The Klamath National Forest has completed the April 1 snow surveys. These measurements are a part of the statewide California Cooperative Snow Survey program, which helps the state forecast the quantity of water available for agriculture, power generation, recreation and stream flow releases later in the year…
Read More >Western states and cities are more reliant on drinking water from U.S. Forest Service lands than previously known. A first-of-its-kind study by the Forest Service reveals how some of the largest public water systems in the country rely on surface waters from the federal agency’s land…
Read More >Geologist Dr. Bob Carson explains the ancient origins of the Klamath Mountain Province from a gravel bar deep in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, along the wildest part of the Oregon’s Wild and Scenic Illinois River
Read More >During a recent trip to the McKenzie River area, Congressman Peter DeFazio tells Eugene Weekly that he’s seen more logging trucks in that one day than he’d normally see in a year.
Read More >The health and vitality of forest ecosystems in the Northwest, and how much timber should be cut from those forests, is laid out in the Northwest Forest Plan. But that plan was created in the mid-1990s, and has not changed substantially since then, says Norm Johnson, one of its developers. He and his longtime colleague, Jerry Franklin, recently penned an opinion piece in The Register-Guard newspaper, opposing the planned logging of about 2,000 acres of mature trees (100-150 years old) in Oregon’s Willamette National Forest. Johnson and Franklin say that in the time since the plan was written, forestry science has yielded a much deeper understanding of the ecological importance of these trees, including how they sequester carbon and provide habitat for countless species. Johnson and Franklin join us to discuss what’s at stake with this specific planned cut, and why they think new science should change the direction of forest management in Oregon.
Read More >Almost 20 years ago, the U.S. Forest Service essentially stopped logging older primeval forests on national forests in Western Oregon and Washington. Its harvests were halted by protests, legal challenges, species impacts and broadening social realizations of the ecological and wildlife benefits of such forests. The agency then switched to thinning plantations it had created after earlier clear-cutting of mature and old-growth forests.
Read More >The mayor of a small town describes how the partnership known as the Darrington Collaborative is working to bridge the urban-rural divide, restore rivers, and help the local community
Read More >When you turn on the tap for a drink of water, forests may have played a role in ensuring its supply and safety.
Forest lands furnish more than 50 percent of our nation’s water supply and 65 percent of the supply in the West. In total, this encompasses about 180 million in more than 68,000 communities, including major cities like Los Angeles, Portland, Denver, and Atlanta.
Read More >Just like humans, trees breathe. But, while humans inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, trees do the opposite: their leaves pull in carbon dioxide, water, and energy from the sun to turn into sugars that feed the tree. This process, known as photosynthesis, emits oxygen. So, through photosynthesis, trees remove climate-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and help us mitigate the effects of climate change.
Read More >Fortified by 2,500 Oregonians nominating more than 15,000 streams and rivers, this bill will safeguard for future generations roughly 4,700 miles of our rivers and streams, increasing the percentage of protected waterways from just 2% to 6%. Many celebrate this bill as a victory for Oregon’s plant and wildlife populations and unique landscape — and rightfully so. Rough and Ready Creek — one waterway up for protection — serves as home to the highest concentration of rare plants in Oregon. Silver Creek, another proposed waterway, is one of the most productive native steelhead streams in the Rogue River Basin.
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