Bark

Last week Bark went on a field tour of areas burned the Grasshopper fire. The fire, which grew to 18,000 acres in its first week, is now at 93,996 acres and 98% containment.

The suppression costs for this fire are at $109 million and still growing. While there is a large pot of federal funds dedicated to fire suppression, there is no dedicated pot of money set aside for recovery efforts. In fact, fire recovery funding must go through specific congressional action. The cost of fire recovery efforts for the Grasshopper Fire alone could be another $50 million.

The next steps for the MHNF include a Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) assessment, and an environmental assessment (EA) for roadside hazard tree project, and could include an EA for salvage lumber projects. Bark will be following these next steps closely.

While driving through areas of bare and blackened trees we could see the forest showing its resilience in bright green. Species like bracken fern, willow, and ceanothus were already sprouting from the ground. When these areas reopen in a few years, we hope to return and see how the forest has restored itself.

Slide 1: The field tour group included folks from nonprofits, state and local government, local landowners, timber industry, and the Forest Service.

Slide 2: A large clearing that was used as a drop point for equipment for the fire. At one point this area was completely packed with trucks, trailers, and equipment.

Slide 4: We saw many large slash piles that were from non-commercial fuels reduction work that had been ongoing over the past year but not yet burned. Firefighters felt it was safer to keep them from igniting during the fire.

The rest: Scenes from the drive through the burned area. You can see green sprouting up in some photos!

National Public Lands day is coming up, and we're going groundtruthing! Come to the forest with us on Saturday, 9/26 to appreciate and protect public lands by helping us document on-the-ground forest conditions. No experience required!🌲

Sign up here: https://bark-out.org/event/groundtruthing-field-day-national-public-lands-day-edition/

Bark monitors every timber sale (logging project) proposed on Mt. Hood and uses groundtruthing to document the forest conditions within the proposed project areas. This on the ground data is vital as we engage in the decision-making process and work to influence projects on Mt Hood. There are several projects that we are surveying this summer such as the South Wasco Ecosystem Resiliency Project (SE part of the NF), Nohorn Vegetation Management project (SW part of the NF), and several other smaller scale projects.

ACTION ALERT📣 The Forest Service is also considering changes to its national travel management regulations: the rules that govern how the agency decides which roads and trails are open to motorized use, which routes are restricted or closed, and where off-highway vehicles can travel.

Comments are due 9/23 – submit yours here:https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/FS-2026-0100-0001

Some of the major proposed changes include:

-Shifting national policy toward an “open unless closed” approach. Existing roads, trails, airfields, trailheads, and access points would be presumed open to appropriate public use unless closure or restriction is required by law, valid existing rights, or supported by specific, documented and justifiable reasons based on science-based resource conditions, public safety, conflicts among uses, or maintenance/administrative capacity.

-Removal of national minimization criteria. This is likely the most substantive rollback. The current Travel Management Rule's minimization criteria (the standard used to limit routes/areas to what's needed while minimizing resource damage, conflicts, etc.) would be replaced by an access-oriented framework, with designation/closure decisions pushed to local officials based on "documented local conditions."

-Mandatory annual reviews of closed or restricted routes to consider whether they should be reopened.

-Possible removal of two sections in the federal code of regulations that require public participation for road/trail/area designations as well as coordination with federal, state, county, and Tribal governments.

These changes could have significant implications for Mt. Hood NF. In 2010, the forest specifically amended its Forest Plan to implement the 2005 Travel Management Rule’s guidance to move away from an “open unless closed” approach and toward “closed unless designated open,” while prohibiting cross-country motorized travel. That shift was intended to better balance motorized recreation with public safety, non-motorized recreation, wildlife, and other resource concerns.

Bark is reviewing the proposed changes and will be tracking how they could affect travel management on Mt. Hood. Comments are due September 23.

Would the timber revenue from the Roadless Rule rescission financially justify the destruction of the last ecologically intact areas of the national forest system? Of course not! But take a look at just how nonsensical the estimated timber revenue is compared to the outrageous cost of road maintenance is👀

PS: the Roadless Rule Rescission comment period has been extended to October 6th! Check out our comment writing guide here: https://bark-out.org/news/action-alert-comment-on-the-roadless-rule-rescission-by-9-21/

And if you need support writing your comment, join us at Bark HQ on Monday, September 14th at 6pm for a comment writing workshop: https://bark-out.org/event/roadless-rule-comment-writing-workshop/

Come to the forest with us! 🌲 Bark monitors every timber sale proposed on Mt. Hood and uses groundtruthing to document the forest conditions within the proposed project areas. You're invited to join us to collect on-the-ground data – no experience necessary!

The data we collect is vital as we engage in the decision-making process and work to influence projects on Mt Hood. There are several projects that we are surveying this summer such as the South Wasco Ecosystem Resiliency Project (SE part of the NF), Nohorn Vegetation Management project (SW part of the NF), and several other smaller scale projects.

Sign up for our September 18th groundtruthing field day here: https://bark-out.org/event/groundtruthing-field-day-6/

📣12 days left to comment on the Roadless Rule Rescission! 📣 Need some help writing a comment? Join us on Monday, 9/14 at Bark HQ for a Roadless Rule comment writing workshop! We'll provide tips on how to write a good comment and have time to help each other workshop our own comments. 44.5 million acres of National Forest System lands across 39 states – including 2 million acres of Oregon forests and 118,000 acres of Mt. Hood National Forest – are depending on us to defend the Roadless Rule. We hope you'll join us!

RSVP here: https://bark-out.org/event/roadless-rule-comment-writing-workshop/

Notes from the Field: July Campout Recap! ⛺🌲
 
We know we say this every time, but this was our best campout yet! A huge thank-you to everyone who bushwhacked through brush, climbed steep slopes, and helped collect this data. Your fieldwork helps Bark, and the Forest Service, see what’s really on the ground. And it was a great opportunity to get to know our awesome community.
 
During this campout we spent our days surveying the Nohorn Project area—documenting proposed logging units, wetlands, beaver habitat, and other features that may not show up on Forest Service maps—and our evenings cooling off in the river.
 
The Nohorn area is steep, wet, and full of seeps, springs, and small wetlands. The southern and eastern parts of the project area are bordered by the Opal Creek and Bull of the Woods Wilderness areas, and to the west is the Forest boundary and adjacent BLM lands.
 
A few things we found during our surveys:
🌲Some of the roads in the project area are now in poor condition due to unstable slopes and abundant water, and Bark’s Forest Watch Manager, Jordan, is concerned that reopening or rebuilding these roads to access the project area could be costly and damaging.
 
💧The wetlands surrounding the ponds at the Hugh Creek Complex are not mapped on the National Wetland Inventory or on Forest Service maps and therefore are at risk of being damaged during logging. We were able to map parts of the Hugh Creek complex in April of this year and mapped the rest during the July campout. This will allow us to expand the wetland zone and protect the sensitive habitat around the ponds.
 
🦫We identified a promising potential beaver relocation site at Lily Pad Lake, with deep water, abundant willow and alder, and plenty of aquatic vegetation!
 
We’ll continue groundtruthing the Nohorn Project area (as fire conditions permit) to document mature and old-growth forests, steep slopes, unmapped wetlands, and other places where Forest Service maps don’t tell the whole story.

BARK BLOODY MARYS ARE BACK🍹 This September, Bark and are bringing back the Bark Bloody Mary! $10 from every Bark Bloody Mary sold will benefit Bark. Thank you to our friends and longtime supporters at Jam on Hawthorne for helping us protect and restore Mt. Hood with the best Bloody Mary in Portland (really – they've won Best Bloody Mary two years in a row in Willamette Week's Best of Portland readers' poll)!

Go get your brunch on!

GIVEAWAY ⛺ Through September 18th, anyone who becomes a Forest Sustainer at $5/month or more will be entered to win a brand new REI Campwell 6 tent + a Bark merch bundle!

From restoring beaver habitat to protecting old growth stands from timber sales, Bark's work to protect Mt. Hood couldn't be done without our dedicated community of Forest Sustainers, who provide dependable funding through modest monthly gifts that add up to big support. A few dollars a month might not seem like much on its own, but when a whole community chips in consistently, those gifts add up to provide Bark with the reliable funding we need to keep showing up for Mt. Hood, year after year.

Become a Forest Sustainer here and be entered to win this camp bundle! https://secure.everyaction.com/wJcF53AjP0u0lTsYbLtAIQ2?sourceid=1111754&ms=Fundraising081826&amtOpts=&recurringAmtOpts=&am=&recurringAm=&is_optimized_ask=true&emci=d1fbec20-949a-f111-9b33-000d3a11fa30&emdi=70bf4162-469b-f111-9b33-000d3a11fa30&ceid=4733398

Attention, early birds: BEAVER CLUB IS BACK 🦫

Join us on Sunday, August 30th at 6:15am for a pre-sunrise chance to see beavers hard at work before they rest for the day. We’ll meet at Errol Heights with chairs, hot beverages and binoculars to watch our favorite restoration technicians do what they do best. Seeing beavers isn't guaranteed, but this beaver photo was taken by a Beaver Club attendee last year (thanks, René), so we do have a chance!

Beavers are not a fan of commotion so this will be a small, quiet event. Restoration Program Manager Meg will be happy to answer a few pressing questions, but talking will be limited. Animals and small children will not be allowed for this reason.

Space is limited – sign up here: https://bark-out.org/event/beaver-club-6/