Changes to Forest Service Policy will have far-reaching impacts
Plus, the Stone Creek comment period is now open and other important updates from behind the scenes at Bark
Updates to Forest Service Policy
By Jordan Latter
The Forest Service is bleeding. All across the country the Agency is losing staff through early retirements, deferred resignations, and fired probationary employees who chose not to come back. Some 5,600 staff have been lost thus far, with likely more to come, although the plan is currently held up in court. The latest proposals slash the Agency budget by 60%, including eliminating funding for science and research. At the same time, Forests are being pressured to increase timber harvest by 25% over the next four years.
From seasoned environmental litigators to career federal land management employees, the message I have heard has been the same: what is happening right now is unprecedented. Moving forward, Forests will be under immense pressure to increase harvest. They will be expected to expedite projects under strict timelines, to minimize scoping, and minimize or eliminate public comment and objection periods. If local Forest staff want to include formal comment/objection periods, or if they feel a project warrants a higher level of environmental analysis, they will have to request permission from higher ups and justify their reasoning.
It will be much harder for your everyday member of the public to stay informed on what is happening on their local national forest. It may become almost impossible for individuals to advocate for the things they care about and against extractive proposals on public lands. There are so many people in our community that care about this shared landscape and when you take away the processes that allow for transparency, accountability and public involvement, the people don’t stop caring and we don’t go away. All that happens is you take away our peaceful and legal avenues for engagement.
Stone Creek comment period now open!
On Tuesday, the Forest Service published the draft environmental analysis (EA) for the Stone Creek Vegetation Management Project. That kicked off a 30-day comment period ending at 11:59 pm on July 17th. You can read all about Bark’s current take on the project on our website, but there is more groundtruthing to be done before the comment deadline, so stay tuned. Volunteers will be needed & no experience is necessary!
Here’s Bark’s page for the project.
And the Forest Service project page.
Submit your comments here!
Volunteers needed at our July and August campouts!
Come camp with us and help protect Mt. Hood!
Campouts allow us to collect much more data than we’re able to do in a single field day with the added fun of hanging out with fellow Barkers at camp afterwards. We then use the data we collect while groundtruthing or surveying wetlands and beaver habitat during these campouts to advocate for added protections for large trees, riparian areas, and sensitive ecosystems. While the current changes to Forest Service policy make this advocacy more difficult, Bark has shown time and again that nothing beats getting boots on the ground to monitor proposed projects. And there’s a lot of ground to cover.
While the exact sites and activities depend on the status of proposed timber projects and so are yet to be determined, the format for the campouts is pretty predictable:
- Wake up and eat breakfast, gather gear, and whatever else you need to prepare for a day of surveying.
- Circle up in camp to discuss the plan for the day, form groups, and a land acknowledgement. Then, leave camp with our groups and head to our survey locations.
- Groups will meet back at camp in the afternoon to share our findings, hang out, swim, relax, eat dinner, and sleep.
Our website is loaded with additional resources about what to expect, including info on Campout Expectations, a Campout Packing List, and a Field Day Packing List.
We’re hoping to get 30-40 volunteers signed up for each campout, so please sign up if you are able and share widely!
Register for our July 24-27 campout here and our August 14-17 campout here.
News Roundup
Here’s some of the latest and most impactful news we’re following:
- Latest budget bill would sell off Oregon public lands, boost logging
- The latest draft of the budget bill introduced by Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah, includes a proposal to sell off ~3 million acres of public lands in 11 states, including Oregon. This draft puts virtually any multiple-use Forest Service or BLM land on the table, including parts of Mt. Hood National Forest.
- See a map of the lands available for sale here
- The draft also calls on the Forest Service to boost logging by 75% over the next decade.
- Tribal Statements on Trump administration withdrawal from Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement
- Trump withdraws from agreement with Tribes to protect salmon
- On June 12th, the Trump Administration terminated its Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement with the Yakama, Umatilla, Warm Springs, and Nez Perce tribes, and the states of Washington and Oregon. The historic agreement had provided critical funding for salmon restoration and had acted as a truce in a decades-long legal battle between the Tribes and the U.S. government over violations of the Tribes’ treaty rights to fish in their usual and accustomed areas.
- Oregon lawmakers pass beaver protection bill to restore more than 100,000 miles of impaired waterways
- And now, finally, some good news: earlier this week, the Oregon Senate passed HB 3932, a bill that would ban beaver hunting and trapping on impaired public lands waterways. Oregon has more miles of impaired waterways than any other states and protecting beavers that live on these waterways is a low-cost, effective way to restore these degraded habitats. Careful readers may remember that Bark’s own Meg Waller gave testimony in support of this ball at a hearing back in May. Victory!
Puff Coffee’s special Bark Beaver Blend now available!
Speaking of beavers, we’re stoked about our new Beaver Blend coffee collab with Puff Coffee! Grab a bag in store or on their website! A portion of proceeds from every bag sold will go toward supporting Bark’s Restoration program!
“We teamed up with Bark, the beaver-loving guardians of Mt. Hood National Forest, to bring you this tasty, balanced blend in honor of nature’s hardest-working hydrologists. Beavers don’t just slap tails and build lodges. They restore ecosystems, fight drought, improve salmon habitat, and straight-up rewild the world. A portion of every bag sold goes directly to Bark’s restoration and reintroduction programs, where volunteers plant willows, tip trees, and pretend to be beavers until the real ones move in. Sip it for the ecosystem. Tastes like molasses, brown sugar, spice and everything nice.” – Duane Sorenson, owner of Puff Coffee
Get your Beaver Blend coffee here!
Give a dam & get your Bark swag on our *new* online store!
Thanks to Gabi for creating this new & improved online store where you can snag our “Give a dam” Bark tees and stickers!