South Wasco Ecosystem Resiliency (SWER)
* This page will continued to be updated as we gather more data and learn more information *
The east zone of the Mt Hood National Forest is planning a large logging/fuels project called South Wasco Ecosystem Resiliency (SWER). Running from Clear Lake east along the Warm Springs Reservation boundary, the project encompasses about 20,000 acres, with a majority of that proposed for some type of logging and non-commercial fuels reduction activity.
The SWER project is located in essentially the same footprint as the Crystal Clear Restoration project, which Bark successfully litigated in 2019 – 2020. During that project, Bark had been concerned with proposals to log in mature/old-growth moist mixed conifer forests, and it was ultimately what we sued over.
SWER is an even larger project than Crystal Clear was and currently proposes logging in more acres of mature/late successional forest. Bark remains concerned that intensive treatments could degrade late-successional habitat and impact hydrologically sensitive areas.
So far this summer our surveys have focused on areas that satellite imagery and geospatial data indicate are older and largely unlogged stands. See below for some examples of areas we have surveyed.