Melinda McCrossen’s Big Move to the City / August 2026
By: Amber Ford, The Mountain Times
When it comes to standout members of The Mt. Hood Villages whose impact far surpasses their time on the mountain, the current crown can be awarded to community member Melinda McCrossen. From her dedication to keeping the community safe, informed, and aware of natural disasters to her spirit for volunteering with The Mt. Hood Lions Club, she has made big waves in her short time on the mountain and will be greatly missed as she relocates to the city.
McCrossen moved to the mountain in 2016 shortly after her retirement. No stranger to the beauty that is the Mt. Hood Villages, she frequented the area prior to her move with motorcycle campouts in the 1980s and annual camping trips with her daughter. A Wisconsin native, experienced in off-grid living, McCrossen knew she would eventually call Mt. Hood home.
In the decade McCrossen spent in The Mt. Hood Villages, her retirement was anything but. Unlike many retirees who spend time on the golf course or traveling, she found purpose in community planning, dedicating her time, effort, and energy into making much needed changes within the community, not just for herself, but for the safety of her neighbors. Shortly after the Riverside Fire which swept through Clackamas County in 2020, burning over 138,00 acres and causing forced power outages, McCrossen’s focus and mission shifted: she was now called to help her beloved community become better prepared should another massive wildfire inch closer to her own backyard.
In 2022 McCrossen began her work with The Mt. Hood Wildfire Partnership, which helps connect community members to wildfire resources such as The Oregon Fire Marshall, Mt. Hood National Forest Service, Hoodland Fire, and Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office. Understanding the need for better relationships between these agencies and community members, she found a way to not only help, but to make lasting relationships with others. “It wasn’t that I ever set out to be this involved in wildlife mitigation and resiliency hubs in the first place,” she said, adding “I felt that it was needed as one of the local bridges between community folk and agencies.” McCrossen’s work with The Mt. Hood Wildfire Partnership also gave her a sense of belonging. “I kept trying to find my volunteer niche up here and it was hard to fit in,” she said, adding “there are so many growing and connecting stories related to my work with people I would have never otherwise met.”
McCrossen’s commitment to keeping The Mt. Hood Villages fire-ready did not stop at The Mt. Hood Wildfire Partnership. She continued her local work even further, helping several of her neighborhoods become FireWise. As a board member of her homeowners association, she gave residents the education and access to fire prevention much needed in a wildfire-prone area.
Although McCrossen’s work with wildfire prevention would seem a full time job to most, her commitment to her community continued with The Mountain Science Pub series. Hosting environmental professionals and emergency personnel, The Mountain Science Pub “is disaster sciences-based and specific to Mt. Hood,” she said.
As her achievements continue to mount as an all-star community member, neighbors and friends are in the initial throes of sadness that comes when a friend moves off the mountain. Neighbor and friend, Cindi Sempert, is just one of the many who will miss McCrossen and all that she has done for her community. “She has been such a great neighbor, Lions Club colleague, and active community member,” Sempert said, adding “she has taken the lead on helping The Lions Club become a Clackamas County Emergency Resource Center.”
Although she will miss her mountain community, friends, and neighbors, McCrossen is ultimately making this move for all the right reasons: family and continued community. “I’m looking forward to being closer to my daughter,” she said. And while her legacy as a Mt. Hood Villages resident will live on long after her zip code changes, she has left us with one very important message: “I hope I leave behind the understanding that you can do anything you put your mind to, and that’s far better than complaining: Just ask for help.”