ABOUT BARK

History

As an organization founded by white people in the lineage of settler-colonial environmentalism, Bark’s understands that our work has been inherently within and empowered by the white supremacist legacy of land theft and the erasure of Native authority over the stolen lands referred to now as the “public lands of Mt. Hood National Forest”. As an advocacy organization, Bark maintains relationships with the agencies of the U.S. Federal government which originally implemented the violence, land theft, colonization, and displacement of Indigenous people, including through the creation of “public lands” - and which has not corrected these actions. All non-native people have the privilege to access this land as a direct result of this legacy of violence and injustice. Bark’s current staff, Board of Directors and volunteers are working to transform the organization, to first of all acknowledge all of our implicit participation in the ongoing displacement of native people by whenever we claim the benefits of this inherited legacy and these unearned privileges.

In 1993 two friends, attorney Greg Dyson and musician John "Lenny" Rancher, began a call to action after witnessing vast clear-cuts and old-growth logging while exploring Mt. Hood National Forest. They began to hike each timber sale, noting the markings in the forest and calling attention to discrepancies between action on the ground and agency documents. Soon they discovered that others shared their passion for protecting Mt. Hood, and began training them to "groundtruth" as well. Eventually, Greg brought together a diverse array of dedicated professionals and passionate activists to form a working board of directors and Bark was born. Bark was officially founded in 1999 and has since trained hundreds of volunteers about the basics of forest policy, brought thousands to Mt. Hood National Forest, and saved tens of thousands of acres of forest from logging and roadbuilding.

Bark's 20 Year Vision

Mission Statement

Bark’s mission is to transform Mt. Hood National Forest into a place where natural processes prevail, where wildlife thrives and where local communities have a social, cultural, and economic investment in its restoration and preservation.

Identity statement:

Bark is the resource for community action to protect Mt. Hood National Forest and surrounding federal lands. We prioritize grassroots organizing and believe in the power of an engaged public. We recognize that the forest should thrive not just to provide resources for the human community, but also for the inherent value of nature itself. We maintain an organizational culture that is transparent, inclusive and cooperative, where volunteers, staff and board work together to realize the vision of Bark.

What does BARK stand for?

Bark’s name originates from the barker, who stands before the public and uses persistent outcry to call attention. We are a group of barkers, ensuring that the public hears about all events, good and bad, occurring in the Mt. Hood National Forest.

The Four Goals

GOAL 1: BARK WILL BE A TRANSPARENT, INCLUSIVE, ENDURING, AND TENACIOUS ADVOCATE FOR MT. HOOD NATIONAL FOREST

  1. Bark can financially sustain its permanent staff independent of foundation, government, or corporate funding
  2. Bark will have a volunteer committee for each of the four program goals to ensure accessibility for our supporters and accountability in decision making
  3. Bark will create and maintain relationships with allies to accomplish our four program goals
  4. Bark will develop cultural competency and work to end oppression in all levels of our work, including organizational development, staffing, and outreach

GOAL 2: BARK WILL EMPOWER AND ASSIST ACTIVIST COMMUNITIES IN ALL FOUR COUNTIES SURROUNDING MT HOOD NATIONAL FOREST

  1. Bark will house a library of ecological, cultural, economic, social, and historical resources of Mt Hood National Forest and surrounding communities
  2. Bark will get people into the forest by guiding hikes, promoting quiet recreation, and advocating free and accessible use of the forest
  3. Bark will maintain peoples’ investment in Mt. Hood National Forest by providing activities and trainings in all four counties surrounding MHNF

GOAL 3: BARK WILL PROTECT MT. HOOD NATIONAL FOREST FROM COMMERCIAL DESTRUCTION

  1. Bark will end all profit-driven extraction of resources and enabling infrastructure in Mt. Hood National Forest and surrounding public lands
  2. Bark will prevent development, commercial recreation and other non-commercial proposals that degrade water quality, destroy native forests, threaten wildlife or damage cultural resources

GOAL 4: BARK WILL ESTABLISH MT. HOOD NATIONAL FOREST AS A NATIONAL MODEL FOR WILDLIFE HABITAT, CLEAN DRINKING WATER, AND QUIET RECREATION

  1. Bark will ensure that the MHNF management plan prioritizes ecosystem health, climate change adaptation and quiet recreation, as well as eliminating designations that are focused on resource extraction
  2. Bark will facilitate a strong coalition of environmental, recreational, and other groups and individuals often excluded from the decision-making process, to create a vision for the future of Mt. Hood National Forest
  3. Bark will secure restoration funding that is not tied to any timber dollars or user fees.

    Click here to get involved in our work to defend and restore Mt. Hood!

     

 

 

 

 

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