A National Park is created for the express purpose of preserving an area of special natural or historical significance for all time. The core mission of the National Park Service is to protect this national legacy for generations to come.

A National Forest is managed under the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a place where recreation, grazing, timber production, mining and wildlife must co-exist under a multiple use philosophy. The core mission is to allocate the consumption of these resources.

There are a couple of recreational uses that are generally not allowed (with notable exceptions) in National Parks: hunting and snowmobiling. Logging, grazing and mining would also be prohibited. Commercial ventures, such as lodges and ski areas, could remain but would expand only under much stricter guidelines.

In the long term, much of the logging road network surrounding Mount Hood would be vacated under National Park management, since the emphasis would be on restoring natural habitat and landscapes.

Probably not. Much of the southern part of the forest has been heavily roaded and logged, and does not contain the degree of natural spectacle found at Mount Hood proper and in the Columbia Gorge. Therefore, a portion of the existing forest would likely continue to be managed as it is today, but with the areas around Mount Hood withdrawn from Forest Service stewardship. A similar example is Olympic National Park, which is surrounded on all sides by Olympic National Forest.

A Sierra Club proposal would convert the entire Mount Hood National Forest into a national scenic area, which is something of a cross between a national park and forest. The Columbia River Gorge is already designated as a national scenic area. The main drawback of this designation is that the Forest Service continues to be the steward for a scenic area.

The Hoodland area would likely remain outside park jurisdiction of any kind, given the (sad) degree to which this area has been (over)developed. However, Government Camp would probably benefit from National Park Service investments in the area that might finally help the village recover and once again become a tourism destination.

Undeveloped inholdings (mostly a few private timber tracts) would be viewed in the same way as they are now under Forest Service management. The federal agencies would continue to work toward land trades or purchases to bring these parcels into federal ownership. A national park designation might have the effect of accelerating this process.

Four of the five ski areas on Mount Hood operate on public land, through permits from the Forest Service. Thus, the National Park Service would become the new manager of these permits. In the past, the most controversial expansion plans have involved ski lifts extending to sensitive areas above timberline or requiring large areas to be cleared for ski runs. It's likely that the Park Service would frown on further expansion of this kind, while ensuring that the operators maintain their current facilities in more environmentally responsible way.

The Timberline operators would almost certainly be required to groom the Palmer Glacier more discretely, avoiding the giant "corn field" square that is visible from miles around. They would likely be required to discontinue the environmentally dubious practice of softening the glacier with rock salt. The Meadows operators would likely be asked to improve their buildings and parking area to be less shabby, and allow for summer visitors to use the lodge. Ski runs in both areas would be managed until a truly natural appearance resulted - a goal espoused by operators, but rarely achieved.