Week of Action for PNW Forests & Climate

Join us for a Week of Action to turn up the heat on decision makers and raise awareness about the need to protect our PNW forests as a key pillar of climate action in our region!

We’re calling on our elected officials–from the White House and Forest Service to Governors and state forestry agencies–to stand with our communities and protect our forests as a core part of meaningful climate action. From the Rogue Valley to Bellingham, and east to the Rockies, communities are holding events and actions to demand our elected officials protect our forests as a core part of meaningful climate action.

Extractive, industrial logging that maximizes corporate profits is one of the largest sources of climate pollution in our region. But our PNW forests and trees can be a vital climate solution if we protect and restore them. In the backcountry and cities, protecting and restoring forests is vital to helping mitigate the effects of climate disruption.

Find actions & events happening near you in the calendar below, and help us spread the word!

On the second anniversary of the devastating 2021 Heat Dome, we’re highlighting the severity of the climate crisis, the role of extractive logging as a driver of climate pollution, and forest protection as part of climate justice!

Join an action or event near you!

  • Join Bark for a groundtruthing campout to collect ecological data about the impacts of the Mt Hood National Forest’s Road 27 Project and help prevent unnecessary & destructive logging. Feel free to attend 1, 2, 3 or all 4 days of the campout.

    More information & registration here

    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. 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.

    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.

  • Join fellow WildCATs at Robinson Lake, in the Willamette National Forest, adjacent to units that would have been logged in the Flat Country timber sale for swimming, nature walks, BBQ and fun!

    Saturday, June 24th at Robinson Lake, near the once proposed Flat Country Timber Sale

    RSVP HERE

    The WildCATs (Cascadia Action Team) are instrumental to achieving concrete and effective conservation goals in Cascadia. At the end of 2022, the U.S. Forest Service withdrew its decision to log in the Flat Country timber sale, which would have been the worst of its kind in decades. Now, it's time to celebrate!

    Accessibility: The camping location is a ¼ mile hike from the parking area on a maintained trail. Children and well-behaved dogs are welcome to come. Please feel free to reach out to Madeline at madeline@cascwild.org if you have any questions or accessibility needs.

  • Despite organizing & resistance by the local community to prevent it, a local timber sale was logged over the winter. Join us for a walk through the logged area and a discussion on how we can move forward. This is a chance to process what happened and honor the land we still care about. Contact Nina for details or with questions - Olympic@c4rf.org

  • Join us for a summer solstice show in solidarity with the Defend the Atlanta Forest Movement! Music by Thorn Hartspring. Saturday, June 24th at 6pm at the Community Music Center (3350 SE Francis St) in Portland.

    Family-friendly set begins at 6pm with cover songs and special guests; original songs begin at 8pm. Sliding scale donations $10-25. Refreshments provided, ADA accessible venue.

  • Volunteer in the field with Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project (BMBP) during the Week of Action! Join us in field surveying proposed logging on eastside forests.

    In Oregon, forests east of the Cascade crest encompass approximately half the state's forests. These eastside forests urgently need your help-- proposed logging in many of the sales include logging of mature and large trees, within streamside corridors, and in other sensitive and ecologically important areas. Many eastside timber sales are enormous, with some sales reaching over 10,000 or even 20,000 acres (or more!) of proposed logging.

    Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project works to protect and restore forests in the Eastern Cascades and Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon and southeastern Washington. We use the information we collect in the field to pressure the agency to drop or modify logging, and to help inform our strategic litigation. Field surveying is the heart of the work we do, and we need volunteers to make it happen! Please consider volunteering with us in the field.

    During the Week of Action, we plan to be field surveying the Tiger-Mill sale in the Umatilla National Forest in the southeastern corner of Washington. You can volunteer with us anytime during July - September. We ask that new volunteers stay for a minimum of one week with us in the field. Please contact us one to two weeks in advance of your planned travel to survey with BMBP. You can contact Karen Coulter at 541-385-9167 (please leave a message with planned arrival and departure dates) or Paula Hood at paula@bluemountainsbiodiversityproject.org. You can read more about what to expect, what to bring, and our field program on BMBP's website.

  • Join forest & climate activists across the PNW in calling attention to the crucial role our forests play in mitigating climate change by holding banners on highway overpasses. For more information, contact Alex (alex@forestclimatealliance.org).

  • Join us for a rally and celebration of old growth and mature forests as a climate solution in Medford at Alba Park (301 W Main St) 12-2pm on Monday, June 26th.

    We’ll also be delivering a petition & sign-on letter to Senators Wyden & Merkley’s district staff calling on them to support funding for proven solutions for community wildfire safety. There will be music, speakers, and signs. Sponsored by Southern Oregon members of the PNWFCA's Wildfire Working Group, including Illinois Valley Sierra Club and the Williams Community Forest Project, as well as Sustainable Rogue Valley.

  • Join Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project for a virtual comment writing workshop on Monday, June 26th at 1pm, part of the PNWFCA's Week of Action. REGISTER HERE.

    The virtual session will be geared towards advocating for strong protections on National Forests in eastern Oregon and southeastern Washington, particularly in relation to large-scale federal management plans such as the Biden Administration's Executive Orders on climate and forests. Submitting comments on proposed agency projects or plans (like a National Forest Plan Revision, or the proposed rule on protecting mature & old growth forests) are key ways to push for stronger government action on climate change and ecological protection. The workshop will cover how to write comments effectively to have the greatest impact. Contact Paula (paula@bluemountainsbiodiversityproject.org) for more information.

  • Rally to demand leaders take bold action to stand with communities against the exploitation of our communities, climate and forests.

    Meet 10am Tuesday, June 27th at Tivoli Fountain along SE Capitol Way in Olympia.

  • The Climate Forests Campaign and other groups will be delivering signed petitions demanding stronger protections for mature & old growth forests on federal lands to the Bureau of Land Management office in Portland. Meet at Terry Schrunk Plaza at 11am. Contact VIctoria (vw@oregonwild.org) for more information.

  • Tuesday, June 27th at 7pm at the Rural Organizing Project building in Cottage Grove (632 E Main St).

    Join Forest Web and the Coast Range Association to learn about the how Wall Street corporations are exploiting our forests & communities and what we can do about it.

    Wall Street financial companies are buying up Oregon forest lands, sending billions of dollars in profits to their investors, suppressing wages & sacrificing worker safety, polluting our drinking water, emitting vast amounts of climate pollution, and turning healthy forests into monoculture tinderboxes with higher wildfire risk. But by managing our forests for the interests of our communities instead of Wall St profits, we can rebuild rural economies, fight climate change, and protect our watersheds for generations to come.

    For more information, contact Michael (michael@coastrange.org)

  • Join the Climate Forests Campaign for a Pint Night benefit and submit public comments in support of permanent protections for mature & old growth forests at Falling Sky Brewery in Eugene.

    Contact Victoria (vw@oregonwild.org) for more information.

  • For the PNWFCA's Forest Week, this Rumble On The River community forum will focus on Portland's Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub's threat to one of the nation's largest urban forests, Forest Park. The CEI Hub stores over 90% of Oregon's fuel and stands on a seismic liquefaction zone. The Rumble panel will discuss Forest Park's proximity to the CEI Hub, the urban tree canopy, shade equity, impacted wildlife and the forest-climate connection. Wednesday, June 28th. Info Tables @ 6:00 PM. Panel @ 6:30 PM. Central Lutheran Church, 1820 NE 21st Avenue. Portland. Always Free.

  • Wednesday, June 28th at 6:30pm at the Albany Library (2450 14th Ave SE, Albany, OR). Join the Coast Range Association and members of the Mid-Valley Solidarity Coalition to learn about the how Wall Street corporations are exploiting our forests & communities and what we can do about it.

    Wall Street financial companies are buying up Oregon forest lands, sending billions of dollars in profits to their investors, suppressing wages & sacrificing worker safety, polluting our drinking water, emitting vast amounts of climate pollution, and turning healthy forests into monoculture tinderboxes with higher wildfire risk. But by managing our forests for the interests of our communities instead of Wall St profits, we can rebuild rural economies, fight climate change, and protect our watersheds for generations to come.For more information, contact Michael (michael@coastrange.org)

  • 350PDX Forest Defense Team & East Portland Resilience Coalition are co-hosting a Climate Resilience Pedalpalooza bike ride on June 29th at 5:30pm to raise awareness of the importance urban forests make to having a more climate resilient city. This *free* community ride will highlight climate (in)justice and how trees can be a solution for keeping Portlanders safe in the summer, and how low income and BIPOC neighborhoods have been treated unfairly in their shade (in)equity. Contact tyler@350pdx.org for more info.

    >What: ~10mile bike ride through East Portland, highlighting the strengths and challenges in urban shade equity, including some brief actions you can take at the end to directly influence the problems

    >When: Th, 6/29 6pm-7:30pm

    >Where: Start and end at Halsey HydroPark (NE Halsey St &, NE 148th Ave, Portland, OR 97230). Refreshments at the end!

    >Why: Because all Portland neighborhoods deserve equal access to the incredible resource of trees and shade

  • Join forest defenders for a weekend of music & skill sharing in a proposed timber sale in the Oregon Coast Range. 30 minute drive outside of Eugene. Musical lineup and location to be announced. RSVP here for more information.

  • Grab a drink with other forest & climate activists on Friday, June 30th at 6PM in the beer garden at Gorges Beer (2705 SE Ankeny St) for a Portland Forest Pints event! Contact Felice (felice.kelly@gmail.com) with questions or for more information.

  • Join Bark to gather data about soils, plants and hydrology to assist in mapping and protecting wetland areas on Mt. Hood.

    More information & registration here.

    Meet up in Portland, OR at 9 am to carpool to the site location from there, and return to the city between 5 and 6pm. Register for details, meetup & destination locations.

  • Come and enjoy an outdoor social with Bark Staff and other nature-loving individuals 10am-2pm Saturday July 2nd at Westmoreland Park (7530 SE 22nd Ave)!

    Join us to discuss what you value about the forests around us, and how all of us interact with the natural world. What can we do to support and manage the Mt. Hood National Forest so that it is truly accessible and welcome to all? How can we creatively show gratitude to the forest and those that currently play a part in its future? How can we make constructive and friendly dialogue? Share a meal, play some lawn games, and take an opportunity to write a letter to Mt. Hood Forest Leadership.

    Sign up to attend here. Questions? Email Jordan, Bark’s Forest Watch Coordinator: jordan@bark-out.org OR Haley, Bark’s Forest Field Coordinator: haley@bark-out.org