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Bark’s September News & Advocacy Opportunities

A plume of smoke rises from the Austin Fire. Photo by USFS.

September 26th is National Public Lands Day, and Mt. Hood National Forest and other public lands need your help! Read on for the latest updates on Bark’s work and how you can get involved.  

Notes from the Field

Geothermal Leasing Moves Forward on Mt. Hood NF

Consent for Geothermal Leasing Maps
Left/top: a USDA map that shows the two parcels up for lease in the context of MHNF. Right/bottom: a USDA map that shows the land use allocations of the parcels up for ease.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) accepted $1.16 million in winning bids to lease two parcels of Mt. Hood National Forest land totaling more than 9,500 acres for potential geothermal development, according to The Bend Bulletin. 

Bark has been following this project since spring 2025, when the BLM asked the Forest Service to consent to leasing roughly 10,000 acres on the southeast side of the Clackamas River Ranger District. While Bark recognizes the urgent need to decarbonize Oregon’s electricity sources, we raised concerns about the proposal’s potential impacts on northern spotted owl critical habitat, Late Successional Reserves, and habitat for coho salmon, steelhead, and Chinook salmon. We objected when the Forest Service moved forward with the consent to lease the two parcels for geothermal exploration.  

The leases are an early step in a much longer process. Once the leases are awarded, exploration could include geophysical surveys or exploratory drilling. Any proposed activity that involves ground disturbance will require a separate permit and additional environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act. 

Bark will continue tracking the leases and investigating who ultimately receives them, as well as monitoring any future proposals for exploration or development. 

Updates on the Grasshopper & Austin Fires

Recent rain and cooler, wetter weather have helped slow activity on the Grasshopper and Austin fires, but both fires continue to affect nearby communities, strain federal resources, and in some cases, impact Bark’s field work on Mt. Hood.

The Grasshopper Fire has burned approximately 93,990 acres and is 93% contained, with suppression costs now estimated at more than $100 million. The Austin Fire covers approximately 12,721 acres and is 22% contained. The fire’s closure area has prevented Bark from accessing the Nohorn project area, southwest of the fire. 

The fires have also significantly limited Restoration Program Manager Meg Waller’s ability to survey potential beaver habitat restoration sites. Of the 11 sites she hoped to visit in August and September, only two were accessible because of the fires. Bark visited those sites on August 23, but unfortunately, both were too dry to be promising candidates for beaver-based restoration.

One particularly promising site for a potential beaver relocation remains inaccessible because it sits just 0.6 miles from the Austin Fire evacuation zone. Meg had planned to place wildlife cameras there to confirm that no beavers are already occupying the site before considering a relocation project. For now, safety comes first, and we’ll continue monitoring conditions until we can get back into the field. 

Comment on Roadless Rule Rescission by October 6th!

Federal Register Notice | Submit your comment here 

The USDA has proposed rescinding the Roadless Rule, a 2001 Forest Service policy that protects approximately 44.5 million acres of National Forest System lands from most new road construction and timber harvesting. 

The proposal would affect nearly 2 million acres of national forest in Oregon, including approximately 118,000 acres, or 11%, of Mt. Hood NF. These roadless lands include some of the forest’s most intact habitat and provide clean water, wildlife habitat, and opportunities for recreation. 

Roadless areas are particularly important on Mt. Hood. The forest’s roadless lands protect headwaters that supply drinking water to communities across the region, provide habitat for species including northern spotted owls and salmon, and offer some of the forest’s most remote recreational experiences. Research also indicates that wildfires are substantially more likely to start in areas with roads than in unroaded areas. 

The public comment period on the proposed rescission is now open through October 6th, following an extension announced by the USDA. Bark is continuing to track the proposal and advocate for maintaining these important protections. Learn more on our website.  

We are also holding a Roadless Rule comment-writing workshop on September 14th to help you get started on writing and submitting your own comment on this proposal. Join us!

Forest Service Proposes Major Changes to Travel Management Rule, Comments Due September 23rd

Federal Register Notice | Submit your comment here 

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. 

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. 

Forest Service Shares New Details About Agency’s “Reorganization”

The Forest Service has released its long-awaited restructuring plan, and it’s official: the Region 6 office in downtown Portland will close. At least some Region 6 staff and programs are expected to relocate to a new Oregon state office in Salem. Jacqueline “Jacque” Buchanan will serve as Oregon state director. 

Bark will be watching how responsibilities, staffing, and decision-making shift, and what those changes mean for management of Mt. Hood NF.

Bark Featured on Local Podcast, Rosebuds and Resilience

A new episode of local podcast Rosebuds and Resilience just dropped, and this one features Bark’s own Forest Watch Program Manager, Jordan Latter. Bark Board member Becca Bowe follows Latter and a group of Bark volunteers on a groundtruthing field day to learn more about Bark’s work, the environmental rollbacks we’re tracking, and what the public can do about it. 

Listen here!

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