. Some people think there is no use in December and January, but we often get warm sunny days in the middle of the winter and the park and camping are very popular.

 

There is camping at Smith Rock State Park, which provides walk in tent sites and showers. But the grasslands provide a different experience for people. I think it is important to have multiple camping options around Smith Rock.

 

This was the first weekend that the site was closed of November 6 and 7 there were 26 tents outside of the campground, since the USFS failed to post no camping sites and failed to provide any public notice of the closure of the site. As of November 10th the USFS own website still states the site is open year round. http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/centraloregon/recreation/campgrounds/skullhollow.shtml

 

[ivan]

nasty email sent

[Ian Caldwell]

I talked to the District Ranger, Slater Turner on Wednesday. He is listening to our concerns and wants to hear what people have to say. He told me people can send him comments. If you are going to write a letter, include him, along with Kent and Cathy. If you already sent a letter it would be good to forward it to Slater. sturner@fs.fed.us

[OlympicMtnBoy]

I emailed all three.

[Ian Caldwell]

Check out this story in the local Bend newspaper....

 

http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101113/NEWS01/11130328/-1

 

Climbers want campground open

Concessionaires temporarily reopen area near Smith Rock

By Kate Ramsayer / The Bulletin

Published: November 13. 2010 4:00AM PST

 

Climbers who flock to Smith Rock — even in the late fall and winter months — are asking the U.S. Forest Service and its new campground concessionaire to keep the popular Skull Hollow campground open year-round.

 

Aud & Di Campground Services initially shut the gates to the campground at the end of October, surprising dozens of campers who showed up last weekend. And although the campground company has decided to reopen the campground until the end of November, some rock climbers are advocating for it to remain open.

 

“It caught everyone off-guard,” said Ian Caldwell, a member of the volunteer Smith Rock Group who has been climbing at the site for almost 20 years. “The first weekend it was closed, there was a ton of people.”

 

He counted 26 tents set up outside of the campground on Nov. 6, he said — and more probably showed up that night.

 

Although he now lives nearby, Caldwell used to live in the Willamette Valley, and said he would come to Smith Rock on the weekends — even during the winter. And there were others camping as well, he said.

 

“We feel it’s justified that it stays open,” Caldwell said.

 

David Potter, owner of Smith Rock Climbing Guides, spent a winter at the campground when he about 19, and said that climbers, like surfers, will often go to a site and camp out for a while — even in the colder months.

 

“It’s kind of a traditional thing to go out and hit the road for a while,” Potter said. “Closing it, I think, is a bad idea. People are going to still camp out there; they’re just going to extend out from the campground.”

 

Closing a campground, with its constructed fire rings and toilets, can also pose a hazard to the surrounding environment, Caldwell said.

 

“If you close the gates, now you’re sending campers to another place,” Caldwell said. “They compact the soil, they make a fire pit, they use the trees as toilets. When that happens once in a while, it’s not that big of a deal, but when it happens over and over, they’re more of an impact.”

 

The Skull Hollow campground was built to help keep people from camping at scattered sites, he said, but closing it in the winter could lead to that issue again.

 

The Smith Rock Group is willing to help keep the site open, he said, although he’s not sure what form the help would take.

 

And climbers have been contacting the Forest Service to tell the agency that is it a concern, in hopes of keeping the campground open.

 

Caldwell said that he went out Sunday and on Veteran’s Day and got 110 signatures on a petition, including those of people from Seattle, New Hampshire, Canada, Paris and Germany, as well as more local hometowns.

 

“People are still making long-distance travel trips here in November,” he said.

 

The Ochoco National Forest and Crooked River National Grassland, like many forests, don’t have the resources and staff they need to manage Skull Hollow and other campgrounds, said Lisa Clark, spokeswoman with the agency. In order to make up for that, they have partnered with volunteer groups as well as concessionaires to run some of the campgrounds — including Skull Hollow.

 

“For them it’s a business, so it does need to be economically viable,” Clark said. “And for those reasons, campgrounds close during the winter.”

 

Other options in the area include walk-in sites at Smith Rock State Park, West Shore Campground at Haystack Reservoir, and Cyrus Horse Camp.

 

Although the concessionaire’s contract states that Skull Hollow only has to be open from April 1 to Oct. 31, it has agreed to stay open until the end of this month, and then reopen a month early — on March 1.

 

“They’ve had a lot of inquiries from people, and the Ochoco has had inquires, so we’ve agreed to extend it,” she said.

 

The campground company has an employee who makes sure things are clean at the campground, said Steve Hunn, who owns Aud & Di Campground Services with his wife. And they’ll keep an eye on how many people are there, to see if it makes sense to keep the campground open.

 

“If we see traffic that justifies keeping it open year-round, we’d be willing to do that,” Hunn said. “If there’s snow and ice, we probably won’t have climbers.”

[111]

“If we see traffic that justifies keeping it open year-round, we’d be willing to do that,” Hunn said.

read:

If we can make $$ off you, we will!

[Ian Caldwell]

Sounds like the USFS is letting the concessionaire close the site this weekend, despite all the letters which have been sent in.

 

This weekend is looking good at Smith. People should contact the USFS THIS WEEK and let them know you are heading over and want to camp at Skull Hollow THIS WEEKEND.

 

email:

Kent Koeller: kkoeller@fs.fed.us

Cathy Lund clund@fs.fed.us

District Ranger, Slater Turner sturner@fs.fed.us

[111]

Someone stole the fee station. The USFS decided they “needed more help” with the site and decided to turn the site over to a private concessionaire.

 

not calling out Ian at all, but this is BS. I studied this issue in school for 4 years (Recreation Resources focus) and the broad trend is to turn over everything to concessionaire management. The concessionaire management was certainly part of the plan long before anything started up at skull hollow.

[Ian Caldwell]

I believe you are correct about the intention of getting a concessionaire in there. I can live with that since the site is in better condition than several years ago. What I don't like is the closure periods.

 

I drove out to the site today....they have the gate shut, no camping signs posted outside the camping area. I tried to drive up the road to where you can start dispersed camping and could not make it up the hill (packed snow)

[bucketz]

I do like how a private company can make decisions about PUBLIC land. The time and resources it takes to put up the no camping signs help the concessionaire show a loss so they may justify their actions! yeah!