Bark

TO TRANSFORM MT. HOOD NATIONAL FOREST INTO A PLACE WHERE NATURAL PROCESSES PREVAIL, WHERE WILDLIFE THRIVES AND WHERE LOCAL COMMUNITIES HAVE A SOCIAL, CULTURAL, AND ECONOMIC INVESTMENT IN ITS RESTORATION AND PRESERVATION.

PUBLIC EDUCATION AND ADVOCACY - PROVIDING FREE, EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE MATERIALS, GUIDED LEARNING EXPERIENCES, AND FACILITATED CIVIC ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES TO INFORM AND SUPPORT PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN PUBLIC LANDS LAW AND POLICY BY INCREASING PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF FOREST ECOLOGY, RESTORATION SCIENCE, AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE THROUGH IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL SPACES (GUIDED HIKES, WETLAND RESTORATION, AND ECOLOGICAL SURVEY ACTIVITIES, VIRTUAL GATHERINGS, WEB-BASED LEARNING MATERIALS AND RECORDED TRAINING AND WORKSHOPS).

OTHER PROGRAMS INCLUDE EDI

PUBLIC EDUCATION AND ADVOCACY - PROVIDING FREE, EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE MATERIALS, GUIDED LEARNING EXPERIENCES, AND FACILITATED CIVIC ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES TO INFORM AND SUPPORT PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN PUBLIC LANDS LAW AND POLICY BY INCREASING PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF FOREST ECOLOGY, RESTORATION SCIENCE, AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE THROUGH IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL SPACES (GUIDED HIKES, WETLAND RESTORATION, AND ECOLOGICAL SURVEY ACTIVITIES, VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON GATHERINGS, WEB-BASED LEARNING MATERIALS AND RECORDED AND IN-PERSON TRAINING AND WORKSHOPS) TRAINING AND WORKSHOPS HELD THIS PAST YEAR INCLUDED: BEAVER HABITAT SURVEY TRAINING, GROUNDTRUTHING 101 & 102, WETLAND MAPPING 101 & 102, INTRO TO COMMENT WRITING, INTRO TO FOREST POLICY, GRASSHOPPER PUBLIC COMMENT WRITING WORKSHOP, GATE CREEK INSECT AND DISEASE CE PUBLIC COMMENT WRITING WORKSHOP, FOREST FIRST AID, USING COLONIZER SPECIES: DANDELIONS, AND NATURE POETRY. STAFF LED THREE ECOLOGICAL FIELD SURVEY TRAINING COURSES FOR STUDENTS AT PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY AND THE PORTLAND STATE ASSOCIATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE STUDENTS. IN TOTAL THIS PROGRAM TRAINED AND EDUCATED 121 VOLUNTEERS AND PARTICIPANTS.

OTHER PROGRAMS INCLUDE LOBBYING AND EDI.

FOREST WATCH PROGRAM - TRAINED AND GUIDED 188 VOLUNTEERS IN CONDUCTING AN ON-SITE ECOLOGICAL SURVEY AND MONITORING OF PROPOSED TIMBER LOGGING AND ROAD-BUILDING PROJECTS ON THE PUBLIC LANDS OF MT. HOOD NATIONAL FOREST, INCORPORATES COMMUNITY-DRIVEN SCIENCE DATA INTO PUBLIC COMMENTS SUBMITTED ORGANIZATIONALLY AND BY THOUSANDS OF MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC, THROUGH THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT AND NATIONAL FOREST MANAGEMENT ACT, ON 6 MAJOR PROPOSED LAND MANAGEMENT ACTIONS INCLUDING COMMERCIAL TIMBER HARVEST, POST-FIRE ROADSIDE TREE REMOVAL, POST-FIRE SALVAGE LOGGING, INSECT AND DISEASE TREATMENTS, AND FUELS REDUCTION AND THINNING.

FOREST WATCH - TRAINED AND GUIDED 54 VOLUNTEERS IN CONDUCTING ON-SITE ECOLOGICAL SURVEYS AND MONITORING PROPOSED TIMBER LOGGING AND ROAD-BUILDING PROJECTS ON THE PUBLIC LANDS OF MT. HOOD NATIONAL FOREST, INCORPORATES COMMUNITY-DRIVEN SCIENCE DATA INTO PUBLIC COMMENTS SUBMITTED ORGANIZATIONALLY AND BY THOUSANDS OF MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC, THROUGH THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT AND NATIONAL FOREST MANAGEMENT ACT, ON 3 MAJOR PROPOSED LAND MANAGEMENT ACTIONS INCLUDING COMMERCIAL TIMBER HARVEST, POST-FIRE ROADSIDE TREE REMOVAL POST-FIRE SALVAGE LOGGING, INSECT AND DISEASE TREATMENTS, AND FUELS REDUCTION AND THINNING. BARK STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS GROUNDTRUTHED THE PROPOSED GATE CREEK CE PROJECT AREA IN THE SUMMER OF 2022, PROVIDING SITE-SPECIFIC DATA AND ANALYSIS TO GUIDE THE RECOMMENDATIONS FORMED IN THE COLLABORATIVE PROCESS TO EDUCATE AND INFORM THE PUBLIC DESPITE THE INTENTIONALLY EXCLUSIVE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS. THE GATE CREEK CE PROPOSED LOGGING IN 490 ACRES WITHIN DESIGNATED RIPARIAN RESERVES, 162 IN DESIGNATED PINE MARTEN/PILEATED WOODPECKER HABITAT, 893 ACRES WITHIN FIRE-ADAPTED PINE-OAK HABITAT, AND 501 ACRES DESIGNATED AS SCENIC VIEWSHED, IN ADDITION TO 1,419 ACRES DESIGNATED AS TIMBER EMPHASIS BY THE CRITICALLY OUTDATED, 1990 MT. HOOD FOREST MANAGEMENT PLAN. IN THE FALL OF 2022, BARK FILED A FORMAL OBJECTION TO THE 5,000-ACRE GRASSHOPPER TIMBER PROJECT ON MT. HOOD'S BARLOW RANGER DISTRICT, IS THE CULMINATION OF THREE YEARS OF ENGAGEMENT WITH PROJECT PLANNING UNDER THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT. IN THE SUMMER OF 2023 BARK VOLUNTEERS GROUNDTRUTHED THE AREAS PROPOSED FOR LOGGING IN THE 27 ROAD FUEL BREAK CE PROJECT THROUGHOUT 6-DAY TRIPS AND VOLUNTEER CAMPOUTS. THIS PROJECT WOULD CREATE A 1,000' FUEL BREAK ALONG AREAS OF THE 27-ROAD SYSTEM (APPROXIMATELY 2,900 ACRES TOTAL).

RESTORATION PROGRAM - TRAINED AND GUIDED 112 VOLUNTEERS IN SEASONAL BEAVER HABITAT SURVEYS, RESTORATION PLANTINGS, AND WETLAND HYDROLOGICAL CAPACITY MONITORING IN MT. HOOD NATIONAL FOREST, ROUGHLY 60S MILES FROM PORTLAND, OR.

RESTORATION - TRAINED AND GUIDED 115 VOLUNTEERS IN SEASONAL BEAVER HABITAT SURVEYS RESTORATION PLANTINGS, AND WETLAND HYDROLOGICAL CAPACITY MONITORING IN MT. HOOD NATIONAL FOREST ROUGHLY 60 MILES FROM PORTLAND, OR. CONDUCTED SURVEYS OF CLACKAMAS LAKE, LITTLE CRATER LAKE, BLACK WOLF MEADOW, TIMOTHY LAKE, ANVIL CREEK/LAKE, SHELL ROCK LAKE, BUCK LAKE, STONE CREEK, AND OTHER SITES ACROSS THE OAK GROVE FORK SUB WATERSHED OF THE CLACKAMAS RIVER BASIN-PRIORITIZING FORESTED SITES THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO MAP VIA AERIAL MAPPING TO CONDUCT FIELD VERIFICATION OF HABITAT TYPES. ONCE SUBMITTED AND APPROVED, THE AREAS MAPPED WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR THE USE OF THE PUBLIC AND FEDERAL AGENCIES THROUGH THE NATIONAL WETLAND INVENTORY. THE UPDATED BOUNDARIES AND CLASSIFICATIONS OF WETLANDS PRODUCED THROUGH OUR IMAGE INTERPRETATION AND FIELD-BASED VERIFICATION WILL PROVIDE A CURRENT INVENTORY OF THE LOCATIONS AND TYPES OF WETLANDS IN OUR PROJECT AREA ON MT. HOOD.