Grasshopper Timber Sale: Comment Writing Workshop

Color photo of a Bark volunteer in a red tank top with a black backpack measuring a very large tree's diameter with a yellow measuring tape in the Grasshopper Timber Sale area.

The U.S. Forest Service has released the Draft Environmental Assessment for the proposed 5,200 acre Grasshopper Timber Sale in Mt. Hood National Forest, triggering the start of the standard 30-day comment period. The forests that would be affected by the Grasshopper Timber Sale are bordered to the west by Boulder Lake, to the north by Badger Creek Wilderness, and south by another project area, Rocky Timber Sale. Future climate predictions put these areas at particular risk and, if they are logged to this extent, they will likely be gone permanently. Furthermore, the impacts that logging in this area would have on the federally-list, threatened Northern Spotted Owl includes degrading 1,223 acres of suitable habitat and completely removing habitat on 44 acres.

Join Bark volunteers this coming Sunday for a Comment Writing Workshop to urge the Forest Service against logging old growth stands and habitat for the threatened Northern Spotted Owl.

Bark is the local watchdog organization focused on protecting and restoring the natural process and ecosystems within Mt. Hood National Forest. For 20 years, Bark has surveyed every commercial logging project in order to protect mature and native forest, sensitive watersheds and areas of cultural value from the industrial logging projects proposed to meet the Forest Service’s timber quotas. The Grasshopper Timber Sale is still in the planning stage and Bark hopes to inform as many people as possible about the potential impacts of this proposal.

Bark affirms that these are the rightful lands of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, and Clackamas bands of the Chinuk; Tualitin Kalapuya, Molalla, Tenino, Wasco, Wishram, Paiute, and the many other Native people who live here and who have always lived here. These Tribal Nations belong to and care for this land, and we honor these Nations’ continued existence and resilience, as their sacrifices are still ongoing. We acknowledge their long-lasting and tireless work to nurture, advocate, and protect these lands in the Pacific Northwest.

Learn more about Bark's work on the Grasshopper Timber Sale

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