Groundtruthing Campout 6/22-6/25/2023
Bark’s volunteer work falls under two broad categories: groundtruthing and wetland/beaver surveys. Groundtruthing includes walking areas of the forest which are being planned for a timber sale, collecting data about local fauna, tree species, forest type, disturbance and more.
We will all meet in Portland, OR at 9 am on 6/22 and coordinate carpooling to a secondary location from there. From the secondary location, we will caravan to the campout location which will be included in an email 2 weeks before the campout start date. Each day we will leave camp at 9am to conduct a full day of field work, planning to return to camp no later than 5pm. On the final day of camp (6/25), we will do a half day of field work before packing up camp and returning to Grocery Outlet around 6pm. Feel free to attend 1, 2, 3 or all 4 days of the campout. If you’d like to only join for part of the campout, plan to meet us at the camp location (included in upcoming reminder email) by 9am on the day you would like to join. Please let us know at least a week ahead of time so we know when to expect you.
This is an in-person event and will follow Bark’s COVID-19 volunteer work safety protocol.
Before registering: Everyone interested in participating in Bark’s groundtruthing and timber sale monitoring efforts is welcome! If you have attended Groundtruthing 101 + 102, we’ll send you into the field to get started. If not, please review Bark’s recorded trainings prior to the date.
Questions? Visit Bark’s pages what to expect on a campout and what to pack for a campout. For more information email Meg, Bark’s Field Crew Lead or Jordan, Bark’s Forest Watch Coordinator.
Bark’s groundtruthing volunteer network helps us monitor logging projects in Mt. Hood National Forest and surrounding public lands. 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 gathered by groundtruthers 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, we can support the public’s understanding and engagement in decisions about public lands management together. Bark’s 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.