Threats to Oregon's drinking water and Day of Action to protect Mt. Hood

Dear Barker,

The City of Portland will decide on May 18th whether to waste $500 million to treat our Bull Run drinking water, recently confirmed as pure and free from harmful bacteria. Click here for information about the City of Portland hearing on Bull Run. Meanwhile, you can join us this Sunday (Mother’s Day) to explore the proposed Jazz Timber Sale that threatens the drinking water for Portland’s neighbors in Oregon City, West Linn, and Lake Oswego.

Sincerely,
Alex P Brown, Executive Director

PS- Want to learn why the Forest Service is required to analyze the environmental impacts of projects like the Jazz Timber Sale? Check out Bark’s free NEPA 101 training on May 12th.


Bark-Out: Plug in to our May 26th Day of Action to Protect Mt. Hood
Bark-About: Celebrate Mother's Day with a hike to the Jazz Timber Sale
Giving Tree: Party down this Saturday with the MRG Foundation
Bark Tales: Our newest volunteer is a tabling aficionado and you can be too
Bark Bites: Bark welcomes Mt. Hood's new Forest Supervisor with sponge prints


Bark-Out
NW Natural must be crazy! Take a stand on May 26th to protect Mt. Hood from NW Natural!

On Thursday, May 26th NW Natural will hold its annual Shareholders Meeting where the company will inform investors of its plans to resurrect the Palomar Pipeline through Mt. Hood National Forest. In March, Palomar withdrew its application to construct the 220-mile pipeline through Oregon, but NW Natural is scheming to bring the project back as early as next year.

Help Bark send NW Natural the message that we will never allow this pipeline to go through Mt. Hood! Contact Olivia to plug in to our Day of Action and get ready to take a stand for Mt. Hood on Thursday, May 26th!

Surprised to hear that NW Natural is still harboring plans to clearcut Mt. Hood National Forest? You can find out more about their plans by clicking here.


Bark-About
Jazz Timber Sale Hike
Sunday, May 8th, 9am-5pm, Mother’s Day!

Come see the biggest logging project proposed in Mt. Hood National Forest, the Jazz Timber Sale in the Clackamas Ranger District. The Forest Service plans to log 2,000 acres spanning the entire Collawash Watershed and to re-build 12 miles of previously decommissioned roads. On the hike we’ll discuss the perceived pros and cons of thinning and the detriments of planning such enormous logging projects, including the potential impacts "commercial thinning" can have in this landslide-prone watershed that provides drinking water to 180,000 Oregonians.

Come prepared to walk up to three miles off trail in dense forest. Please bring lunch, water, and sturdy boots. The weather is very unpredictable this time of year, so don't forget extra layers of clothes and water resistant gear. Celebrate Mother’s Day this year by bringing your mom along for this month’s hike!

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.


Giving Tree
Good food, great music, and amazing people make MRG’s Justice within Reach a party not to miss
Saturday, May 7th, 7pm-11pm

The MRG Foundation funds cutting edge social justice and environmental work, like Bark’s successful campaign to stop the Palomar Pipeline. Please join other Bark staff and like-minded Portlanders at MRG’s Justice within Reach party!

Bark’s work on Palomar will be highlighted in the program, plus there will be music from DJ Adiva, food from Phresh Organic Catering, a no-host bar, and a social justice photography exhibit by local photographers Bette Lee and Nathan Q. Moon. Purchase tickets here.


Bark Tales
Eli Bird, tabling volunteer extraordinaire

Bark has been busy getting the word out about our work this season and Bark’s newest volunteer, Eli Bird, has been there all along the way to spread the word about the threats facing Mt. Hood. Eli has talked with hundreds of people at Farmers Markets and Earth Day events about Bark’s second Sunday Bark-Abouts, our success with the Palomar Pipeline, our May 26th Day of Action to Protect Mt. Hood, and he has helped to gather more than 200 comments opposing the Jazz Timber Sale. Here’s a howl for Eli for volunteering dozens of hours to get the word out about our work to protect and restore Mt. Hood. HHHHHAAAAOOO!

We'll be continuing to table at events throughout the summer. Contact Olivia if you'd like to volunteer to help at future tabling events.


Bark Bites
Bark welcomes the new Supervisor of Mt. Hood National Forest

Please join us in welcoming Mt. Hood’s new Forest Supervisor, Chris Worth. Supervisor Worth comes to us from Montana, where he was the Deputy Forest Supervisor for the Custer and Gallatin National Forests. He is an avid hiker, amateur naturalist, and fly fisher.

We recently welcomed Supervisor Worth by presenting him with a banner that was printed with trees and hearts by dozens of kids with the message "We love our Mother Earth. Please protect clean water, wildlife habitat and quiet recreation in Mt. Hood. We love Mt. Hood National Forest!"

We look forward to working with Supervisor Worth to protect and restore Mt. Hood by focusing the efforts of Mt. Hood’s staff on improving wildlife habitat, water quality, and opportunities for quiet recreation in the Forest we all love. You can read the Forest Service announcement of Supervisor Worth's new position here.