Volunteer with Bark!

Whether you are just beginning to learn about forest ecosystems and public lands advocacy or are an experienced field biologist or policy analyst, your energy and knowledge are vital to protecting Mt. Hood National Forest and beyond. 

Since our founding in 1999, Bark has saved tens of thousands of acres of Mt. Hood’s forest from destructive logging projects, established a game-changing legal precedent on forests and fire, engaged 30,000+ people around forest ecology and current forest management practices, and worked with state and federal agencies to work towards reintroducing beaver to Mt. Hood. The impacts of our forest advocacy are only possible with the countless hours, incredible creativity, and boundless spirit from our volunteers. 

As a volunteer-powered nonprofit, we’re always looking for new volunteers to get involved! We provide annual programs training hundreds of volunteers in forest policy and field surveying, empowering the public to protect the ecosystems that support us all. Together, we challenge destructive logging projects, engage in public review and comment on timber sales through many means:  

  • Documenting ecological conditions in the forest  
  • Leading educational hikes, workshops, and activities 
  • Mapping wetlands and sensitive wildlife habitat  
  • Locating and protecting threatened species 
  • Raising public awareness about climate change, ecosystem health and the destruction caused by extractive commercial projects throughout Mt. Hood National Forest 

Ready to get involved? Here are some ways you can plug in: 

Free Education

Our classes and events are free to attend, and everyone is welcome!

Volunteer in the Field

Throughout the year, our Forest Watch and Restoration Managers lead groups of volunteers into forest areas of our region to groundtruth, collect data, survey beaver habitats, participate in restoration efforts and more.

Contact Us

Do you have a special set of skills, mobility issues, or a crazy schedule? We recognize that everyone has their own strengths and value your time, so let us use your volunteer power to the best of our ability. Contact info@bark-out.org and we can get you started on a project!  

As an organization founded originally by white people in the settler-colonial lineage, Bark is a part of the legacy of land theft and the erasure of native authority over the lands now referred to as the “public lands of Mt. Hood National Forest”. As an organization, we have established influential relationships with the Forest Service, part of the same Federal government which facilitated the violent land theft, colonization, and displacement of indigenous people. Non-native peoples have access and privilege to these lands because of this violent legacy. Bark is working to transform our organization, to take responsibility for this legacy and these unearned privileges. We are committed to a living, tangible practice of acknowledgment, respect, and support for the Molalas, Kalapuyans, Chinookan Clackamas, Chinookan Wascos, Northern Paiute peoples, and Sahaptin speaking peoples who live here and who have always lived here -- and the many other native nations who have always been part of and cared for this land that we now occupy. Everyone involved with our organization, and anyone interested in becoming so, are expected to acknowledge this historical context and contemporary effort with practical dedication and action throughout their involvement with Bark's work.