Bark

As we come to the end of National Wildfire Awareness Month, we want to highlight 4 ways we can support and create wildfire-adapted landscapes 🔥🌲🌱

Wildland fire has always been a necessary component of healthy forest ecosystems in the American West, with plants and animals evolving to coexist and thrive with all types of wildfire. Indigenous peoples used fire to maintain native species and habitats that provided foods, fibers, medicines, and religious ceremonies that sustained their cultures and communities for many millennia.

To support wildfire-adapted landscapes while protecting our communities, we should:

🌲Actively manage wildfires in remote backcountry areas to gain the ecological benefits of burning
🔥Support Indigenous communities' use of fire to restore cultural resources that require fire for their productivity and ecological integrity
🌲Be selective and strategic about where we apply fire suppression efforts while expanding the area where fire can be safely and beneficially managed. Apply fire suppression efforts where fires are an active threat to our communities.
🔥Use prescribed burns to ensure our lands are fire-adapted.

You can learn more about wildfire, check out "Wildfire in the Age of Climate Change," a guide made by here: https://www.forestclimatealliance.org/wildfire-guide

Come to the forest with us THIS SUNDAY🌲Join us on an excursion to Larch Mountain to learn how to groundtruth! We'll learn how to measure the diameter at breast height (DBH) of trees, look for fire signs, identify plants, measure slope and canopy cover, and more. The data we collect while groundtruthing helps us fight against destructive timber sales and protect forests.

No experience necessary, and carpool is available! Sign up here: https://bark-out.org/event/groundtruthing-201-field-training-2/

Planning to join us for Beaver Habitat Surveys this summer? Take our two-part Beaver Ecology & Restoration course! 🦫

On May 27th, join us at Bark HQ from 6-8pm for a classroom-style introduction to beaver ecology and restoration. We'll discuss basic beaver biology, ecology, fun facts, and go over beaver legislation and regulatory hurdles to beaver reintroduction. We’ll go over our survey methods and the different things we look for during our Beaver Habitat Surveys, and cover all the logistics you’ll need to know to attend surveys with us. Sign up here: https://bark-out.org/event/beaver-ecology-and-restoration-part-1-introduction/

On June 7th, we'll do part 2 of this training in the field! Building on what we covered in Part 1, we’ll head into the field to get hands on experience identifying beaver sign, assessing forage and water cover, filling out data forms and more. This event is open to anyone although we highly recommend attending Part 1 as it lays the foundation for our work in the field. Sign up here: https://bark-out.org/event/beaver-ecology-and-restoration-part-2-in-the-field/

Join us on our next trek through the woods to survey for beaver habitats! Everyone is welcome, no experience is necessary, and carpool is available 🦫

Given the scale of degradation within streams and wetlands and throughout the West, we need all partners mobilized to restore these systems. Beavers are our greatest ally! But for this ecosystem engineer to successfully create resilience against drought and wildfire, they must be able to safely build and maintain their natural infrastructure while expanding their numbers and distributions across the state.

While there are many ‘tools’ in our beaver protection and restoration ‘toolkit’, one of the most critical is the ability to do restoration projects to improve beaver habitat in hopes they will recolonize the area on their own. We’ll also be on the lookout for areas we can relocate beavers from areas where they are not welcome to areas on Mt. Hood where they can thrive. Bark staff and volunteers play an important role in finding and verifying suitable habitat in Mt. Hood National Forest to share with our partners. Together we form a chain of dedicated beaver stewards!

Sign up here: https://bark-out.org/event/beaver-habitat-survey-field-day-8/

Bark and 's Climate Action Team invite you to a FREE screening of Inhabitants: An Indigenous Perspective (2021).

Sunday, May 17th
Havurah Shalom
825 NW 18th Ave, Portland, OR 97209
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Doors open at 2:30 pm
FREE | Registration Required
Register here: https://www.havurahshalom.org/event/ip-hcat-film-series-3.html

About the film:
For millennia Native Americans successfully stewarded and shaped their landscapes, but centuries of colonization have disrupted their ability to maintain traditional land management practices. Inhabitants: An Indigenous Perspective follows five Native American tribes across deserts, coastlines, forests, and prairies as they restore their traditional land management practices. As the climate crisis escalates, these time-tested practices of North America’s original inhabitants are becoming increasingly essential in a rapidly changing world. Directed by Costa Boutsikaris and Anna Palmer.

Do you want to volunteer with Bark, but don’t know where to start? Do you want to hike lesser-seen areas of Mt. Hood and protect forests at the same time?

Join Bark at our 2026 Volunteer Social – prospective and seasoned volunteers alike are welcome! Bark’s Programs staff – Forest Watch Program Manager Jordan Latter and Restoration Program Manager Meg Waller – will give brief overviews on their programs and how YOU can join us on this summer’s field days to collect data, restore beaver habitat, and defend our forests. They’ll answer all of your questions about volunteering with Bark, too!

Bark Volunteer Social
May 21st, 6-8pm
Double Mountain Overlook Taproom
1700 N Killingsworth St
Free to attend!

RSVP here: https://bark-out.org/event/2026-volunteer-social/

Join us at Bark HQ to learn about basic wetland ecology and Bark's work to protect Mt. Hood! 🦫🌊

Wetlands are often in and around forested areas proposed for logging and other timber treatments. Although there are strict rules protecting wetlands from being disturbed in timber extraction, those rules only apply to wetland which are accurately mapped and many of them aren’t. Since most wetland mapping in Oregon was done in the 1980’s, many wetlands go un-mapped or don’t match the size and shape they were mapped at decades ago. When we gain on-the-ground access to these wetlands, we’re able to accurately map their boundaries and classify them correctly, helping to protect them from future management projects on the mountain.

This class will be an integral first step in learning how to identify and classify wetlands on Mt. Hood in order to protect them from timber sales and other destructive practices. In-field trainings will follow later in the summer!

Sign up here: https://bark-out.org/event/introduction-to-wetland-ecology-and-mapping-2/

Want to groundtruth proposed timber sale areas with us this summer? Join us at Larch Mountain for our Groundtruthing 201 Field Training! No experience necessary. Carpool available!

What is groundtruthing? It's Bark's way of monitoring every timber sale proposed on Mt. Hood. We go out to proposed timber sale sites and document the forest conditions within the area, and then use that information to engage the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to participate in the decision-making process for public forests. Since 1999, Bark and our dedicated volunteer groundtruthers have saved tens of thousands of acres from destructive logging projects that would have harmed Mt. Hood's forests and watersheds.

At this training you will get the opportunity to learn why we survey, what we survey for, and how we use the data to alter/stop timber projects and hold the Forest Service accountable. We will view examples of different kinds of forest stands we encounter during surveys and practice using tools for data gathering. By the end, you’ll be one step closer to becoming a groundtruthing pro!

Sign up here: https://bark-out.org/event/groundtruthing-201-field-training/

Got some big feelings about the state of the world? Get your hands dirty and make a direct impact at our next Parrott Creek restoration day on Saturday, May 9th. We'll be focused on removing invasive plants!

This is part of Parrott Creek's project of restoring this 80-acre site in Oregon city so that it can be a space where Indigenous people can safely gather natural resources such as foods, medicines, and weaving materials while connecting with the land and their communities and traditions.

Sign up here: https://bark-out.org/event/parrott-creek-restoration-day-7/