Oregon
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All the early western stockman wanted from the federal government in Washington DC was the free use of public lands, high tariffs on any meat coming from outside, the building and maintenance of public roads, the control of predators, the provision of free education, a good mail service with free delivery to the ranch gate,…
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Oregon Public Radio had a story about the Deschutes River and its water flow problems. The Deschutes River which historically had one of the most constant flows of any river in the United States due to the abundance of springs that form its headwaters. The annual difference in high and low flows was about 6…
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The 4th Annual Speak for Wolves will take place on July 27-29, 2017 in the Historic Union Pacific Dining Lodge in West Yellowstone, Montana. This annual wildlife advocacy conference in the heart of Yellowstone is a family-friendly event featuring guest speakers, live music, food, poetry, book readings, panel discussions and a field trip. Registration is…
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Recently I drove up the Lostine River corridor and hiked the trail in the Eaglecap Wilderness giving me a good opportunity to review a Forest Service proposal to log the river corridor. The agency is using a stealth method of approving the proposed logging called a “Categorical Exclusion”. The CE allows the FS to proceed…
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Whenever I am driving around Central Oregon in summer, I see the Deschutes River being sprayed in the air by thousands of sprinklers used by farmers and ranchers primarily to grow forage for livestock like irrigated pasture, alfalfa, and hay. Because of these water withdrawals for irrigation, the aquatic ecosystem of the Deschutes River…
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National Forests across the West are facing dire threats from politicians, the timber industry and the Forest Service. The public is currently being misled into thinking that our forests are “unhealthy”, and that they need to be “restored” due to “beetle infestations” and “insect and disease.” All of this is euphemism to drastically ramp up…
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In Victory for Conservation Groups, Court Orders Better Protections Before Reinstating Grazing Permits PORTLAND, Ore.— Conservation groups scored a victory in federal court Tuesday on behalf of the Oregon spotted frog, which is protected as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. The court found that the U.S. Forest Service’s allowance of grazing on the 68,000-acre Chemult Pasture,…
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PORTLAND, Ore. – Western Watersheds Project, a nonprofit environmental group, has launched a legal challenge to a management plan for five National Wildlife Refuges in the Klamath Basin of Oregon and California. The lawsuit, filed last week in Oregon, cites failures by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect sage grouse and rare native…
