Urgent Palomar LNG Pipeline action and a visit to Annie's Cabin

Dear Barker,

Oregon’s legislature is considering five bills that will make it easier to construct liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and related infrastructure like the Palomar Pipeline. Your State Representative will cast their vote on this legislation as early as tomorrow, so take action now on these so called “fast track” bills and read on to learn exactly how they will facilitate NW Natural’s proposal to clearcut 47 miles across Mt. Hood National Forest.

Sincerely,
Alex P Brown, Executive Director


Bark-Out: Say NO to the LNG Fast Track Bill!
Bark-About: Annie’s Cabin Timber Sale in the Molalla River Recreation Area
Giving Tree: Maybe you have one of the few items left on our wish list!
Bark Tales: A local painting company saves Mt. Hood…
Bark Bites: The Mt. Hood road system could get you to Bogota, Columbia


Bark-Out
Tell your State Representative to vote NO on the LNG Fast Track Bill
 
For the third year in a row, NW Natural and its LNG company cohorts are pushing a bill through the Oregon State Legislature that would allow pipeline companies to obtain permits on private land without the landowner’s permission. If the LNG Fast Track Bill passes, the Palomar Pipeline and the two remaining LNG terminals proposed in Oregon would be years ahead of their current delayed schedule. Contact your Representative today to urge a NO vote on the LNG Fast Track Bill.

While LNG pipeline companies try to fast-track the permitting process in Salem, the Oregon LNG company is facing a major setback in Clatsop County. Join us Wednesday, March 9th in Astoria to witness what could be the most important day in the fate of LNG terminals on the Columbia River. Click here to learn more about how the Clatsop County government is exercising its authority to protect its constituency and how to carpool with Bark to support local activists on March 9th.


Bark-About
Annie’s Cabin Timber Sale
Sunday, March 13th, 9am-5pm

Our March Bark-About will visit the Annie’s Cabin Timber Sale. In 2007, when this logging project was proposed, Bark demanded that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) buffer trails in the Molalla River Recreation corridor and to exclude parcels of old-growth forest and habitat for sensitive species. Unfortunately the BLM was unwilling to compromise and Bark unsuccessfully sued to stop the Salem BLM from logging right over this recreation trail. Erin Madden, Bark’s attorney in the case, will lead this hike to discuss Bark’s history with Annie’s Cabin and to see the effects of the BLM’s management of the area.

Come prepared to walk up to three miles through forest and established trails in the Molalla River Recreation Area. Please bring lunch, water, and sturdy boots. The weather is very unpredictable this time of year, so don't forget extra clothing layers and water resistant gear.

Bark-Abouts are led on the second Sunday of every month and are free to the public. Click here for more information about this month’s hike.

If you can’t make it to our Bark-About this month, but want to spend some time in the forest and learn how to be a Bark groundtruther, then check out our up-coming groundtruthing training.


Giving Tree
Barkers made a dent in our wish list, but we still need a few items

When you donate dollars to Bark, your money supports creative solutions to restoring Mt. Hood National Forest while putting people to work (see “Bark Bites” below). Donations of time and materials make this possible. If you have any of the items or skills below, reply to this email or call Olivia at 503-331-0374.

We still need:
One-sided paper- we received one big stack but could use more!
One flat-screen LCD monitor- thanks Joy and Sylvan for donating the first of the two we need!
Ergonomic keyboards
Two-line telephones
Office desk (locking drawers and not wider than 5’)
Handyperson to install movie screen from ceiling
Light fixture (large globe or shade style for hanging from ceiling)
Tapestry to hang over our cleaning closet
Headphones with long cords
Printer (b&w commercial-grade) –thanks to those who generously offered their home printers!


Bark Tales
How a little time, a door, and two Portlanders are helping Bark protect Mt. Hood

When we moved into our new office last summer we were so excited about the new space. The only problem was the wall between the east and west offices. Enter Jim of Northwest Painting Specialists and Bernd of Bernd Minde LLC. They love Mt. Hood National Forest and wanted to support Bark, but as Jim said, “It’s easier for me to donate time than money right now.” And that’s exactly what they did. Thanks to their beautiful door Bark staff are able to work more effectively than than ever. Thanks Jim and Bernd!!!

Do you have a skill that you think could help Bark do a better job of protecting Mt. Hood? If so, contact Olivia Schmidt at [email protected] or 503-331-0374.


Bark Bites
4,000 miles of roads compromising clean water, wildlife habitat, and healthy forests

Mt. Hood National Forest contains nearly 4,000 miles of roads: that’s the distance, as the crow flies, between Portland and Bogota, Colombia! Many of these roads are unneeded remnants from the heyday of logging and harm our drinking water quality, fragment wildlife habitat, and  can be disorienting for recreationists who must navigate the poorly marked network of roads in search of trailheads that are often lost in the maze of old logging roads. For the past five years Bark has worked to encourage the Forest Service to decommission these roads and we are making great progress. The Forest Service is currently considering decommissioning almost 500 miles of roads in the Collawash and White River Watersheds.

But what does road decommissioning actually entail? The Forest Service has a range of 11 methods to choose from when decommissioning a road. On one end of the spectrum is "road obliteratarion,” by which roads are literally taken off the landscape and re-contoured so that in a matter of years the road bed will be almost invisible. The other end of the spectrum is “passive road decommissioning” which involves obliterating the first eighth of a mile of the road and removing major features like culverts. Passive road decommissioning is much cheaper than road obliteration, but it allows roads to remain as significant scars on the landscape, invites illegal ATV use, and of particular concern, makes those roads easier to reopen for future logging projects. Bark is working to maximize the benefits of road decommissioning for the health of our forest and to keep the Forest Service from spending taxpayer money on decommissioning roads just to reopen them for future timber sales.