11/11/2010
Date: 11/12/2010
With little notice and no public input, the US Forest Service-owned Skull Hollow Campground near Smith Rock was closed on October 31st for five months. Your help is needed to keep Skull Hollow Campground open for Smith Rock climbers year-round.
Because the USFS failed to post no camping signs and failed to provide any public notice of the campground closure, the weekend of November 6-7 saw dozens of climbers camped just outside the closed gate. There was zero public input or consultation about the 5 month closure with local climbers or the Smith Rock Group who have historically helped to fund the pumping of the toilets and cleanup of the site.
After several calls and e-mails from local climbers, the local USFS office agreed (for this winter only) to keep the site open longer. However, the USFS only agreed to add the months of November and March on either side of a 3 months closure (Dec/Jan/Feb)—months when climbers typically frequent the campground.
Forest Service staff says that if they hear from enough people in support of keeping Skull Hollow open more of the year they might change the closure period. But they are about to sign a new 5-year contract with the campground host—so we need your comments as soon as possible!
Please use our easy letter-writing tool to urge the USFS to protect the camping opportunities at Skull Hollow.