Bark Alert: It's all about you!

Dear Barker,

The Bureau of Land Management timber program lost $35 million* in 2010. The Forest Service doesn’t disclose its financials this clearly, but we’ve known for years that taxpayers foot the bill for logging our forests. We also foot the bill for maintaining trails and keeping our water clean.

It’s past-time that we all ask, “Would I rather pay for good trails and clean water or pay for logged forests?” Hundreds of Barkers answered that question via our action alert last week. You can too. See “Bark-Out” below.

I vote for trails,
Alex P Brown, Executive Director

*See http://www.blm.gov/or/onlineservices/files/2010_BLM_Facts.pdf.

Bark-Out: We want to feature your Mt. Hood story
Bark-About: The DIY hike
Giving Tree: Intel Involved
Bark Tales: Campout report back
Bark Bites: Two million years of Sandy River salmon


Bark-Out
What does Mt. Hood mean to you?

The Horseshoe Timber Sale is a clear example of a disturbing new trend in Forest Service management on Mt. Hood: a surge of new timber sales planned to log areas that have seen the greatest recent investment in restoration and are surrounded by some of the most beloved recreation spots in all of Oregon. We featured details about Horseshoe in our Special Alert last week. Howls are due to the 350 Barkers who took action from that alert asking our public land managers to prioritize recreation and restoration, not logging. HHHHAAAAAOOOOOO!

Now, we need something a little different from you. We want to hear stories of your favorite spots to visit and other ways you enjoy Mt. Hood National Forest. Your personal experiences speak volumes and will help us educate decision makers on the importance of allocating tax dollars to funding recreation and restoration, not the commercial timber shop.

Click here to share your Mt. Hood story now.

We’ll pick our favorites, and will be in touch to feature them on our webpage, Facebook, or in upcoming e-mail alerts.



Bark-About
November’s hike leader: you!

We are inviting you to a do-it-yourself Bark-About on Sunday, November 11th. Forest Watch Coordinator Gradey Proctor will guide prospective hike leaders through the ins and outs of planning and leading a Bark-About hike, and hike attendees will be the collective leaders for the day.

Monthly Bark-Abouts have been led by volunteers for well over a decade. Leading a hike is fun, easy, and a great way to get to know the forest and build leadership skills. Attend this hike if you want to lead your own Bark-About, and look forward to seeing your hike featured here in an upcoming Bark Alert.

Please bring food, water, hat, rain gear, sturdy hiking boots, and be prepared to hike off trail. 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
Bark is the latest non-profit to qualify for Intel Involved

Intel is the latest company in Oregon to support Bark’s work to protect and restore Mt. Hood National Forest. If you are an Intel employee and want to learn more about Intel Invoved, contact [email protected].

Your company may have a community involvement program that you can take advantage of to help Mt. Hood. Not sure? Email [email protected] to find out.



Bark Tales
Barkers brave rain and snow for the Fall in the Forest campout

Sun, rain, snow: last month’s Fall in the Forest campout had it all! Read on for some of the highlights of this four day, three night working campout along the Collowash River in Mt. Hood.




Campout highlights:

-27 adults and 2 children joined for part (or all) of the campout
-7 volunteers trained in groundtruthing and 12 in post-logging monitoring
-Discovering that the new Lemiti Butte logging proposal threatens old growth adjacent to Sisi Butte Wilderness
-Snowball fight!
-Finding a rare species of lichen called nephroma occultum
-Chanterelle pasta dinner on Saturday night!
-Fashioning an emergency writing implement out of mud and a stick
-Finally drying off around a campfire on Saturday night… until it started raining again

Big thanks to John Villela for teaching us all about lichen and to Signal Fire for lending us the amazing canvas tent that kept us cozy in the evenings.

If you missed the campout but want to get involved in upcoming groundtruthing efforts, please call 503-331-0374 or email [email protected].



Bark Bites
Critical salmon habitat faces new threat in Sandy River Watershed

Did you know the Sandy River is considered Anchor Habitat for salmon, hosting one of the best self sustaining populations of lower Columbia salmon? This high quality habitat is not an accident. Rather, recovering salmon populations in the Sandy are directly linked to years of intentional restoration efforts, put forth by groups like the Sandy River Basin Watershed Council along with the Forest Service. Actions have ranged from restoring stream channels to the removal of the Marmot Dam and Little Sandy Dam, which allowed salmon to travel from the Pacific Ocean to Mt. Hood for the first time in a century. Read more about the fascinating history of salmon in Mt. Hood National Forest in this timeline created by Metro.  

Salmon recovery in the Sandy River was helped along in 1998 when public pressure opposing destructive logging practices led to a moratorium on logging in the Zigzag Ranger District of Mt. Hood National Forest, home to the Sandy River Watershed. Now the Forest Service is threatening to bring logging back into the area and undo this successful restoration work with the Horseshoe Timber Sale, a plan to log in critical habitat for three distinct populations of threatened salmon. In case you missed our special alert last week, click here to read more and take action, and stay tuned for updates on the Horseshoe Timber Sale.