SHARE THIS SHOW:
ON THE BLOG:
RECENTLY ON TOL:
TOL Our Town
- A tumblr site dedicated to the people and places that make up Oregon and Southwest Washington.
TAGS:
Bagby Hot Springs are natural springs found near a tributary of the Clackamas River almost 70 miles southeast of Portland. To have a soak you must first hike 1.5 miles into the woods along the banks of Shower Creek. When you arrive you'll find a number of bathhouses — most for two people, a couple for groups. Clothing is optional (in the private tubs). Alcohol is forbidden. They are open 24 hours a day. And they're free to visit.
According to the history books they were discovered in 1880 by a prospector named Robert Bagby. The original bathhouse was built there in the 1920s, but in 1979 it burnt down after visitors left candles unattended. The Forest Service and a group of volunteers known as the Friends of Bagby worked to rebuild and manage Bagby, but unfortunately crime, littering and vandalism just increased.
Visit there now and you'll discover a lot of people with passion for the place. Volunteers still care for the grounds but law enforcement officials have also increased their presence.
The Forest Service, which manages Bagby, is restoring the bathhouses again in hopes of attracting a private company to run it. They accepted bids until the end of business on November 24th. And they're expecting to announce a decision about the future of Bagby late December. Friends of Bagby are calling for increased public consultation before any decision is made.
Have you visited Bagby Hot Springs? Oregon Field Guide did. Check out their show here:
What do you hope for the future of these hot springs? Have you ever loved a public place so much that you volunteered your time to care for it? Is that how public land should be run? Or should it be handed over to private companies to manage?
GUESTS:
- Malcolm Hamilton: recreation manager for Mt. Hood National Forest
- Amy Harwood: program director for BARK
- Daniel Stevens: formed Friends of Bagby and built many of the wooden tubs that exist there now
- Michael Rysavy: executive director of the Northwest Forest Conservancy
- Chuck Shepard: owner and CEO of Hoodoo Family Recreation
Photo credit: Rob Manning
-
I'm glad that you mentioned the Natives. Whenever someone says some area was "discovered" my alarm bell goes off and I wonder what the native traditions were concerning that area.
I agree about keeping it volunteer and non-profit, I am very much against the Conservative idea of privatizing and monetizing everything that was/is owned in Commons by the American People.
It sounds like some new idea about law enforcement would be welcome. I don't know what that would be.
So TOL would you try and find a Native American who can enlighten us a bit about the history of Bagby and possibly other hot springs? And how they dealt with any problem of trash, vandalism, or lawlessness. They must have had different attitudes that they taught everyone, I guess.
-
hi there. you probably worked with my dad, mike wilson. we were up there all summer long when he got married there. i had fantastic memories until i went back in 1991. it was trashed! it made me very very angry. FOB busted their butts to make that area safe and wonderful and the lack of appreciation and respect from the public made me sick.
-
A non-profit would definitely be much more appropriate than the current proposal. Excellent suggestion!
-
Bagby had a sketchy reputation in the 70s, 80s and 90s so I never went there. It's relative isolation and bad reputation scared me off. I applaud recent efforts to upgrade and maintain Bagby for the long term.
Washington Park holds strong memories from my youth so the rose garden was a natural place to volunteer.
Also volunteered to help Oregon and Washington parks maintain windsurfing parks in the Columbia River Gorge. Since I use the parks regularly I didn't mind paying fees for their upkeep and volunteering for annual cleanup projects. A good way to stay connected to places I enjoy.
I appreciate those who love Oregon's great places and volunteer to take care of them. I'm concerned that private maintenance companies will be more interested in maximizing profits at the expense of really caring for special places.
-
I have a special connection to Bagby and I've been going there every year since I was a child. I have mixed feelings about it going private. I would welcome regulation. I've gone there too many times and had to deal with rowdy, drunk, disrespectful people. Once a group of friends and I had a very scary experience with people who must have been on meth or some other drug who got violent and threatened us. We actually had to run down the trail in the dark to get away from them. The next morning the police were there and we were told someone had actually had their head bashed in (I'm not sure if that person died but I think it might have been a teenager who was the most out of control). As you can imagine, we were horrified. After that, we stayed away for many years until they improved security and law enforcement.
As much as I love the open access to Bagby, I hate that people treat it as a party spot, rather than the special place that it is. I want everyone to be able to go there, but I also don't want it to be a spot for drinking, drugs, garbage, fighting, etc. I wonder if there isn't another way besides "selling" this special place to a private company to profit from. It seems like in recent years the parking fee, increased law enforcement presence and FOB have made it much safer and cleaner.
-
Surprising to read alcohol is prohibited. Last time I was at Bagby, maybe fifteen years ago, there were a bunch of guys swigging whisky and shooting guns - from the hot tubs. They continued shooting and drinking most of the night, and it sounded like some of the bullets headed in the general direction of the tent camping area where we were sleeping. It was horrible. I've never been back.
But it was beautiful and I'd like to feel safe going there. I'm curious to know how a no alcohol rule would be enforced. Are there going to be onsite monitors? What about firearms - are they going to be allowed or no?
Thank you.
-
When the volunteers are there we tell people about the alcohol ban, our presence is usually enogh to quitet things a bit. The bad guys have realized that we have radios and will call the authorities. Guns are not prohibited, use of them is limited to personal protection, but even when a ranger sees someone with a shotgun or rifle they cannot do anything about that. A almost continous presence made a big differnce in who came and what they did. Crime is really down, litter also down. Many of the individuals that visit will speak up when something is a problem, thats how most things get resolved, much like this discusion page, speak out and make a difference. I personally have broken up fights, always give aid to anyone that needs it.
Thats why some of us are a perfect fit for who should be there.
-
TOL sure is getting spammed a lot. I wonder if the other OPB blogs, FaceBooks, etc are getting the same.
And I wonder if it is that John from Gervais who now posts as "VITALPAC". But though he posts a lot of hate, these spams seem directed to commercial interests.
Anyway, I don't get the point of spam here, I doubt anyone clicks on it.
-
You're right, Tom! I've deleted the spam from today but am sure more will appear in the future! At least people know how to get "new Rolex watches!"
-
I am an Oregon native and visit Bagby dozens of times a year. My favorite times to go are at night in the winter when it is dark and cold, add a little snow and it’s the perfect relaxation retreat. I am well aware of the issues that are presented there with vandalism of vehicles and the “party crowd,” and have had my fair share encounters with such things. However it has never stopped me from enjoying Bagby and all the positive things it has to offer. I have been grateful to see the presences of the NWFC and FOB over the years. NWFC has done wonders for the area and making it safe again. I am saddened to hear that the only “open” (non fee regulated) hot springs left in the free world will be handed off to a private concessionaire. This saddens me greatly. It is a public land and recreation area (just like all the campgrounds) and I am discussed by the USFS willingness to allow private organizations to make a profit on lands set aside by the government for public enjoyment. I’m not disputing paying a fee to use the facilities, however, just an unwillingness to let someone else make a profit. Any moneys collected should be by the forest service for the forest service. If a private concessionaire can maintain campgrounds, day use facilities, and hot springs, and continue to make it worth while for them to stay (presumably to make a profit) than why is it so hard for the USFS to do the same thing, or any form of government for that matter? I say no to concessionaires on USFS land, period.
-
No way should it be privatized! Bagby is a rare gem and should be kept that way! I have traveled all over the state and not found anything like it. It should remain public, it's not something somebody should be making money off of.
-
I've been to Bagby several times, often in the middle of the night with a group of friends. If this becomes a for-profit venture for some private group I will have lost a lot of faith in my fellow Oregonians. I believe that Bagby represents a type of Oregon that is wild, unregulated, young, anti-capitalist, and magical.
One reason I love Bagby is that you CAN access it at any time of the night, making it completely accessible. Right now, anyone who visits Bagby feels like they own a little part of it.
Also, Bagby does NOT have to be a "family-oriented" vacation spot...I can't imagine young kids would have that much fun soaking one out.
-
I to do the night bit but when I can I do mid week. As for your comment abought the kids up there on one occation me and my lady went up early "for us that is" hit the parking lot around 8-9 pm and mid trail ran into a far sized group coming out three adults ladys and off the top of my head a dozen kids aged from 4 to 12 I'd say.
-
I have been to Bagby, though it's been several years now, and it's a truly beautiful place. Magical even. Unfortunately, I have to echo previous posters in the deterioration the place has suffered at the hands of irresponsible people. The drunken, violent, partiers really do ruin it for everyone because they bring about all these changes.
I am not sure about the "for profit" change. On the one hand when we have to pay for something we may treat it and our time there more seriously, and the folks interested in being rude may choose to go elsewhere. On the other hand, it kind of steals the charm away from the area. I think on site management or relaxed security presence is a good idea so long as they lay as low as possible. I think inviting the public's ideas is important as well.
In any case, something does have to change. I wouldn't have felt safe there any time in recent years, and I surely wouldn't have taken my children. And that is very sad.
Kristina Brewington
Albany, OR
-
I went to majestic Bagby for the first time as a teenager in 2001 and fell in LOVE. I understand its need for structural improvements and supervision of the hot springs, but PLEASE do not charge us to utilize the facilities; the parking fee should be enough! I recently started going to Carson's Hot Springs and it is a private owned company you have to pay for, love it but even $20 is a lot to pay every time for a good soak. Please don't charge us for Bagby!!
-
Last year for Thanksgiving, our little family hiked into Bagby. We wanted to be surrounded by what we were truly thankful for--our beautiful planet. We warmed jars of mashed potatoes in buckets of hot water and ate our meal naked in the tubs. It was perfect. We, like so many others, know how to respect such a beautiful and precious place. I would hate to see Bagby become sterile and normal.
-
If you look back in history at the formation of the US Forest Service during the (Teddy) Roosevelt Administration, you will find that there was a great battle between those who would turn over federal lands to private concerns for them to develop and profit from vs those who insisted that these lands belong to the people of the US. The public lands faction won out then but the private profit folks have continued to pressure their way into the system.
Bagby is just another example of how public ownership of National Forests is getting farther removed from the public and being turned over to private interests. Already campgrounds, that used to run by professional Forest Service staff with degrees in outdoor recreation, forestry, wildlife, etc has been replaced by proivate contractors who hire unprofessional staff, pay them next to nothing and give them little or no training.
Those who care about their birthright, their public lands should be outraged by this situation and demand the return of funding to the Forest Service that will keep people responsible to the public in the position of managing recreation on our National Forests.
-
I visited Bagby for the first time Presidents Day weekend some years ago with three friends. One of them was a volunteer with Friends Of Bagby, so we stayed in the cabin that night and had ribeyes for dinner. The road in was covered with more than two feet of snow, so we snow shoed in two or three miles before we reached the parking lot and took the trail the rest of the way in. I will never forget that trip. I have since returned with my children once, during the day on Memorial Day weekend this year. There have been problems at the springs, but I feel confident that things have taken a turn for the better at Bagby and my hopes are that whatever changes are made I can still sit under the stars, in the snow, with my dear friends and family long into the future.
-
Please ask- will privatizing mean that there may NOT be 24 hour access?
Eric
-
This is disappointing. Bagby should never be privatized. That decision would ruin the site for future generations. Will this fee be included in the forest pass?
-
From what I have heard on this subject the answer is no, the forest pass will not be accepted at the parking lot or the norhorn campground "it's at the left when you pull into the parking lot" or bagby or at the shower fall campground on the other side of bagby.
-
I went to Bagby once, and found the baths incredibly lovely. However, I was horrified to pay $5 to a Forest Service officer in the parking lot and find the bathrooms to be the most disgusting I have ever seen at a public park. Feces, urine and paper everywhere. Are there health standards that must be met by a federal agency "managing" a space?
-
That's been the case for the last two-three years or more "the $5.00 parking fee that is". Let me guess it was a lady by the name of Tiffany??
-
Every time the USFS gives a campground to private contractors the fees immediately double or triple. The USFS could afford to manage the same site if they doubled or tripled the fees. The only difference between government and private sector services is who ends up with the money, if the government provides the service employees with decent retirement and benefit packages end up with the money, if the private sector provides the service the owners of the company end up with the money and employees get minimum wage, no difference in cost to the customer whatsoever.
-
As a person who started her Forest Service Career (now 25 + years) working in campgrounds, I feel that what the FS doesn't get is that having a FS staff presence in campgrounds is many times the only possitive interaction the public has with the agency. You can't contract that out. It's the people in the green uniforms walking around, talking to folks that's important. No wonder the public has a low opinion of the agency! It was a perfect summer job, didn't pay that much, but enough to get the idea that I wanted to work for the agency. Now those opportunities aren't there. I think it's a shame.
I also spent my childhood camping in National Parks and Forests and that's how I decided to go into Forestry as a career.
FS employees need to get back out to the land and out of the office!
-
I had a severe eczema, visited OSHU for over two years and other dematologists in other countries...I went to Bagbee, the result was amazing, almost got totally healed...I have a small little spot on my skin. Compared to the huge spread I have all over my body!!! it's a great healing place.
-
Well good for you I guess but icky, it’s a public bath.
-
That's wonderful Francois! Congrats.
And to the poster below, Myusername, excema is not contagious or "dirty".
-
My sister has extreme eczema, I love her, but she leaves skin everywhere, on the toilet seat, in the guest bed, everywhere, I know it’s not contagious, but I don’t let her in my hotub either.
-
I'd like to see a universal national draft that applied to everyone and that gave each person a choice in how they would like to serve, and one way of serving would be to get trained in how to take care of and enforce the law at a place like Bagby for two years. And for that I would say "Thank you for your service".
In other words I'd like to see more options than military in service to our country, and taking care of our "Commons" ought to be included in those "service" options.
THe public FS would still be in charge and the draftee would work with and coordinate with the volunteer groups and take up the slack when the volunteers cannot be there.
-
Agreed... Other country's have a universal service requirement that requires either short service in the military (~2yrs) or longer service in the public sector (~4yrs) and can be performed either between high-school and university or after university.
A working "timeout" like this sure would have helped me figure out what I wanted to do after highschool...
-
Rethomas, I read your reply and agree with you. Especially about the "timeout" part, in order to help sort out what to do in life.
-
When I started going to Bagby, a snow gate was down below on the gravel road leading up. No Outhouses, garbage or paved parking lot was there. We still went. The trail was a mess of jagged rocks, roots and mudd. Freinds of bagby and a full time employee Ranger Bob monitored the site. Giving information (especially fond of Bobs stories of the Indian legends) cleanning, and maintainence. All of this has changed, Recnetly the road and culverts have been repaired, a new radio tower installed and the rebuilding including the destruction of the original historic tubs has occured. With all the efforts mostly by volunteers (which have offered to maintain, replace tubs, site supervise) that has really made Bagby what it is from the early 70s, why is so many resourses now being invested. Profit ... did the forestry dept. get their $500,000,000 dollar cash bond or are our tax dollars paying for this?
Will the concessionaire finish making the trail ADA standard? Stairs make it imposible for ADA will that change? Are they smart enough to hire the same volunteers, that already know the task at hand to work there? Will it become as other things that only those that can pay will get access? Breitenbush is like that.
It worked before to have volunteers caretake there, why not now, profit? The volunteers range from myself a Salvation Army employee to a retired state trooper, we have all the knowledge cerifications and the strong desire to help, do not turn this into a struggle for what is right please, mother nature and the spirit of this sacred place will not allow that.Please support the effort to constructively caretake Austin Hotsprings as I belkieve our input here will have little effect on policy, but we can be succesful at Austin.
-
You asked abought making the trail ADA compliant, do you know the rules for "I'm thinking ramps here" a ramp into an office building? this was a few years back "15 ish" four feet wide and can not be more than a 20degree incline for a public building.
-
My girlfriend was one of the devoted members of Friends of Bagby who left after the internal uproar in the group left the aggressive faction in charge (see the linked story in the introduction). She told me many background stories , some wonderful, some frustrating, and some frightening.
I started visiting in the 90’s when the FOB was functioning well and the experience was magical. But like so many others, I stopped coming when I encountered groups of kids with cases of beer arriving at sunset, as well as creeps who came only to stare at (and photograph) the naked bathers.
From what I’ve observed, a volunteer group could manage the site well, but there needs to be some kind of a process for reviewing & removing any disruptive volunteers so as to prevent a repeat of the kind of stupid “power-games” by jerks such as the ones who destroyed the original FOB.
-
my dad, mike wilson, was part of the friends of bagby in the 80s. he helped build the tubs and even lived there for awhile, driving to work in portland every day. he was evn married there. my sister and i have very fond memories of running wild up there! we loved staying in the cabin, swimming in the river and catching crawdads. those were wonderful days.
-
Please no privatization! Or if so, it needs to be minimal like the Cougar Hot Springs management. The place should be closed at night because that's when all the trouble seems to happen. And please allow us to be naked in nature. Bagby is not the same if I have to deal with hiking shoes and a bathing suit.
Shame on the Forest Service for dealing badly with the volunteers and trying to keep public input out on this sacred place.
-
FYI the no nude bit came from the lady volenteer forest ranger that works there I have heard that she don't like naked bodys running around and it took her 8 hours to find the rule in the books for all "developed recreation areas" in the US Forest service it reads no nudity in any developed recreation area so they are breaking their own rules by letting the nudes bathe in the private tubs.
-
When I was a volunteer with Friends of Bagby, the first thing of the day we did was to scrub the tubs out so they would be clean for the visitors. Then we picked up all the trash left from the night. Then we washed out the outhouses. There were always minor repairs to do, especially with the cold water system in the fall. The most difficult job was picking up cigarette butts, which we also did daily.
We were able to provide a 24 hour presence by being able to stay in the Volunteer cabin. Our only contact with the outside world was a forest service radio. And when we needed to call in for an emergency it was two hours usually before anyone was able to get to the springs (due to the distance from town). We were instructed by the Forest Service not to enforce prohibitions on alcohol, only if it was serious were we to radio in. We also got formal CPR training and carried Red Cross cards.
The biggest problems were car breakins. This happened to us twice. We learned to bring up a junk car. And this was a problem at all remote trailheads as the local theives knew it would be an hour before law enforcement could respond, at the quickest.
In the late 1980s and early middle 90s Bagby Hot Springs was well maintained by loving volunteers.
It is unfortunate the Friends of Bagby organization was destroyed by two feuding volunteers. I was involved at that time and there was a moderate group of volunteers who were trying to maintain control of the organization and probably would have succeeded if the Forest service had not ended the contract.
At that time the Forest Service thought they could maintain the springs better, even though they could not support a person at the springs. This is when the springs fell into disrepair in the late 1990s. It really takes someone on site to keep up with the repairs.
I do think a properly set up volunteer organization could easially maintain the springs , especially now. Communication is much easier with direct to satelite communication, even though it is still a hour plus drive for law enforcement. Communication was one of the biggest problems in the 1990s.
Currently I am on the BOD of the Oregon Country Fair, a successful organization with 4000 volunteers. I have considerable experience forming non profit and volunteer organizations. I know that Bagby Hot Springs could be successfully run by an organized non profit corporation.
-
I was surprised that Mr Hamilton, the recreation manager for the Mt. Hood National forest, did not know how much the proposed fees would be from the contractors for Bagby Hot Springs. They have had the contract proposals for at least a week.
Tt was also interesting to note that the past contractor for Cougar Hot Springs is not interested in renewing that contract. I hope that one will go to the non profit group that slso supports the springs.
-
If we cannot have full-time, on-site Forest Service staff and law enforcement at the springs than it is best the springs be put out for private management.
Non-profit organizations have had years to try their magic at the springs; they have failed to repair them, protect them, or keep them free from drugs, booze, perverts or thieves.
That the springs are up for private management is old news. People who care about Bagby have been following this story for YEARS. So buck up you non-profity people. You may not get your way at the springs, but the trails, streams, wildlife and forest visitors still need your help!
-
I discovered Bagby Hotsprings with a group of my Outdoors-loving friends in college and our visits became a tradition over the years. We spend about an hour trying to find the place (thanks to all the missing signs), hike out after dusk and sit in the big tub together under the stars or in the rain or snow. Everytime was magical. I agree that the efforts to clean up Bagby are great and necessary. Such a magnificent place in nature should not be considered a danger zone because of unruly humans. However, the term "private party" is unnerving, because it screams "hot springs resort." Part of the beauty of Bagby is being able to simply hike out there at anytime and enjoy nature's wonders at no cost, which is not the case in most places.
-
I visited Bagby only once and it was absolutely magical. I had recently moved from the east coast and entire experience was mind blowing, the raw beauty of the Pacific Northwest and it's people in all their autumn glory. Everyone there was wonderful, upon arrival to the tubs I was immediately offered really amazing weed from a total stranger, I got soooo HIGH with that dude! I mean HIIIGH! The big trees and the mist, the cedar tubs, the naked bodies old and young, it was such a scene, It reaffirmed my sense of humanity, it sounds funny but it really did, it totally flipped a switch in my brain. Where I come from a scene like that just isn't possible, ever. My oldlady and I got high again right before we lay in the tubs, I took off my pants off in front of all those people and lay in the cedar tub with my oldlady and I felt so loved, so comforted, so free! It was like a dream. We lay for what seemed like forever holding each other and saying nothing just feeling the magic, REAL MAGIC. We hopped out, walked about 50 yards, dipped into the woods and made love right their in the middle of all that beauty, I have never felt anything like it. On the way home we stopped at Red Lobster and ate so much shrimp, what a tremendous ending to a tremendous day.
The spot is magical for a reason, it holds potential, it allows for all kinds of situations to erupt, not just safe family friendly ones and that's the beauty of it, one day may be quiet and lovely with no trash at all, the next it may be a drug scene with wild men and women drinking whiskey and shooting off their guns, that is the day you should maybe hit the road and find something else to do, your day there just wasn't meant to be, you aren't entitled to a good time every time. Once you start making rules and charging money it strips away all the potential for freedom. If we continue to give up free, beautiful spaces and places like this in order to have a antiseptic safe zone for squares, guaranteeing 365 days of family friendly good times the potential for magically surprising moments will be lost and that would be a sad world, kind of like New England.
-
PART I:
PEOPLE: WE ARE THE PUBLIC AND WE DO COLLECTIVELY HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE THE GOVERNMENT BEHAVE AS WE WANT IT TO BECAUSE WE ARE THE GOVERNMENT. GET ORGANIZED, LET US USE OUR VOICE TO ENACT THE CHANGE (OR RATHER NON-CHANGE) WE WANT TO SEE. NOTHING HAS HAPPENED YET.
Mr. Hamilton's argument that currently there are private companies managing public sites around the states stretches thin with his example of Timberline Lodge. What you see at Timberline in a division in class. It is expensive to ski/board. It is expensive to stay overnight in the lodge. Only a certain class of people can afford to do this. Same as Hoodoo and all other organized recreation on the mountain. This type of recreation is neither affordable nor appealing to all. These are expensive facilities to upkeep and they are not good examples to use when trying to argue for privatization of Bagby, a simply constructed recreation site lacking in what makes the resort and winter sport recreation sites expensive to maintain. Granted these places are all located in the forest, but that is the only thing they have in common with Bagby.
Oregon has history of being a state that does not recognize differences in class which is what makes our state so wonderful and different than other states in the Republic. Privatizing our public land starts to put in place class divisions becuase it limits who can access the land based on financial resources. It is disturbing that Mr. Hamilton doesn’t have any true figures of how fees or provisions will change and admits there has been no exploration in that financial arena yet. He simply pulled the old political trick of blowing verbal smoke and projecting personal beliefs as fact during his brief time on air where he didn’t even have to answer any hard hitting questions. Bagby is a historically loved site with many supporters who show their love by volunteering to keep the site clean and deter vandalism and violence. Even a private company would not be able to do better without having 24 hour presence. That presence would cost. I am wondering how the forest service expects fees for Bagby and the other unnamed sites proposed to be managed to stay truly reasonable for the public when Mr. Hamilton has stated they have no estimates of the cost of employing a private company. How can the government be proceeding with a plan when they have no research done on the cost of this change?
(con't on next feed...)
-
Based on Mr. Hamilton's statements of the Bagby Hot Springs facilities, I doubt he has even been up there himself as he obviously knows little about the culture at Bagby nor Oregonian culture in general. The users of Bagby know what to expect when they hike up there and this does not seem to deter visitors in anyway. The site is packed in the spring and summer months during the day and the nights are just magical. There is history there that dates back to the native settlers of this region. Furthermore the fact that our government is trying to push this through without public consent is disturbing.
What Bagby does have for potential revenue is the cabins which have the potential to be rented and used as revenue for facility upkeep. Why is this not proposed for Cabins should be rented at the closest ranger station, keys picked up there thus keeping overhead low? Ultimately there is not a huge amount of $$ that needs to be spent on up-keeping the place. Fixing leaking wood tubs and replacing PVC pipe is not expensive. There are volunteers who are willing to do this; a volunteer made those tubs after all. There are no expensive mechanisms to replace; there is neither automation nor metering at the site to drive up maintenance costs. In hiring a private company, which will have the goal of maximizing profits to support their private entity, the cost to the state can only increase and this extra cost will fall on the public's head, as always, since the state is comprised of the public. The PUBLIC needs to have a say in this kind of change. It is extremely wrong for the forest service to try to push this change through without public support especially because Bagby has well organized volunteer support maintaining the site and a strong history of being a place frequented by all members of the public without being hindered by economic status.
SO WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? THE SQEAKY WHEEL GETS THE GREASE; LET US SCREECH LOUD AND HARD TO SAVE THIS UNIQUE AND PRICELESS PLACE AND TRUE PUBLIC ACCESS TO IT.
This is the humble opinion of one Renewable Energy Engineering senior and Bagby advocate at the Oregon Institute of Technology, Portland.
With loving concern,
Jennifer Ferris
-
Malcolm Hamilton, recreation manager for Mt. Hood National Forest can be contacted in the various ways:
phone#: 503-668-1792;
address: Mt. Hood National Forest 16400 Champion WaySandy, Oregon 97055;
email: mhhamilton@fs.fed.us
-
I was a Friends of Bagby during the early/mid 80's. The periods of peace, sanity and cleanliness were times when there was a strong presence of volunteers, which brought lots of family usage and had at least moral support from the Forest Service.
Things fell apart several times, when the Forest Service budget meant a cut in committment or when volunteer management fell away.
The Key factor about Bagby is that it is a NATURAL hot springs not a hot spring spa. Volunteer individuals and groups took great pains to maintain a low-key, natural looking system. Often at our own expense, which sometimes was more than less, and always was a committment of time and effort.
Going for profit does lead to 'commercialization' in all its ugly meaning. If I heard correctly, the natural tubs we (I was there, not I did it) hewed by hand will be replaced from outside sources. That and for-profit fees are examples of that commercialization.
It was a delight to be there when it was relatively unspoiled by toll booths and ticket takers.
And yes, it was a family place. One fond memory is a kid saying to his Daddy, "I'm fweezing, Daddy" asking to get back into the tub. Or the elderly Japanese lady who came often and alone.
Volunteer effort CAN be maintained with a minimum expense but vital support by the Forest Service. At one time Bagby was written up as an example within the Forest Service of volunteer effort.
and, Hi, FOB'ers! I'm the one with that guy in the white hat...
-
If anyone is to have an emotional stance is myself.
192.168.0.1
-
Comments are now closed.
I was a FOB volunteer from the mid 1980s through the 1990s and was involved in the Friends Of Bagby organization. Bagby Hot Springs is one of the most magical spots in the national forests.
I was delighted to wear the US Forest Service Volunteer uniform, scrubbing the tubs at dawn, picking up trash and cigarette buts and repairing the facilities.
Our problems came from our remoteness and the fact that Law Enforcement took and hour or two to respond. The fact that there were volunteers at the springs really helped keep down lawlessness and vandalism.
I am sorry to see it becoming a Fee charged area. The natives who gathered at the hot springs laid down their weapons outside the hot springs area and shared the site freely. They did not believe anyone owned the springs and that they should be shared equally.
The Friends of Bagby Hot Springs (FOB) was dedicated to keeping the springs free for everyone. While we were FS volunteers Bagby Hot Springs was well maintained. Once the FOB contract was terminated the site fell into disrepair, due to the limited resources of the Forest Service.
I do believe a healthy volunteer program could be maintained to take care of Bagby Hot Springs as a free site in the Mt. Hood National Forest as the natives intended.
I am dismayed by the willingness of the government to outsource everything even if there is a willing group of volunteers that would do the job and fund it themselves. FOB was a 501C3 nonprofit and raised money to rebuild the bathhouse and maintain the springs. Northwest Forest Conservancy is continuing to maintain the springs as allowed. I am glad to see them represented in this discussion.
I noticed the Forest Service is rebuilding the facilities to let someone else make money off of them. I think this is wrong, especially when there are volunteers that would do the job.
I read the RFP and understand why there are problems with implementing it Bagby. It just doesn't fit the requirements of a campground maintenance contract.
I would rather see the Forest service contract with an appropriate nonprofit volunteer group to administer Bagby Hot Springs.