Forest Monitoring Workshop

Herbicide spraying by helicopter. Photo courtesy of Oregon Wild.

Oregon Wild is offering a workshop on Wednesday, April 11, providing citizens with training in how to use the Oregon Department of Forestry’s FERNS (Forest Activity Electronic Reporting and Notification System), an online tool that tracks logging operations and herbicide spraying.  The workshop, led by Jason Gonzales, who works on forest issues for Oregon Wild, runs from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Oregon Coast Community College’s Lincoln City branch (3788 S.E. High School Dr.), Campus Room 211. 

Gonzales will explain how FERNS works, and how citizens can monitor and comment on upcoming logging operations, as well as the herbicide applications that follow. He will discuss how to sign up for the free service, how to search for activity in your area, and how to subcribe to monitor a specific region you care about. 

He will also talk about how to use FERNS to monitor threats to your community’s drinking water, and make sure your friends, family, and neighbors are aware of the impacts local industrial logging can have on them.  You can also learn more about FERNS on the Department of Forestry’s website.

If you'd like to go through the process during the workshop, bring a laptop or mobile device. Not required.