event

Rad◦i◦cle Activist Training: Groundtruthing 101

Two volunteers are standing in the forest, looking up in awe at the height of the surrounding trees. The forest is lush and vibrant, showing an understory growing up to a tall canopy.

Bark’s network of volunteer groundtruthers help us monitor logging projects in Mt. Hood National Forest and surrounding public lands. This training is intended for people interested in becoming actively engaged in Bark’s Groundtruthing Surveys and requires no previous experience. We rely on volunteer participation to conduct our work and ask that training participants commit to attend to at least 2 surveys throughout the 2022 field season (see Bark’s currently scheduled surveys here).

Groundtruthers explore and document an area proposed for a timber sale (or other project type) by the Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management. The information that is collected enables Bark and the public to assess how accurately the agency’s project documents describe the forest and the impacts. By providing more transparent and accessible information, groundtruthers supports the public to understand and engage in decisions about public lands management. Groundtruthers can and have found discrepancies in agency information and located rare or threatened plants and animal species leading to the cancellation of some or all of the proposed logging. 

This groundtruthing training is in two parts: The first part, Groundtruthing 101, will occur on Wednesday April 21st from 6:00pm to 8:00pm on Zoom to go over the basics and learn how to research timber sales using Bark’s resources and how to read timber sale maps in preparation for travelling to the forest. Groundtruthing 201 is the second part of the training and will occur on Saturday May 14th from 9:00am-6:00pm in Mt. Hood National Forest where we’ll review Bark’s groundtruthing form and prepare you to join us for a day in the field. 

Participants must register for both parts of the training. Click here to register for Groundtruthing 201.

This training will take place in the forest and space is limited. Please see Bark’s COVID safety protocol and driver expectations before signing up for the event. Participants will be expected to wear masks and follow any additional COVID-19 Protocol. Driving directions, training materials, and additional details will be sent to registrants before the event. The training location will be located in the Clackamas Ranger District of Mt. Hood National Forest and will be approximately a 1.5 hour drive from Portland. Participants coming from the Portland metro area will meet in Portland at 9am and return to Portland by 6pm. If you are coming from a location other than Portland, contact Misha VanEaton to coordinate an alternate meeting time and location. 

Color image of a fern filled meadown in the Grasshopper Timber Sale

Rad◦i◦cle: Bark's Activist Training Program

This workshop is part of Rad◦i◦cle, Bark's activist training program. With courses on forest ecology, forest management policy, timber sale monitoring, forest first aid and hike leading, public lands advocacy and community organizing, Rad◦i◦cle is designed to cultivate powerful forest defenders who are ready to take action to protect clean water, biodiversity, and the incredible forest ecosystems where we live and around the world.

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