Friends of Mt. Adams

In the 1970s, The Lloyd brothers, Darryl and  Darvel, formed Friends of Pahto (the Yakama name for Mt Adams) to oppose proposed commercial ski resorts on Mt Adams. They had grown up on the slopes of the mountain and in the 1970s were the preeminent mountain guides, running a commercial service that ranged from serious mountaineering to ecological campouts for youth.

The 1980 eruption of Mt Saint Helens to the west resulted in a two year closure of the Mt Adams Wilderness, which terminated the guiding company. But Friends of Pahto was renamed Friends of Mt Adams for easier recognition and continued it’s work.

It conducted many one-day science conferences of the Mt Adams region, with focuses on issues like wildfire and climate change, and also led annual dayhikes to less popular areas on the mountain. It also took on environmental challenges like snowmobile encroachment of the wilderness and illegal cattle grazing in alpine meadows, outside of their permitted range.

In the early 2020s, FOMA decided to search for a like-minded organization to merge into to save on the overhead of running the organization and chose Friends of the White Salmon River. A number of FOMA board members continued on as FWSR board members. You can the joint merger statement that was released at the time.

This page contains links to historic content from the FOMA website. Please take some time to look through our history and please support the Friends of the White Salmon River as we address contemporary challenges faced by the broader Mt Adams region.

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